1st attempt at a restoration, need conceptual advice

[Rico Suave]

Hi all. I've never done a restoration, but I recently was given an old Ever Ready 100T handle with a totally beat knot that someone was going to throw away. I rescued it because the handle is actually in pretty good shape.

Naturally, I decided that I need to restore this bad boy. I watched some youtube restoration vids, and think I have the general idea, but I have one giant question left. My question is best illustrated by a top view, showing what was left after I got the bristles out:

Here is where I reveal my ignorance. A penny fits perfectly in that interior space, so the inner diameter is roughly 19mm. A quarter covers that inner piece almost perfectly, so its diameter is about 24mm. I see two possibilities.

1) I will need to get that inner piece out, and put in a 24mm knot.
2) I will need to set a small knot, say 18mm inside that piece.

Which is it?

 

[Rico Suave]

Ok, did some more digging and found this thread which address my question. The answer is that people have gone both ways.

I think what I'll (first) do is leave the shelf in place ad using a small knot. If that does not satisfy, I can yank it and try the second method.

I think this calls for boar. Any opinions on golden nib knots?

 

[CigarSmoka]

The boar knots from TGN are outstanding. I was taken by surprise when I first used mine. None of the scritch I was expecting, just an awesome lathering brush with a great feel to it. I think you'll be very happy with it. They're in the same price range as cheaper synths, but a far better knot imo.

 

[Rico Suave]

That is exactly what I hoped to hear. I went ahead and ordered, will post photos when my restoration effort is complete. Thank you for your help.