I had decided not to restore any brushes for a while . . . . but

then I walked into a local antique store and found these for $9 for the pair. Of course, I brought them home! They will be my first restoration jobs so I've got lots of questions for you guys who are old hands at this.


I have read some of the B&B threads on restoration and I have a plan for removing the old knots and cleaning the holes. Then the questions arise:
1) the red brush has no markings - - anyone have an idea about its blood lines?
2) the Ever-Ready butterscotch doesn't have a model number - - can you tell from the shape, etc?
3) where can I find paint to match the original color on the Ever-Ready? and what do I use to polish the black rubber? and how do I enhance the lettering - - some paint is left in the letters but I'm expecting to lose some when I polish the rubber?
4)approx. how deep is the knot set? how deep should I drill on the first pass to remove it? Maybe about half an inch? Figured I'd start with about a quarter inch and then feel my way down to the bottom but it would help to have an idea of what I might find.
Thanks guys for your help and insight. All tips and suggestions are welcome!

Sheb said:

I have read some of the B&B threads on restoration and I have a plan for removing the old knots and cleaning the holes. Then the questions arise:
1) the red brush has no markings - - anyone have an idea about its blood lines?
2) the Ever-Ready butterscotch doesn't have a model number - - can you tell from the shape, etc?
3) where can I find paint to match the original color on the Ever-Ready? and what do I use to polish the black rubber? and how do I enhance the lettering - - some paint is left in the letters but I'm expecting to lose some when I polish the rubber?
4)approx. how deep is the knot set? how deep should I drill on the first pass to remove it? Maybe about half an inch? Figured I'd start with about a quarter inch and then feel my way down to the bottom but it would help to have an idea of what I might find.
Thanks guys for your help and insight. All tips and suggestions are welcome!

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1. No idea, but that is a cool looking brush. I would sand all the old paint off and repaint it.
2. Look in this thread for ideas...http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/109533-Ever-ready-model-numbers-post-your-numbers-here
3. The Ever Ready was not painted, a black resin ferrule and varnish coated wood handle. Polish the ferrule with 2000 grit sandpaper, followed by plastic polish, use testers paint, or fingernail polish to highlight the letters. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...es-to-painting-numbers-and-letters?highlight=
4. How deep? A matter of personal preference, I like a knot with a 2:1 loft to width ratio.

Thanks Mike!
1) I agree. remove the old paint and repaint it.
2) I've seen that thread and it does indeed have some beautiful brushes!
3) Your method for polishing the resin was exactly the info I need. I've never worked with resin and was really worried about scratching it and making a mess of it! The link to the instructional post is fantastic! Cant thank you enough for that one!
4) My original question was poorly worded. I too like the 2:1 loft to width ratio. But do you have a feel for how deep the original knot is set? I'm wondering how deep to drill into it to remove it.
Again, thanks, thanks, thanks for your input! My confidence has taken a great boost thanks to the solid info! Most appreciated.

I usually will drill and clean out to the top of the handle (about 2 cm), then build it back up as needed.

got it. that makes the initial depth irrelevant. thanks Mike.

Cool handles. Should look great when redone.

All of this is personal taste... but after removing the knot and rubber adhesives...

... I would use the repeated dipping method on the red one after stripping off all the paint. Dipping ... that way there are no brush marks. I would re-dip, dry, re-dip it in high gloss enamel until it looks like a plastic toy and use a high-gloss candy-apple colored paint. I would chemically strip it if it has any lettering, rather than sand -- this to possibly maintain any stamped words, dates, trademarks, etc. Sand lightly and/or selectively if pitted.

I would strip the wood on the second one and choose a golden stain and then use several coats of high gloss poly over that. You can get both at any hardware store. Both brushes look like hard maple, like a hammer handle, so they will take stain and paint slowly but smoothly. FYI.

Polish the black portion with any good metal/plastic polish, like Flitz. Repaint lettering with a single-hair brush or the smear and clean method, if doable.

Your handles are all wood, so expect wood at the end of your drill or tool. Plastics... including Catalan, and Bakelite, can sometimes be hollow or have platforms, but I wouldn't expect that from wood handles, which are generally turned from a blank. If your wood handle has "sterilized" stamped or painted on it, it's likely sometime after 1919. If not, it's possibly before. I mention this because your brushes are both all wood, which possibly makes them older.

The red one looks 20mm at the opening, so I would pick a 22mm knot and widen the opening as it will be about 23-24mm at the bulge. This allows for natural look at the opening. The blond one looks 20mm, and I would stick with that because of the rim and the barber style of the brush.

