First Restoration: Art Deco Ever-Ready 250 with Questions on The Original Knot

The Ever-Ready 250 handle cavity was deepened with a Dremel tool to the original Catlin shelf, which appeared at 12mm. Some of the original glue was not removed from the lower side wall to enable a tightly centered placement. A trial fitting before setting the knot with dyed brown marine epoxy, revealed that the Omega brush had excellent backbone at 12 millimeters. God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown

Love that handle! Nice work!

Thank you Florida Shaver! I will touch-up the gold lettering on the Ever-Ready side name plate, and the word SET-and we will call it done! It will take twenty-four hours for the marine epoxy to cure; a test drive will follow. God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown

Very very nice. Great job. Did you salvage the handle from the omega? Or was that sacrificed?

Jon; The Omega shaving brush handle was sawed, ground, or otherwise rendered useless by my 1965 Dremel tool. It died a noble yet violent death; its memory shall indeed live on with each use of the Ever-Ready 250. God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown

mgbbrown said:

Jon; The Omega shaving brush handle was sawed, ground, or otherwise rendered useless by my 1965 Dremel tool. It died a noble yet violent death; its memory shall indeed live on with each use of the Ever-Ready 250. God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrownView attachment 606905

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Classic! It looks great Tony! Can't wait to see it totally done.

Keen Dog; The letters that require a retouch are shallow impressions and do not hold paint well. This may take a while... Thanks Man! God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown

I think I'll be in the same boat with my Resto. Is it tiny brush time?

Allen; Toothpick time methinks for delicately removing any background surface paint. You can also strip a Q-Tip to just the handle, and use that as a tool. Both can be dipped in paint thinner as well. I wait with baited breath to see your Ever-Ready 200-once it is finished, you can join the club too! Your Pass It Forward package is on its way, so you can also be a Super Speed Saturday kind-o-guy as well...God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown

Yul Brynner in the TEN COMMANDMENTS said-"So shall it be written, so shall it be done!" God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown

Brush looks great! So does Yul. Very strong presence that man had. I bet he would have loved to lather up with your brush! I will try to work on my brush a little tomorrow while I watch the hockey game. Wife will be at work and the children in bed. IT will be a good time to concentrate! Take Care!
Adam

Thank you Adam! I have my eyes on an Art Deco Rubberset 300 to go with it. Yul was indeed a strong presence, and he was BBS (baby bottom smooth) for THE TEN COMMANDMENTS I assure you. Makes you wonder how the Egyptians in Ramses III's time got those bronze razors so sharp...but if they could make the pyramids, then no telling what else they could do-it just has not been uncovered archaeologically speaking!

Although the E in Ever-Ready and the word SET have not darkened as have the rest of the lettering, they will soon meet muster, even it I have to apply more paint in the various letter cavities. The ridging on the handle was quite purposeful, as it can be gripped easily despite its circumference, yet stays in your hand through the motions of swirling lather-at least on a dry run-I decided to let the epoxy harden some more over night. Since the handle is cast Catlin and not hollow-it is quite heavy for a shaving brush in my opinion. The knot replicates the original well, so my goal of restoring it to period was successful.

This experience may require thinning out the herd to be more in line, date-wise, to the Art Deco period, so it looks like the 1958 TV Special will be traded, say, for an excellent earlier Super Speed. Your box was not mailed as I did not realize it was a postal holiday-so if you prefer that style, just say the word. Thanks again for the compliment Allen! God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown

I was able to use the Ever-Ready 250, Art Deco, banded badger hair and boar bristle shaving brush this morning to lather, using modern Williams shaving mug soap. I use either a World War II US Navy watch cup or a Roseville bowl from the same period to swirl lather, and with the coarser boar bristle knot center- it was effortless. Applying the lather to my face with the outer banded badger hair was also quite comfortable. The effort to restore this brush to its original configuration was well-worth it! God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrownView attachment 607594

Looking good!

Thanks Adam! I chose to give the marine epoxy an extra day drying time as insurance, due to adding paint to replicate the dark brown glue used originally. The brush is indeed the best of my vintage ones, with perhaps the Stanly Home Products banded badger and boar bristle brush vying for a distant second. It is quite substantial feeling too, with its large girth and heavier weight. I'm drying it upside down after a thorough washing in hand dish detergent. God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown

Super job! Great work Tony!
I may call on you to do one for me one day in the future!

Great job Tony. I am going to restore my Stanhome the same way

Dionesius3; I would be honored to restore a brush for you, and thank you for the compliment. I took the brush today to work to show a doctor friend whom I introduced to vintage shaving- it sat on my desk and took in some UV light-the letters that I thought were too light darkened up quite a bit! It looks really nice now! I enjoy the creativity, challenge, and thrill of the hunt!


Roderick; Snap some photos of your Stanly Home Products brush- I have two supposedly NOS ones with stands, but the Elephant Foot is not a matched set. The photographs do not represent their details well at all, as the glare from the lights makes them appear damaged. One was made by Rubberset for them-it just has a proprietary endcap and is molded in tan instead of black plastic their model 89-Fuller did the same with some of their brushes, but I have nothing definitive to suggest that. Thank you Sir!

God Bless you both! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown

Better photographs this time... God Bless! Tony

The original style banded badger hair and boar bristle knot has certainly bloomed nicely, with virtually no hair loss from the sacrificial Omega Mighty Midget shaving brush. I will be finding pieces of that destroyed handle on the garage floor for years to come. The hunt for another Ever-Ready shaving brush from the same period to restore has begun! God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown