"French Bristle"

[TonyJoe]

I picked up an Opal brush from a certain auction site, intending to restore it with a knot from TGN or maybe Whipped Dog. When I received it, the original knot still looked pretty good, so I thought I'd give it a go. The handle says it's "Pure French Bristle". Anyone familiar with this term? I'm guessing it's some sort of high-end boar bristle. The knot is 22-23mm x 60mm. I've used it for a couple of shaves now and it's a bit odd. It doesn't feel like any boar brush I've used. It is very soft and floppy, it doesn't seem to load much soap even with lengthy load times and it doesn't create much volume in the lather. I have an old Erskine badger brush that's even floppier, yet it runs circles around this Opal in terms of lather generating. I will probably stick with my original plan of replacing the knot.

Here's some pics:

After a cleanup and test lather:

 

[oscar11]

Nice looking brush. If you redo it are you going to use badger or boar for the knot?

 

[TonyJoe]

I think it will be a silvertip of some sort. The only boar knots I know of that would be worth using would be the Omegas with the buckets on them, and I don't think it would look good with this brush.

 

[Mike H]

The top of your brush has an ivory look to it, very cool.

 

[mblakele]

The top is celluloid, I think, and may burn easily. Taking extra care if you plan to use any power tools on it.

This article mentions French bristles. It comes from the 1920 National Drug Clerk: The Journal of the National Association of Drug Clerks, Volume 8, p508.

The Russian bristle is strong and tapering, sometimes seven inches long, either black or white.
The Chinese bristle is less firm and durable and is about five and half inches long.
The German bristle varies from short to six inches long. In it is black brown and white.
The French bristle is third in value.
The American bristle is short, two to three inches long, but is fine and flexible. It is the cheapest and is used for mixing with other bristles.

 

[TonyJoe]

The top is celluloid, I think, and may burn easily. Taking extra care if you plan to use any power tools on it.

This article mentions French bristles. It comes from the 1920 National Drug Clerk: The Journal of the National Association of Drug Clerks, Volume 8, p508.

Interesting Article. And thanks for the warning about the celluloid. When/if the time comes for the Dremel, I'll be extra cautious.

 

[Snargle]

I've found that many old boar/bristle brushes are basically worn out. The bristles have lost any rigidity and tend to flop over at the faintest pressure. It's a beautiful handle and should make a wonderful brush when you replace the knot with a nice badger. Some guys have used Omega knots in vintage handles...you can carefully remove the plastic cup, and if the glue is solid enough to hold everything together, transplant it into an old handle. Fortunately, the Omega brushes are inexpensive enough that you can afford to experiment.

 

[TonyJoe]

I've found that many old boar/bristle brushes are basically worn out. The bristles have lost any rigidity and tend to flop over at the faintest pressure. It's a beautiful handle and should make a wonderful brush when you replace the knot with a nice badger. Some guys have used Omega knots in vintage handles...you can carefully remove the plastic cup, and if the glue is solid enough to hold everything together, transplant it into an old handle. Fortunately, the Omega brushes are inexpensive enough that you can afford to experiment.

I was thinking about this. What would be the best way to get the plastic cup off?

 

[Snargle]

I was thinking about this. What would be the best way to get the plastic cup off?

I haven't tried it but it shouldn't need anything more than some sharp implements (knife, chisel, etc.) and lots of patience and caution.

 

[TonyJoe]

Well, here's the finished product.


Some of the smaller lettering in the bottom was just too shallow to hold the paint, but it still looks pretty good. I wound up using a knot that I've had in a brush for about a year. It's a 22mm TGN Super Silvertip that I had in a friction fit in an Ever-Ready lucite handle that is pretty beat up. I really like the knot and I wanted to get it in a handle that I liked better. The loft is at 52mm which I found to have good flow-through and softness balanced with some backbone for just a little bit of scrub.

One flaw in this handle is that the top is actually slightly crooked. It looks like it came that way from the factory, but it isn't really noticeable unless you look closely.

 

[GDCarrington]

Well, here's the finished product.
View attachment 376399View attachment 376400

Some of the smaller lettering in the bottom was just too shallow to hold the paint, but it still looks pretty good. I wound up using a knot that I've had in a brush for about a year. It's a 22mm TGN Super Silvertip that I had in a friction fit in an Ever-Ready lucite handle that is pretty beat up. I really like the knot and I wanted to get it in a handle that I liked better. The loft is at 52mm which I found to have good flow-through and softness balanced with some backbone for just a little bit of scrub.

One flaw in this handle is that the top is actually slightly crooked. It looks like it came that way from the factory, but it isn't really noticeable unless you look closely.

Nice work!

 

[Useless shaver]

Great "refurbishment", sir!

 

[gearchow]

Well, here's the finished product.

Some of the smaller lettering in the bottom was just too shallow to hold the paint, but it still looks pretty good. I wound up using a knot that I've had in a brush for about a year. It's a 22mm TGN Super Silvertip that I had in a friction fit in an Ever-Ready lucite handle that is pretty beat up. I really like the knot and I wanted to get it in a handle that I liked better. The loft is at 52mm which I found to have good flow-through and softness balanced with some backbone for just a little bit of scrub.

One flaw in this handle is that the top is actually slightly crooked. It looks like it came that way from the factory, but it isn't really noticeable unless you look closely.

Really like this handle and the restore you did is excellent. So did you friction fit this one or did you make the commitment?

-jim

 

[TonyJoe]

Thanks guys.

I epoxied this one so I'm totally committed, gearchow. I hadn't used the knot in a couple of months just to make sure it was absolutely dry. I used it this morning and it was quite nice! I'd been getting by with a NOS Ever Ready 100T and an Omega 49 that was thrown in with a $10 auction I won on that bay thing. They work well but aren't quite as luxurious as a silvertip.