I can't believe what happen to...

[ezmike]

... my Rubberset 301N restoration.

Hey guys I need some help. This was one of three brushes in my first restoration. I posted about them in the link below. The Rubberset is the beautiful cream over green.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=164001

I use each brush in my rotation one week at a time so basically every brush is subject to the same conditions. So today would be the third day for the Rubberset.

I performed my same pre-shave routine, soaking the bowel and brush in hot water while I shower. When I was ready to shave I noticed a vertical crack the entire length of the cream portion of the brush that was not there yesterday. It seems to be stable being held together by the epoxy but I'm still very bummed about it.

If a photo of the Rubberset will help, I will do that later today.

Any ideas?

Mike

 

[JeffE]

A long vertical crack going through the collar after soaking the brush usually means one thing -- there is something inside the collar that expanded when wet or when heated, and the pressure of the expansion cracked the collar.

This has happened to me in the past, but only once when I made the mistake of soaking a wooden handled Rubberset overnight. The wood handle absorbed the water and expanded in a way that I was not expecting, and when I checked on the handle again, there was a long, straight, vertical crack running the entire length of the collar, which had split apart when the wood section inside the collar expanded. I ended up throwing the whole thing out.

Now it looks like your Rubberset does not have a wood handle, so I suspect that the problem might not be from absorbing water but rather from the heat. You say that you soak the brush and bowl in "hot" water, but how hot are we talking about? Hot enough to burn your hand if you put it in the water? If so, then the problem is probably the heat being transferred to the brush handle and collar. That kind of heat makes things expand, even plastics and resins, and when they expand, you can't be certain that there will be enough room inside the collar to accomodate the expansion. The resin used for making these older brushes is already pretty brittle with age, so it sounds like the hot water here might be your culprit.

If you like hot lather that much, why not try a scuttle instead? Personally, I don't see how heating the brush with super hot water is going to affect the temperature of the lather that much anyway. Keep in the lather in a heated bowl would probably do much more for you, not to mention saving your brushes from future mishaps like this one.

 

[spindlecone]

Epoxy heats and swells as it cures, I always set a knot in a slightly oversize hole to allow for some expansion, maybe thats what happened.
On another note, can you elaborate on your Bowel soak?

 

[bradyarz]

On another note, can you elaborate on your Bowel soak?

 

[Thebigspendur]

These old brushes were not exactly high end items and not made to last for ages. Over time the material just degrades and it can take very little to do them in. Sometimes it's a matter of the straw that broke the camels back.

 

[ezmike]

Thanks to all for responding.

When you refer to the "collar" would that be the ring that was sitting just below the top edge of the upper portion? If so, I left it in as I was afraid that while trying to remove it I would break the top of the handle.

The water is pretty hot, you cannot hold your hand under it.

I guess worse case is that I have to trash the handle and re-use the knot.

Mike

 

[JeffE]

I might not be using the term correctly, but I think of the "collar" as being the entire top part of the brush handle -- the part that has the hole in the middle, where you stick the glue and knot. In older brushes, you will see that this part is literally a thick ring or collar that screws onto the lower part of the brush handle, which is usually solid wood (or bakelite or something else).

Now, sometimes when you are restoring a brush and grinding or drilling the old knot, you will see that there is a smaller, thin plastic or metal ring that is set between the outer collar and the knot. I don't know what these little things are called -- but I wouldn't call them collars. In fact, sometimes, they have a little bottom on them so the entire part looks like a little cup or shelf with the knot sitting inside of it. In any event, these absolutely, positively should be REMOVED when you are restoring a brush. They take up room and will only interfere with your installing a new knot. Better to grind them out of there. And if removing the little inner ring causes your handle to crack, then it wasn't worth restoring in the first place, as that would be a handle that is too weak or deteriorated to make for a useable shaving brush.

One final point -- you mention reusing the knot, but after gluing it in place once (and I assume you used something permanent like epoxy), I would expect that the knot will not be able to be reused. Just wanted to make sure you knew that before you pull apart or trash your original brush. Good luck with everything!

 

[spindlecone]

If a good new Knot you can salvage it 9 times out of 10,On a bandsaw cut the handle in half below were you think the knot plug is.
On a disc sander, start sanding carefully until you see the outline of the knot plug.
put some rubber bands around the hair portion of the knot (tight)
On the bench take a small chisel, set the knot upright and lightly tap the plastic next to the knot, sometimes the entire collar will crack right off, sometimes you need to tap around the collar in several places, it will come off, than you can sand/cut off the epoxy, works most of the time, good luck.

 

[ezmike]

Thanks guys. Right now I'm looking for brushes that have a long wooden handle that I can remove the top ring and use it on this handle. I think I will be able to salvage the knot from this one.

I will keep you all posted.

Mike