This thread is for all the members with a B&B hobbyist badge to display their excellent brush creations and restorations. Pics are a must. We love eye candy!
I totally understand, but this other hobby (machining) makes it possible to make many other things - it is an "enabler" hobby (if such a thing exists!)Oh no! Another hobby to pursue! Must.... resist....
I used two-part clear epoxy, which I also used in my very first knot upgrade 5 months ago (which is my daily use brush) and after 5-months of use it is still working great and holding on strong.Do you use marine epoxy to seat the knots?
Lovely machining and that swarf is incredible! Forgive my ignorance but I can't work out the reason for the Delrin insert... there appears to be a small step inside anyway for the knot to sit on? Would love an explanation....
Thanks.
To lower the weight of the handle, I drilled the Titanium stock much deeper than required for the knot. The Delrin spacer then raises the knot to the desired position. To be able to fine-tune the position of the knot, I made the Delrin spacer a little long, and then I tried the knot and cut the Delrin spacer, and tried it again, a couple of times until I got the position I wanted (Delrin is far easier to cut than the Titanium).
What appears as a step for the knot is actually an inside groove for the epoxy. As the epoxy is applied to the inside surfaces of the hole, the epoxy will enter this groove - once the epoxy dries, it will form a mechanical bond which will make it much harder for the knot to come out. I did this since the Titanium has a different thermal expansion than of the knot and the epoxy so I wanted the assembly to stay together for a long while.
AI made one from Manganese Bronze which was heavy but I liked this (in hindsight it is a bit too heavy so will be bore some more material out the centre next time)