So I'm completely geeked out with my new hobby today. I'm working on trying to restore one of my dads old Century handles. I was wondering if anyone could pass along some drilling techniques. I've gotten a good deal of the glue out of the bristle hole however what remains seems to be really hard, like graphite, and my drill isn't making any more headway. This is a brush well over 60 years old and I'm terrified of damaging it.
Brush restoration advice
- Thread starter RodneyZuro
- Start date
Rather than continue with the drill, you could try sandpaper.
If you have a dremel the sanding drums work very well. If you do not try taking a dowel one that is undersize of the hole, wrap it with a turn of sandpaper and then manually rotate it in the hole to clean up the edges.
I would start with reasonably coarse sandpaper...100grit or so.
If you had a drill press and fortsner bit that is another approach, but you need to have some way to hold the handle well and precisely align that bit.
I would go the sandpaper route as even in the dremel is quite easy to control so the risk of damage is low....that is especially true with the dowel method.
Wear a dust mask for sure.
If you have a dremel the sanding drums work very well. If you do not try taking a dowel one that is undersize of the hole, wrap it with a turn of sandpaper and then manually rotate it in the hole to clean up the edges.
I would start with reasonably coarse sandpaper...100grit or so.
If you had a drill press and fortsner bit that is another approach, but you need to have some way to hold the handle well and precisely align that bit.
I would go the sandpaper route as even in the dremel is quite easy to control so the risk of damage is low....that is especially true with the dowel method.
Wear a dust mask for sure.
I also used a straight knife (wharncliff) to carve out glue from one of my restorations. That scraping worked well and did not generate as much dust as the sandpaper....it took a while though.
This is the shop knife I used...
This is the shop knife I used...
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- Thread starter
- #4
using the straight knife certainly helped. Thanks!
A bevel knife works good as well.
- Thread starter
- #6
I'm a little concerned what polish to use on the handle. I considered going to the store and buying some flitz as that what people seem to be using on similar type handles, however; since it says "set in rubber" I'm wondering if that would be harmful since the handle isn't really fiberglass or metal... and as far buffing out the scratches it seems that a lot of people would just use a nail file. Is that really the best method? Here is a picture of what I'm trying to restore...
The "set in rubber" refers to the knot, not the handle. I used 3M scratch remover or Kit Scratch remover. Flitz maybe after that. Should not affect the handle.
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