Looking for some suggestions.

[PalmettoMan]

A few weeks ago I picked up the brush pictured below for less than ten bucks. When I bought it I knew that the handle was cracked. I was and am still mostly just interested in using it, not it being some great score. Heck, I don't even know who made it.

Anyways, I cleaned it up. It took a few soakings of the bristles in dish soap, followed by quite a few lathers, to remove the dirt and grime from it. While this was going on, I watched the crack grow to what you see. It has since stopped growing. Part of the white portion of the handle (a shell?) is completely separated but still hasn't fallen off. It is kind of free floating, held on by fact that it is the greater portion of the middle of the handle. That make sense?

So, the question is, can anything be done to stop further cracking and reattach the damaged area? Or will it continue to crack even if repaired?

I was going to look for some glue that dries slower than CA and inject it behind the separated piece. After that, wrap it in something to insure it dries in the proper shape. Would that be a good place to start or has anyone else have a better way?

I'm just looking for options. I have no attachments to this brush but it lathers very well and I would like to save it if I can. The bristles look almost new other than the coating of funk they had. It has bed head in the picture.

 

[HisDukeNess]

Push epoxy in the cracks and clamp it (that will push the cracks together) if possible. If you can't clamp it togeather just fill in the cracks. You could prob find or make cream or off white colored epoxy.
Then micro mesh pad sand (when dry) the extra epoxy flush with the plastic of the handle. The pads will also refinish the plastic and shine up the epoxy...
I've had good luck with a cracked handle doing this, but not as bad as that...
i always like to do a squeeze test before buying a cracked handle... Squeeze as hard as you can to make sure the crack won't spread.
i have had one explode one time... I just kind of, set what was left of it in my hand down and walked off.
Fun at the ol' swap meet!

 

[ks6c]

Some of your options will depend on the cause of the crack. By that I mean, some of the vintage plastic actually shrinks with age (celluloid, for example) so trying to pull it together will result in even greater failure (DAMHIK - but here's the link!).

I find it curious that the crack expanded as you cleaned it up, so that could actually be the stress of lathering aggravating the crack, or it had me wondering if the handle has some kind of filler in the center that was expanding as it got waterlogged.

Either way, it will be a learning experience that won't cost you much!

 

[PalmettoMan]

Some of your options will depend on the cause of the crack. By that I mean, some of the vintage plastic actually shrinks with age (celluloid, for example) so trying to pull it together will result in even greater failure (DAMHIK - but here's the link!).

I find it curious that the crack expanded as you cleaned it up, so that could actually be the stress of lathering aggravating the crack, or it had me wondering if the handle has some kind of filler in the center that was expanding as it got waterlogged.

Either way, it will be a learning experience that won't cost you much!

I had thought of the cracking while latering but I think it expanded with the moisture like you suggested. That is kinda why I put the "shell" question in there. I have a newer picture, that I'll post when I get home, where the crack has shrunk considerably as it dried.

If you look closely at the photo, you can see a tiny bit where the cream portion is attached. Without that it would probably rotate freely, but not fall off. I can remember seeing some form of different material under the cream colored portion, that it was separated from, but have no clue as to what the material might be. It looked like plaster, but it could be dried resin, plastic, wood, rubber, or even cement. I doubt it's wood, plaster, or cement but I didn't want to tear it up fiddling with it.

I guess when I get home I'll soak it, to expand it, and have a poke at it with a hot needle. That should start moving me in the right direction as to the underlying materials identity.

Thanks, both of you, for the help so far.

 

[virtualkelly]

Okay <speculation follows>, based upon what I've read above and my experience with the innards of brushes, I would say that the inner substrate absorbed water, just enough to expand the existing cracks further. I would say it's likely plaster, which Ever-Ready and others used a lot. It doesn't absorb fast, but it absorbs enough to expand. It was never meant to get wet.

However, I also think the brush was initially cracked from a botched steam job to remove the knot by the previous owner. I've seen this with online purchases. Steaming is not a good idea, especially for two-piece handles. Anyway, you find these goofs for sale every once in a while, and the cracks get worse <speculation ends>. I mention that because it is unlikely you will get it to clamp back together, so filling is your best option.

For filling, I recommend marine epoxy putty. It comes in a 4-inch putty-in-a-putty tube shape and you pinch off a bit and kneed it to activated the hardener. You then fill the cracks with it a little at a time using your thumb. You have about 10 minutes to work. While working, dip your thumb in water to make it slicker. Or dip your fingers in rubbing alcohol to wipe them clean. You'll need to do both. Take excess off the handle with rubbing alcohol, so long as the epoxy is still wet. Alcohol doesn't work well on dry epoxy, only acetone, and acetone removes surface color too, so beware and work briskly while wet as not to need acetone.

In the end, epoxy putty, which you can buy at most hardware stores for $7, has epoxy-like filling qualities, plus adhesive qualities. Read the package and see in what color it dries. Just avoid the light blue. Most dry off-white which should look pretty good.

If you use sandpaper, the crack will collect the sandpaper's color too, a bad thing, unless you want obvious blue-gray stripes. Sanding pads may mitigate this, I'm not sure. Cracks can also hold the color of the polish you choose, so use something off-white, like Meguire's Scratch x2.0 from the auto parts store, NOT Flitz (blue), Maas (lavender), or Wenol (pink). I would do the most removal with alcohol and a wet thumb while the putty is still wet, then use the Meguire's to work out the rough spots when dry. It has light grit.

Then I would experiment with the base color after it's repaired. This whole repair can be done for about $10 and about 45 total minutes with polishing. I would then re-knot this black and white brush in black badger or finest and have a good story to tell! Just my 2 cents.