Step-by-step Ever-Ready brush restoration

[RayH]

After reading the thread, I need to try this with my old Surrey boar. Whole plug cam out. Will probably just have to buy the nib and clean the insides of the handle.

[JarheadSgt]

Do you mean if the brush ends up having a knot, say 22mm, you could grab a 22mm drill bit and drill out the handle?

If you do, try it on a drill press, but its probably going to be too much torque and the bit will either grab or split the handle. If done with a hand held drill...........well...........i kinda see stitches in your future.

Yes.

Using a self-centering vise on a drill press. You always start with small pilot holes and increase drill bit diameter gradually.

I do some custom woodworking and I still have all ten, thank you very much.

[ECOSSE]

I do some custom working and I still all ten, thank you very much.

[JarheadSgt]

For you guys who've already done this I ask you; Why the huge price difference between the Golden Nib and Blankity?

I have my handle ready and checked both places and Blankity is more than twice price. What gives?

[sol92258]

For you guys who've already done this I ask you; Why the huge price difference between the Golden Nib and Blankity?

I have my handle ready and checked both places and Blankity is more than twice price. What gives?

I've wondered before too, and I think I remember reading somewhere the Blankity Blanks knots are hand-made...that may or may not be reliable info, but it would explain the significant difference

[JarheadSgt]

I wonder if anyone has had experience with both. I would assume the Nib's are the same knots that PenWorks uses in the brushes he makes.

Has anyone used one from Blankity? My handle is ready and it's just itchin' for me to sink a knot in it.

[JarheadSgt]

Because the new knot is going into the cheap plastic handle of the "VDH Phoenix restoration project" I went with the less expensive option and ordered a 24mm Silver Tip from PenWorks. It's his only 24mm option.

I'm recording the transformation so I will post pictures when it's done. The only brush I have to compare it with is my Vulfix 2233S.

I'd still like hear from any folks that have any experience with the knots from Blankity Blanks.

Regards,
TonyD

[dixee6]

Sheesh! Everytime you guys mention an Ever-ready I'm lookin' to find a battery!

[Jim]

While a little late, to fill the void in the handle you could grind up a wine cork and mix it into the epoxy to make a paste. Saw dust works as well.
Nice job!

[Darjeeling Express]

While a little late, to fill the void in the handle you could grind up a wine cork and mix it into the epoxy to make a paste. Saw dust works as well.
Nice job!

Now you tell me! Anyway, its holding up after 2 shaves. This is fun.

[sol92258]

While a little late, to fill the void in the handle you could grind up a wine cork and mix it into the epoxy to make a paste. Saw dust works as well.
Nice job!

I must try to remember this bit of wisdom

[JarheadSgt]

Guys, to fill this very small void have you forgotten your hod-rod days? Or, am I in the wrong place to expect anyone here rod'ed and did their own body work?

[brothers]

Hello. I like tools, and I like working on stuff, and fixing almost anything. I want to take an old brush and put new badger in it, for my own use. The part of the process that really puzzles me is the photo of a brush with a huge drill bit sticking down into it. That's not realilstic. Exactly what is happening in that photo? "Drilling out" the old bristles with a great big old drill bit is not practical is it? Drills are for making holes in places where there aren't any holes. If you had a way to hold onto the old brush without being dumb enough to hold onto it with a bare hand, then you'd just drill right through the brushy part, with no resistance at all, then your drill would just keep on drilling, and I see no reason you'd want to do that. What am I missing here? Why would anyone want to drill a big hole down into a nice old brush? I think there must be a lot of undisclosed details. Please help me out, because I want to do it, and I want to do it right, and not destroy a perfectly good old brush. Thanks!

[sol92258]

when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail....
whatever method you can use to get the old knot out, use it. some have mentioned a hot water soak to soften the glue holding the knot in, I tried that and it didn't work well. I tried the drill, ended up blowing through the "knot shelf", as I call it, the part of the handle that the knot rests on inside the handle. then I broke out my trusty Black & Decker RTX (like a Dremel), with a cutting bit, looks kinda like a gear, and cut the old knot out of the brush you see in post #35, then used a sanding wheel for the rotary tool to clean it up a bit.
Heck, before I tried the drill bit, I was using a screwdriver to try and pick and pry the old knot out...not really recommended.
what is recommended though, by me at least, is if you decide to use a power tool of some sort, do it outside if possible, those chewed up hairs form a mighty fine dust cloud EVERYWHERE in the vicinity
good luck, post pics!

[ECOSSE]

I had an old Herban Cowboy brush I decided to 'upgrade' with a knot from Tony @ Golden Nib. I used a Makita version of a rotozip to clean out the area from the old knot. Worked like a charm and would have overdone it if I wasn't paying attention. Also wanted to sink in the new knot a little farther as the knot from Golden Nib was quite long, atleast longer than I'm used to, a 22mmx67mm finest that I got down to about 58mm loft. This thing is amazingly floppy compared to what I'm used to, but it still needs to be broken in a bit.

[brothers]

Great info guys. That is kind of what I was thinking about. I'll give it a whirl and hopefully, if it isn't a total mess afterwards, I'll post something. It'll probably take a little while to think my way through it. Do you think a little dab of JB Weld would work to fix the new brush in place, or is there something better?

[sol92258]

Do you think a little dab of JB Weld would work to fix the new brush in place, or is there something better?

epoxy...I've heard of folks using JBW, but I've used plain old clear epoxy, some folks use marine epoxy for extra peace of mind, but I feel reg. epoxy is waterproof enough for me

[Vinny Bobo]

Hello. I like tools, and I like working on stuff, and fixing almost anything. I want to take an old brush and put new badger in it, for my own use. The part of the process that really puzzles me is the photo of a brush with a huge drill bit sticking down into it. That's not realilstic. Exactly what is happening in that photo? "Drilling out" the old bristles with a great big old drill bit is not practical is it? Drills are for making holes in places where there aren't any holes. If you had a way to hold onto the old brush without being dumb enough to hold onto it with a bare hand, then you'd just drill right through the brushy part, with no resistance at all, then your drill would just keep on drilling, and I see no reason you'd want to do that. What am I missing here? Why would anyone want to drill a big hole down into a nice old brush? I think there must be a lot of undisclosed details. Please help me out, because I want to do it, and I want to do it right, and not destroy a perfectly good old brush. Thanks!

I've been doing this for some time and I use the biggest drill bit that will fit in my drill initially to grab large clumps of bristles and yank them out, beginning in the center. A small bit doesn't catch nearly as many bristles as the big bit. I use a smaller bit around the edge because it give me more control and you do not want the bitgrinding the edge of the brush. ( and I hold the brush in my bare hand. No problem. )

[brothers]

OK, that makes sense. After the initial removal, do you switch over to smaller more precise tools or instruments, like a dremel?

[Vinny Bobo]

OK, that makes sense. After the initial removal, do you switch over to smaller more precise tools or instruments, like a dremel?

I have a Dremel but I have gotten good with a regular drill and small bit, so I just continue wiith the drill. The Dremel would probably be easier to manipulate though.