A Tale of 2 Brushes

[Hex]

My son is home for the holidays and the last time he was here, he admired my restored butterscotch and expressed a wish to try and do one himself. I posted a WTB plus kept an eye on the Bay.

Thanks to Cpool222 for his kind offer and thanks to an unknown Bay'er for his sale to us.

We order the knots from TGN and are now eagerly awaiting them.

I must say that the Bay model might be a perfect brush. I bought it MIB and it was as described.

Pics follow:

 

[Hex]

Here it is as we progressed.

The structure inside the handle was a bit odd that we discovered as he was drilling it out.

1st was the normal knot and glue material followed by white bakelite.
Cool says I, it's a solid brush. Then immediately the drill passed into a void so we stopped. So, not totally hollow, but we were wondering why the partial bakelite plug. In any respect, he's ready for his new attire.

 

[Hex]

Some blood was shed on this, getting the old knot out.

Directly under the glue, or maybe it was the glue, was some dark black material, like road tar that melted as it was being drilled out. Very odd.
There was also some chunks of what looks like crystallized glue that we succeeded in getting partially out.
The black gunk really gummed up the Dremel bits.

The original knot looked so good that we tried to use it as was, but when it got wet, it pretty much tipped over and died.

The shadow in Pic 1 is just that, not a mark.
The blood shows up in Pic 3.

Last pic is my butterscotch and while not an identical twin, it's close enough to be a fraternal twin.

 

[Jethro1984]

Beautiful end result. Well done!

 

[dfollett_98]

Hex:

Sorry about the nick and blood loss but that is one beautiful brush. Well done gentlemen! Thanks for sharing.

Don

 

[Piff]

Nice butterscotch. Nice #58 as well. I've got one and it's a pretty big brush for my wee digits. (Haven't tried using it yet.)

Regards.

 

[Vinny Bobo]

Great job!

 

[Schwert]

Nicely done. A fine old classic handle too.

 

[Piff]

You know, after looking at that handle, it's slightly different than the one I have. Is that a Made Rite #58, or something else?

Oh, and what knot do you plan on putting in it?

Regards.

 

[Hex]

You know, after looking at that handle, it's slightly different than the one I have. Is that a Made Rite #58, or something else?

Oh, and what knot do you plan on putting in it?

Regards.

Yes, it's a MR #58 and we will put in a TGN, 22mm Super.

 

[mretzloff]

Nice result!

 

[M80]

The structure inside the handle was a bit odd that we discovered as he was drilling it out.

1st was the normal knot and glue material followed by white bakelite.
Cool says I, it's a solid brush. Then immediately the drill passed into a void so we stopped. So, not totally hollow, but we were wondering why the partial bakelite plug.

Directly under the glue, or maybe it was the glue, was some dark black material, like road tar that melted as it was being drilled out. Very odd.
There was also some chunks of what looks like crystallized glue that we succeeded in getting partially out.
The black gunk really gummed up the Dremel bits.

I have read that hollowed out shaving brushes used to be a popular way for drug smugglers to transport drugs. I believe the DEA even has some examples of these brushes on display in their museum. I wonder....

 

[Hex]

They're finished and I think they turned out pretty well.

The taller is a 22mm Super Silvertip
The shorter is a 22mm, 2-band finest, extra hair.
Both set to about 50mm loft.

I was surprised to see that the 2-band hairs were whiter than the super. Somehow, I had expected them to be about the same, and I can think of no reason why I would think that way.

They have both been test lathered and dried twice. Beginning to bloom nicely though I am curious as to why the super has bloomed more.