Well, I have been working on restoring a few brushes. As noted in the following thread:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...een-Butterscotch-with-Black-Swirl)?highlight=
Someone on another forum ask me to see if I could show the steps using a bamboo steamer to keep the brush away from the heat source. I had two brushes that were ready so I decided to try this method again.
First to the two brushes. One was an Ever Ready 500 which the handle was in good shape but the knot needed a replacement.
The second was the Parker Synthetic that did not make the grade as discussed in the following thread:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/287571-Parker-Brush-A-cautionary-tale?highlight=
Now at this point I took the bamboo steamer and a small Corning-ware plate that can withstand heat and brought a pan of water to boiling and then reduced the heat to a medium simmer to allow the steam to continue to work.
I placed the steamer rack on the pot and placed the small plate with the brushes on it in the center. That avoids the brush hairs from getting hung up in the rack.
I let the steam do its work for 15 minutes and checked to see if everything was going as expected. It was going fine and the brushes were in good shape. I allowed both brushes to continue until the 30 minutes was up.
I opened up the steamer to find two different results.
The acrylic Parker brush handle went exactly to plan as you see below.
The Ever Ready was another story. The plastic could not hold up to the last 15 minutes of heat and even when I tried to remove the knot it would not budge. I appeared that the air inside the handle had expanded with no where to escape. So here is the result.
The bottom is bowed up and the center is bulged do to expansion and the outer layer has small bubbles.
Even if I had removed it at 15 minutes like the earlier Rubberset, the knot would have remained in the handle and the swelling more than likely still would have taken place over the next few minutes to a lesser degree.
Lessons learned:
This method works very well for modern Acrylic brush handles.
This method can be modified somewhat to work for Rubberset handles but the amount of steam time must be limited to less than 15 minutes. I would say 12 at the most since the hairs are removed by pulling strands with a pair of pliers. However, you run a risk if the materials are aged and cracked or other issues so proceed with care.
This method is questionable at best for the older plastic handles due to aging, low temperature tolerances on plastics, and construction techniques that allow expansion to occur inside the handle.
Every brush restoration method has certain risks and rewards and I was rewarded well on one and poorly on another. I have a couple of other Ever Ready brushes to restore, and I will do them the old fashion manual way when the time comes.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...een-Butterscotch-with-Black-Swirl)?highlight=
Someone on another forum ask me to see if I could show the steps using a bamboo steamer to keep the brush away from the heat source. I had two brushes that were ready so I decided to try this method again.
First to the two brushes. One was an Ever Ready 500 which the handle was in good shape but the knot needed a replacement.
The second was the Parker Synthetic that did not make the grade as discussed in the following thread:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/287571-Parker-Brush-A-cautionary-tale?highlight=
Now at this point I took the bamboo steamer and a small Corning-ware plate that can withstand heat and brought a pan of water to boiling and then reduced the heat to a medium simmer to allow the steam to continue to work.
I placed the steamer rack on the pot and placed the small plate with the brushes on it in the center. That avoids the brush hairs from getting hung up in the rack.
I let the steam do its work for 15 minutes and checked to see if everything was going as expected. It was going fine and the brushes were in good shape. I allowed both brushes to continue until the 30 minutes was up.
I opened up the steamer to find two different results.
The acrylic Parker brush handle went exactly to plan as you see below.
The Ever Ready was another story. The plastic could not hold up to the last 15 minutes of heat and even when I tried to remove the knot it would not budge. I appeared that the air inside the handle had expanded with no where to escape. So here is the result.
The bottom is bowed up and the center is bulged do to expansion and the outer layer has small bubbles.
Even if I had removed it at 15 minutes like the earlier Rubberset, the knot would have remained in the handle and the swelling more than likely still would have taken place over the next few minutes to a lesser degree.
Lessons learned:
This method works very well for modern Acrylic brush handles.
This method can be modified somewhat to work for Rubberset handles but the amount of steam time must be limited to less than 15 minutes. I would say 12 at the most since the hairs are removed by pulling strands with a pair of pliers. However, you run a risk if the materials are aged and cracked or other issues so proceed with care.
This method is questionable at best for the older plastic handles due to aging, low temperature tolerances on plastics, and construction techniques that allow expansion to occur inside the handle.
Every brush restoration method has certain risks and rewards and I was rewarded well on one and poorly on another. I have a couple of other Ever Ready brushes to restore, and I will do them the old fashion manual way when the time comes.
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