6 new project handles

[MeanGene]

About two months ago, I was traveling for work, and on my way back home, I stopped off at several antique stores in a town 75 miles away from me. Inside one of the stores, I asked the proprietor if she had any old razors or shaving brushes for sale. She didn't but one of the customers perked up and he said he did. I told him that if he'd run home, bring back his goodies, I'd make it worth his time. I picked up 13 brush handles from him and various other goodies (he made me take 10 razors because he thought he was taking advantage of me).

Anyway, I couldn't help myself tonight. The kid went to bed and the wife's out of town so I had to do something with those old handles! I don't know what kind of knots I'll order for them, and don't know when I will have time to complete them, but at least I can share my excitement below:






I'll never be a photographer and lighting conditions at 10:50pm aren't the best, but I believe you'll get a good idea of how they look. I went to the store and bought a few items to help me along:

Drill press @ Harbor Freight
http://www.harborfreight.com/5-speed...ess-38119.html

Polishing wheel for Rotary Tool @ Harbor Freight
http://www.harborfreight.com/5-piece...els-66104.html

Forstner bits @ Home Depot
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...&storeId=10051

I can tell you this, on my previous restores, I wish I could go back in time and use the Forstner bits. They are amazing and made short work of drilling out the old knot. In any event, I can't wait to clean these up more and put a knot in 'em.

[hig789]

Nice. I like the ER with the lucite bottom.

[taco8slo]

Nice score, those are all really nice, forstener bits are definitely the way to go. Look forward to seeing the finished product, they should all turn out great, the hardest part is done.

[GDCarrington]

Excellent set there. The one with the faux ivory and clear plastic vase shaped one deserves a really fine knot. It should really look good with a silvertip badger knot in full bloom.

Enjoy!

[NexlevMM]

Sweet come up! Those cleaned up really well.

[Snargle]

Excellent set there. The one with the faux ivory and clear plastic vase shaped one deserves a really fine knot. It should really look good with a silvertip badger knot in full bloom.

That's a beauty! I definitely want to see that one with a fine knot.

[whavens]

Man those are sweet. I have a few I need to restore. Don't forget to post pics of your progress.

[MeanGene]

I've had the knots, all from TGN, for a while and have set a few. Here is what I have so far:





For the two pictures above, the one of the left has a 24mm Super Silvertip and the one on the right has a 20mm Silvertip.





For these two, the left one has a 22mm Finest XH Two Band and the one on the right has a 22mm Best.

Can't wait to lather them up and see how they bloom! In my original pictures, the middle handle in the second picture, the poor thing melted during knot removal with a forstner bit. Unbeknownst to me, there was a metal ring hidden in the plastic and it heated up while the bit turned inside of it. The heat caused the outside plastic to melt. I'm in the process of sanding it all down because I believe I can pull it off and still use it.

As for the clear square lucite one, I am repainting the black on the inside of the lucite as some of it was scraped off during knot removal. I'm putting a 24mm Black Badger in it and it should be striking.

[ras120]

I can tell you this, on my previous restores, I wish I could go back in time and use the Forstner bits. They are amazing and made short work of drilling out the old knot. In any event, I can't wait to clean these up more and put a knot in 'em.

Big +1 on this.

That is a very nice looking collection of handles.

[Blondie]

I've been saying for years that a drill press and forstner bits are the only way to go. Have to be really careful with those wheels, it's easy to get a little burn going. I use a polish called Crystal clear, sold by watchprince.com that is for polishing acrylic watch crystals and watch cases. give the handle a deep rub with the polish using a sea sponge, and then use a microfiber terry rag to do the buffing now. Nice rig, and not a bad price for the press. I have a grizzly.

[Sledgehammer39]

They look great!

[hig789]

Yeah everyone of them is very nice. You should be proud.

[LegionPrime]

I've had the knots, all from TGN, for a while and have set a few. Here is what I have so far:

For the two pictures above, the one of the left has a 24mm Super Silvertip and the one on the right has a 20mm Silvertip.

For these two, the left one has a 22mm Finest XH Two Band and the one on the right has a 22mm Best.

Can't wait to lather them up and see how they bloom! In my original pictures, the middle handle in the second picture, the poor thing melted during knot removal with a forstner bit. Unbeknownst to me, there was a metal ring hidden in the plastic and it heated up while the bit turned inside of it. The heat caused the outside plastic to melt. I'm in the process of sanding it all down because I believe I can pull it off and still use it.

As for the clear square lucite one, I am repainting the black on the inside of the lucite as some of it was scraped off during knot removal. I'm putting a 24mm Black Badger in it and it should be striking.

That's a real shame about that melted brush, I love those 2 tone EverReady's. The rest of them are beautiful! The clear lucite ones especially. I want to get one of them to restore someday, I love the look of them. You are doing great work there!