I enjoy mining the boar knots from inexpensive plastic handles and then enjoying the knot in a nice artisan handle. I've done it successfully with an Omega and a Zenith, both of them plastic handles where the knot was easy to pull out.
Recently I purchased this Zenith unbleached boar, one of my favorite knots. But the handle was chromed resin, quite different than the plastic ones that easily fell apart when crushed in a vise. Today I decided to try get the unbleached boar out. Here is the intact brush held in a vise where I started by cutting the bottom off.
Once the bottom was cut off I could see how it was poured with resin right to the bottom.
Next, I cut through the chrome, hoping that it would pop off. It did not.
I could see that I needed to cut a second round off so that I could see how the knot plug was attached to the chrome exterior.
Now I could see the knot plug and was able to pry the shell off of it.
Which left the knot plug.
Unfortunately, my cutting with the hack saw wasn't very straight so I was left with a very lopsided knot.
But with a disk sander I'll be able to level it off and put it in the handle of my choice.
All of this in the name of science, research and progress! And for the curious, wondering what would happen if I tried to bust open that cheap chromed handle?
Recently I purchased this Zenith unbleached boar, one of my favorite knots. But the handle was chromed resin, quite different than the plastic ones that easily fell apart when crushed in a vise. Today I decided to try get the unbleached boar out. Here is the intact brush held in a vise where I started by cutting the bottom off.
