Have had a cheap boar from VDH for many years. Finally a chunk fell out of the middle. I really enjoyed using the brush. Instead of throwing it away, I thought it might be an inexpensive way of dabbling in brush restoration. I’m sure you folks can help me out with knot suggestions. Thanks in advance, I know there will be lots of awesome info!!
Filling a VDH handle
- Thread starter Villalobos
- Start date
I would advise against steaming the knot out. I discolored my handle doing it on mine. There's actually a plastic insert that the knot is glued into, then the insert is glued into the handle. I would imagine if you tug and twist the knot enough it will probably come out. Throw the old knot and the insert away.
I filled mine with pennies and nickels. 22mm Maggard synth.
I filled mine with pennies and nickels. 22mm Maggard synth.
I filled mine with a 24mm knot from the Golden Nib. When I was dry fitting the knot it got stuck so it's there with no glue for over a year.
Some great looking restorations! Congratulations gentlemen!! 
- Thread starter
- #5
Thanks for the tips! Those look great! You would think as easy as the middle fell out, the rest would too lol. But not the case. How big do you think I can go, saw a maggards goes up to 30mm for synthetic. I have a Badger, boar, and an everyready badgerlon. Think I would like to try a synthetic.
You want the knot to be 1.5 - 2mm smaller than the diameter of the hole. You can go with an even bigger difference but it decreases the backbone while increasing the splay so I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re going to use a synth. I haven’t had a synth with a glue bump above the plug yet, so that shouldn’t be an issue like it sometimes can with badgers. Drill that sucker out if you have a dremel, measure the hole & order your knot. Then post pics after you set it!
No need to drill it out. It's hollow under that plug. You just need to get the plug out. I had to go 22mm in mine. I had 24mm Tuxedo and Cashmere knots and neither would fit.
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