Abstract: A hand-held, motor-driven erasing machine which operates directly from the nominal wall outlet voltage and comprises a generally tubular housing having a front portion and a rear portion which are releasably attached together. A chuck tube is mounted for rotational movement within the generally tubular housing. A DC permanent magnet motor is operatively disposed within the generally tubular housing and includes a wire-wound armature surrounding and attached to the chuck tube, a commutator whose brush surface is positioned at a right angle with respect to the rotational axis of the DC motor, a permanent magnet assembly operatively surrounding the wire-wound armature. A rectifier device is operatively connected to receive the AC voltage from the wall outlet and provide a DC output to the DC motor. A switch assembly is operatively connected between the output of the rectifier device and the DC motor.