I just destroyed an old brush / no tools restoration

[SecretAsianMan]

This is my second restoration attempt, for what it's worth. The first was the replacement of a Body Shop synthetic head with a Golden Nib silver tip that went much more smoothly than what I am about to describe:

I found this shaving brush at an antique store with a nasty smelling old knot in it and finally got around to removing the thing. Wish I had thought to take a before picture. Anyway, I encountered something strange: the knot was held in place by a metal ring.

Since I didn't care too much to keep the handle pretty, I boiled some water in the microwave and spent the past 30 minutes trying to pull it out with pliers. The brush was so old that the hairs snapped as I tried to pull the knot out. In the end, I got a screwdriver to pry out the metal ring.

Judging by the green tarnish, I want to say it is copper or brass. I managed to scrape up the handle something fierce, and I still need to chip away at the resin remainders with a screwdriver and hammer (I have zero access to power drills at the present time), but I think I will remount the ring, try to bend the plastic back, and stuff a new knot in there.

[Hex]

That doesn't look like a disaster to me. I think it will still restore beautifully.

[Zarba]

Oh, that'll buff right out!

[TnutsShave]

I would look at this as an opportunity to stuff a big 'ol softy knot in there. Instead of folding the damaged rubber back in, why not just trim it off, sand the opening smooth, and put a bigger knot in there than the original opening would have supported? No, no, don't thank me...I'm always available to offer unsolicited advice :lol:

Other than the damage on the top, it looks like that handle will polish up beautifully!

[touchdowntodd]

huge knot time!

agreed tj

[Munxcub]

Start sanding, you could most likely save that handle. Don't use boiling water anymore, take your time and sand it all down smooth, then work up in grits and then some polishing compounds, should come out nice.

[SecretAsianMan]

It's a tiny handle - do you think I should stuff a big knot into it? When I saw it, I was hoping for a small travel brush and preemptively ordered a 16mm best from TGN. The new hole is about 20mm - a nickel sat on top, but a penny fell in with room to spare.

http://www.usmint.gov/faqs/circulating_coins/index.cfm?action=faq_circulating_coin

[TnutsShave]

It's a tiny handle - do you think I should stuff a big knot into it? When I saw it, I was hoping for a small travel brush and preemptively ordered a 16mm best from TGN. The new hole is about 20mm - a nickel sat on top, but a penny fell in with room to spare.

http://www.usmint.gov/faqs/circulating_coins/index.cfm?action=faq_circulating_coin

I don't think a 20mm knot is going to look too big, quite the contrary. The 16mm is definitely going to be too small if the opening is 20mm now. You most likely will be able to put an 18 mm or so knot in there, but I would recommend finishing the top and measuring before ordering again (I did the exact same premature order on my first brush :laugh:). It may be that the finished hole ends up being larger even than the 20mm after all sanding and finishing is said and done.

Either way, IMHO, I think a larger knot with a good bloom popping out of a smallish handle would look some kind of awesome.

[SecretAsianMan]

I was going to seal with silicone epoxy - stuff dries hard enough to hold things in place. It wouldn't look pretty, but I was going for function over form. I had also wanted a small knot a bootleg Wee Scott, if you will. Smaller is my preference for brushes, anyway.

[TnutsShave]

I hear ya...If you've got a specific need, then a I say go for it!

Maybe if you take the approach of cleaning up the top as if you were going to put the large knot in it (in other words, there would be no silicone epoxy going on top), then you'll get better results all around. It covers a few different scenarios...it will give you practice at that particular part of the resto (sanding, finishing, etc), it will be a much better base for the silicone, and three, you may decide to go with the larger knot if your sanding job turns out particularly well...

Good luck and please do keep us posted on the progress!

Oh, and feel free to tell me to quit my yammering! :lol:

[Blade Boy]

take it slow that the joy of doing the work by hand, but I think the boiling water was the problem I haven't restored any plastic handles yet so I really can't talk but I have done a few metal handle restores and it's takes me about 3 hours of hard labor with no power tools 150647 how does that saying go, Rome wasn't build in a day. -Blade Boy

[SecretAsianMan]

Yep. I have no power tools to do restoration with, but have seen others suggest boiling water. In retrospect, I should have held the brush over the water with tongs - I only wanted to remove the knot, so I would only have needed to wet the hairs. Capilary action would have taken care of the rest.