Expect the hole in both brushes to be about 10mm deep, shallow by contemporary standards, but they can be drilled possibly as deep as 18mm as they seem all wood. You can always backfill with washers and coins for weight, like someone else mentioned. I would ultimately leave them semi-shallow, about 13-14mm at the deepest, and pick knots that work with this per your taste.

I am a purist and I think deep drilling holes is a means to poor knot drying, which leads to wet-rot and mold, especially with wood handles if not sealed well with epoxy. Backfill and use epoxy glue to fill this space in the knot opening. Better yet, find a dense, short loft knot instead if that's what you want. These older brushes look nice with a 53-57mm loft in badger in my opinion -- a bit longer if boar / horse hair. Good luck!

Awesome response "Kelly"! I'm away from home today but will post dimensions, hole depths, etc tomorrow evening. Meanwhile, here's where things stand now. First, the red handle. I started to cut the knot away with a razor blade and after a few slices it came loose and I was able to pull it out.



The inside is charred and crusty. Very hard and glazed feeling.



The hole depth is 15mm. I'll post the diameter when I get back home, but I think it is 22mm. I really like the dipping idea for repainting! And candy apple red is my all time favorite color from my model car days back in the 50's and 60's. This handle has no lettering at all. So maybe that means it's older than the 1920's? If it's that old, it almost seems a shame to repaint it - all evidence of it's age would be gone. What do you think of just applying a few coats of clear finish "as is" so the age remains apparent? I'm just kinda toying with that idea and would appreciate your thoughts.

With the Ever-Ready brush, I just tugged on the bristles and they came right out. The rubber cap was very loose , so I took it off for easy cleaning and to re-seat it in epoxy. The wood is slightly eroded with wear but easily repaired with epoxy. Again, there is no lettering other than what's visible on the rubber cap. Nothing on the bottom, no identification number either. Do you think this one too is pre-1919?

These knots do pop out frequently on older brushes, thankfully. Sometimes, people have pre-steamed them and they are loose. I don't recommend steaming for anything but wood and one-piece. Bad things can happen with two-piece. I say all this because I think old knot removal is the most unpleasant part of restorations.

That charred stuff is the old rubber adhesive that has just gotten old and brittle. I would remove it and consider what's under it to be the base and build / cut from there.

Your barber style brush says "sterilized" on the ring, so it's post 1919. The red one, we'll never know so have fun with it. Go candy-apple red. That would be near-original. The alternative to any restoration is the trash can, so you have something you can leave behind to family or even a stranger that's older than both of you.

I like natural for the Ever-Ready. Realize, using any stain and clear poly will give it a natural look, with grain showing through, so I think it will be nice and be kind of goldish, sounds like you might be seeking more of a wet look, which is fine too. I have a really old pre-1919 one with a metal band and I have left it alone, but it's more walnut-colored and natural. I am not going to restore it.

As far as knots go, I would go some kind of badger in the red one and either horse hair or a long-loft black badger knot in the other.

Enjoy!

This one has a silver colored metal band glued inside the rubber cap. Is that what you're referring to?

Sheb said:

This one has a silver colored metal band glued inside the rubber cap. Is that what you're referring to?

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If you're referring to mine, no, the cap on mine is all-metal and deep olive colored. It's also Rubberset.

Ah yes. That's not the way I imagined the metal band. Nice old brush! Regarding your suggestions for knots on my brushes, I've already ordered TGN Finest badger for the red one. And I ordered a boar for the Ever-Ready because it seemed most like the original. TGN doesn't offer horse or the long loft black badger. Can you suggest another source that I can check? I really appreciate your input on this project! Thanks!

Sheb said:

Ah yes. That's not the way I imagined the metal band. Nice old brush! Regarding your suggestions for knots on my brushes, I've already ordered TGN Finest badger for the red one. And I ordered a boar for the Ever-Ready because it seemed most like the original. TGN doesn't offer horse or the long loft black badger. Can you suggest another source that I can check? I really appreciate your input on this project! Thanks!

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Then you're good to go. Horse is hard to get, but...

For horse hair, check the links on this post...
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/408155-Horse-Hair-Knots ... but I think they only have knots at 24mm, which might be big for your brush.

For so-called "less hair black badger knots" with a high loft, try VIG Shaving, a store on Ebay. I am not a fan of Virginia's customer service, so caveat emptor. The good thing about buying from TGN or Larry is that they have already culled out the poor quality and offer quick resolution to issues if the knots are not up to snuff. Not so in China.

However, I think these knots would look good in the old barber-style boar/horse brush handles, as an alternative.