Help restoring the finish on my Rod Neep Brush

[Big_OC]

I ordered a customer brush from Rod Neep and when it arrived it looked awesome. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...ere!?highlight=.
After about two weeks I noticed some spots started forming around the handle where it looks like the acrylic was starting to bubble up. Also noticed it right around the lip of the brush. Does anybody have any tips to bring it back to it's original shine? Can I manually sand it down and then apply a finish myself? If so, what grit should I start with? Any ideas would be very much appreciated. Here are some pics:

[Snargle]

I wouldn't touch it without contacting Rod first. It looks like there's a problem with the finish. I'm pretty sure he'll be able to help you out. That shouldn't be happening with a new brush.

[Mike H]

I would ask Mr. Neep.

[Jim]

Definitely give Mr. Neep a shout.

[Big_OC]

I did contact him. He said he had never seend somethng like that, immediately refunded my money and let me pick a new brush at no charge. Wonderful customer service experience but we got sidetracked with the replacement and didn't revisit restoring the finish. I'll send him an email and see what he says?

[hig789]

Do you bowl lather or face lather?

[Big_OC]

Do you bowl lather or face lather?

I bowl lather using a Robert Becker scuttle.

[Neep]

I did contact him. He said he had never seend somethng like that, immediately refunded my money and let me pick a new brush at no charge. Wonderful customer service experience but we got sidetracked with the replacement and didn't revisit restoring the finish. I'll send him an email and see what he says?

Thanks Oscar....

Folks, Oscar isn't complaining. We already sorted that out. :-)
He is just wondering if he could do anything with that rogue handle.

Oscar, I think that the reason we got sidetracked and didn't talk about "restoring" that brush is that in my honest opinion it was FUBAR (A quaint old saying that originated in WWII. Look it up on Wikipedia if you don't know what it means).

I refunded the £45 original cost and the shipping cost even before I answered Oscar's first email and I really didn't expect the return! It wasn't worth returning! I fully expected him to just consign it to the great brush pile in the sky. I also offered a replacement brush free of charge, and this one was chosen, web price £72 with an extra silvertip knot. (Postage at my expense).
The one on the left.

That brush was posted 1st May, and has already made its way over the pond and is in the hands of USPS.

When all is said and done, that was a pretty good outcome. Yes?

As I wrote to Oscar at the time:

I work on the principle that I know what it would feel like if I had bought something and it went wrong. That sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach, and wondering how to handle the problem, expecting “It’s your fault for....” [whatever].

From my point of view making the things, I just like people to be 100% happy, and if I can solve a problem just by being reasonable, then I’ll do it. People are more important than a lump of wood and a bit of wild animal hair, or the money (although that matters). Sure, things go wrong from time to time. So far I have replaced just four items out of the 1,176 (shaving brushes, pens, etc.) that I have made to date. Plus two other brushes where the owners had broken the handles by accidentally throwing them at the sink when they were flicking out the water. I just replaced them. It doesn’t matter. The disappointment was still the same, and it was possible for me to solve the problem, so why not?

So.... back to the matter of that rogue handle. I still have no idea what caused the problem in the finish. (I wish I did!). But I haven't seen that problem before.

My suggestion: find someone with a great throwing arm who can hurl it into the distant scenery, where it will eventually return to nature.


Cheers
Rod

Edit:
It would be possible to sand it down, although that acrylic finish is pretty hard stuff. Part of the problem with refinishing it, is that the acrylic will have actually soaked INTO the surface of the wood too. If you sand it down you will get white acrylic dust. When you start getting wood dust.... stop sanding. That will leave the surface layer of wood which should still actually be waterproof.

If you sand into the wood, then just oil the wood, (linseed oil), or put on a proper hand rubbed finish with Danish Oil or... better still “Tru-Oil”, which is the stuff they use on gunstocks.

[Big_OC]

Thanks for chiming in Rod. I have no complaints about the outcome or the way everything was handled. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. As for the meaning of FUBAR, well, let's just say there's no need to look it up.

[shaverjoe]

When you are talking about the "acrylic" finish of the original brush- are you referring to a CA glue finish or something else?

[Neep]

When you are talking about the "acrylic" finish of the original brush- are you referring to a CA glue finish or something else?

Something else

[shaverjoe]

Something else

Thanks

[shaverjoe]

Something else

I should have looked at your website first. I could have read about the G2 finish there.

[Neep]

I should have looked at your website first. I could have read about the G2 finish there.

It doesn't say on my web site what it actually is. Apologies for the short reply above, so please forgive me for that, but I'm not telling.

OK... actually it is a two part acrylic.... a resin and a hardener. I found it by accident. When the two parts are mixed it is very runny and thin, intended for pouring, and I have found that if I use too much hardener then it will be even runnier, but cures very quickly at high speed on the lathe with added pressure causing a heat build up. I build up between five and ten thin coats of the stuff, and then sand it down from 120 grit (because it is rough).... down to 12,000 micromesh followed by a plastic polish.

Cheers
Rod

[shaverjoe]

Mr. Neep-
No need to apologize. I was looking for propriatary secrets :)

I have considered using something very similar called "ice resin". My wife uses it to make jewelry. It is just as you described- 2 part mixture that is very runny when mixed. It has a 1 hour work time but actually takes about 24 hours to cure. My wife runs heat over the mix to remove any bubbles as the mix cures. I haven't experimented with it under pressure on the lathe.

It doesn't say on my web site what it actually is. Apologies for the short reply above, so please forgive me for that, but I'm not telling.

OK... actually it is a two part acrylic.... a resin and a hardener. I found it by accident. When the two parts are mixed it is very runny and thin, intended for pouring, and I have found that if I use too much hardener then it will be even runnier, but cures very quickly at high speed on the lathe with added pressure causing a heat build up. I build up between five and ten thin coats of the stuff, and then sand it down from 120 grit (because it is rough).... down to 12,000 micromesh followed by a plastic polish.

Cheers
Rod