As far as sandpaper, what grits would I need? I have 200, 400, 600, and 1500. I also have a dmt extra extra fine file - about 8000. I don't know of any places around me that sell sand paper in any grit higher than 1500, so if I do need it, I would need to purchase online. I guess I might be willing to, but I'd like to try to get things done with what I have.

And any recommendations for polishing compounds?

[SecretAsianMan]

Hey folks, here is a preview.

I sanded down the top with 200 grit, then quickly did the sides with 400, 600, then 1500. Then I scrubbed it with the scouring side of a scotch brite sponge embedded with toothpaste.

I temporarily secured the brush by wrapping rubber bands and electrical tape around the base of the knot and stuffing it in the handle, which it turned out, was hollow.

Edited to add: BTW, the handle is bakelite.

[SecretAsianMan]

Also couldn't resist making preview lather (Van der Hagen).

[Venom]

Nice end result!:thumbup1:

[Deltaboy]

Nice !:thumbup:

[Hex]

See !!

I told you so :001_tt2:

[gixxer]

NICE RECOVERY! I bet it was not all that bad once you got a plan together. I might start looking for a vintage brush to restore. I saw a plymouth that somebody posted this week and it got the gears turning. I might just get an ever ready I could not find a plymouth on greedbay when I looked last night.

[MentalFloss]

It just takes a little patience ! My Friend Well Done

[FL shaver]

Nice save! Do you know the brush manufacturer?

[SliceOfLife]

Nice job. I've actually destroyed a brush before. It had a metal band set into the handle around the knot. I pulled the knot and started to grind the metal band trying to soften the plastic around it enough it'd come free. Went too hot and the brush exploded into smoke and flame (vintage plastics are highly flammable by the way). The sink I work by had the water shut off and before I could get it back on a hole the size of a quarter had been burned through the wall off the brush. Was a nice marbled butterscotch Klenzo too. :(

That looks like an EverReady or possibly Rubberset to me.

[Papa Mo]

That looks really good. Excellent job!

[delisle]

Nice job. I've actually destroyed a brush before. It had a metal band set into the handle around the knot. I pulled the knot and started to grind the metal band trying to soften the plastic around it enough it'd come free. Went too hot and the brush exploded into smoke and flame (vintage plastics are highly flammable by the way). The sink I work by had the water shut off and before I could get it back on a hole the size of a quarter had been burned through the wall off the brush. Was a nice marbled butterscotch Klenzo too. :(

That looks like an EverReady or possibly Rubberset to me.

Yea, same thing happened to me with an old Ever Ready that belonged to my wife's grandfather :crying::crying: Since then I have really backed off of restoring handles

[Brownbear]

I've had several with metal rings. Before they had polyester to make glue plugs to make knots some gathered the hair into metal rimgs which were then glued into the handle. I just bore the old knot out and leave the ring in for fear of damaging the ferrule.

Some of the old ferrules were made of celluloid, which will definitely burn rapidly if heated up enough.

Nice recovery though, looks great. What is silicone eopxy? Sounds loke a non sequiter to me.

[TnutsShave]

I've had several with metal rings. Before they had polyester to make glue plugs to make knots some gathered the hair into metal rimgs which were then glued into the handle. I just bore the old knot out and leave the ring in for fear of damaging the ferrule.

Some of the old ferrules were made of celluloid, which will definitely burn rapidly if heated up enough.

Nice recovery though, looks great. What is silicone eopxy? Sounds loke a non sequiter to me.

I may have mispoke as I didn't have the packaging with me when I posted. It was a two part putty that can be used for repairs in areas that are exposed to water. There was an outer layer of blue and an inner layer of white in a tube shape. You cut off the desired amount and worked it in your fingers until the colors blended together. At that point, you could press it into the desired shape (in my case, rebuilding the shelf for the knot to sit) and then it would harden.

It absolutely was NOT silicone as it did not set to a rubbery consistency. It dried to a hard surface that could be drilled/sanded.

Sorry for the confusion :blushing: Although I couldn't speak to what the OP used...