Knot Size for Metal Handle

Actually it's a marble handle, but the opening for the knot is brass. I've measured it with a ruler at about 18 mm. A dime fits in with a little wiggle room, but a penny doesn't fit at all. According to the U.S. Mint a dime is 17.91 mm and a penny is 19.05 mm. I'm concerned because I won't be able to widen the hole very easily. What size can I safely go with?

Also I had wanted to use a TGN Finest, but the closest size they have in Finest is 16 mm. Is that leaving too much wiggle room? If so, what can you recommend in an 18 mm knot with good backbone?

This one is important to me as I received the brush from my 92 year old father in law. He is no longer steady enough to use a brush and razor and has moved to an electric shaver.

Edit: I just checked out TGN. Here's what they have in 18 mm: Silvertip Premium, Silvertip Grade A, Best
As I said above, I want good backbone for face-lathering.

16 mm should be fine. The knot will bloom.

The 18 mm knot will likely be too tight.

Email TGN and ask them based on the tight fight of the dime. I think I read on their site that their knots are slightly smaller, so the 18 mm is really 17.5 mm.

The 16 mm would fit fine if it truly is 16 mm, but if it is really 15.5 mm it may be a bit loose.

I usually do the final fitting with the knot and handle in hand and gently open the hole with a Dremel with a drum sander. That doesn't sound like an option for you, but it might be. My artist friends tell me that marble is somewhat soft as far as rock goes, and that is why it is popular for carving statues.

I would still ask TGN for their comments.

Big Jim said:

The 18 mm knot will likely be too tight.

Email TGN and ask them based on the tight fight of the dime. I think I read on their site that their knots are slightly smaller, so the 18 mm is really 17.5 mm.

The 16 mm would fit fine if it truly is 16 mm, but if it is really 15.5 mm it may be a bit loose.

I usually do the final fitting with the knot and handle in hand and gently open the hole with a Dremel with a drum sander. That doesn't sound like an option for you, but it might be. My artist friends tell me that marble is somewhat soft as far as rock goes, and that is why it is popular for carving statues.

I would still ask TGN for their comments.

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I emailed TGN and received a response stating that they thought that the 18 mm would fit and that they have just listed 2 in Finest (it's down to 1 now!). Since the hole for the knot is a brass insert in the marble, I'm hoping it fits OK, because I don't think it will be easy to grind down the brass. In fact, if the 18 mm doesn't fit, I'll see if I can return it for a 16 mm. If that doesn't work, I'll be looking around for another handle.

Dont forget that you can also take the Dremel and grind down the knot core. You may lose some of the hair but it's an option. I've done that in the past without issue.

Steve_in_CT said:

I emailed TGN and received a response stating that they thought that the 18 mm would fit and that they have just listed 2 in Finest (it's down to 1 now!). Since the hole for the knot is a brass insert in the marble, I'm hoping it fits OK, because I don't think it will be easy to grind down the brass. In fact, if the 18 mm doesn't fit, I'll see if I can return it for a 16 mm. If that doesn't work, I'll be looking around for another handle.

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Brass is very soft as far as metals are concerned. It could easily be opened up a little with a Dremel drum sander if needed.

Another option might be to remove the brass sleeve entirely. That should give you another millimeter to handle the 18mm knot without any problem. There's no particular reason you can't epoxy the knot directly into the marble.

I received an 18 mm TGN Finest yesterday. It's a fine fit with regard to diameter. I would have preferred to set it a bit lower, but didn't want to try to drill through the bottom of the brass sleeve for fear of cracking the marble. So it's epoxied in there and I'll give it a go tomorrow morning.

Pictures!!!!!

At Big Jim's request, here's a picture of my father-in-law's old marble handled brush with a new TGN Finest knot. Next to it to provide a sense of proportion is my other restore, a Duke 2 with a Virginia Sheng Silvertip knot.

Nice Brush!

BladeShark said:

Dont forget that you can also take the Dremel and grind down the knot core. You may lose some of the hair but it's an option. I've done that in the past without issue.

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For sure it can be done so a "20mm" can fit to a 19mm hole
It's not necessary that you will damage the bristles if you have 1mm spare space to work
If you work little bit in the handle you can make the base knot conical
This way will fit and no hair loss.

Just reading this and I would have recommended you find a way to get the 18mm to work (as it turns out you did!). I have a 16mm in an ER travel brush, but I would not want that small a knot in my sinkside rotation. Beautiful handle and restoration. Enjoy it!

Thanks, everyone for the advice and encouragement. Having used in once now, I can say that the TGN Finest really is as good as everyone says. 18 mm is a bit on the small size, but I don't like terribly large brushes so it suits me well. I'm now sorry that I didn't go for a TGN Finest in my Duke 2 handle.

The only thing about this brush that will take some getting used to is the weight. Marble is heavy! I know it makes me sound like a wimp, but I found myself saying "my wrist is starting to get tired." I'm very attached to it because of how I came to own it, but I won't be buying any marble handle brushes in the future.