This post will show how to get a Zenith boar knot out of its original plastic handle. It's information I looked for and could not find so I'll post it for others.
The Zenith unbleached boar is a very nice knot. I've kicked myself for not spending another $10 for the solid olive wood handle. But the knot has a very tall loft. I believe it's intended for Italian barber style holding of pinching the knot with your fingers to adjust the splay, which I don't like doing. So, since I like the feel of the boar knot and wanted to adjust the loft I decided to risk trashing it. I also have a new, unopened one in my drawer, so not much risk. I feel the knot is nice enough to warrant a nice custom handle from one of the many great handle makers out there. I had great success doing the same thing with an Omega 10049 last year, but Zeniths are a little bit different.
Here is my nicely broken in Zenith unbleached boar unsuspecting.
Here is the instrument of destruction. Squeeze it at the bottom until it breaks.
Put some glasses on as the plastic fly off.
Squeeze it again at the base of the knot to crush the plastic.
The black band has to be cut off. I used a regular hack saw. Once you cut through the black band it will pop off of the glue bulb with a screw driver or scratch awl.
The resulting bulb on this particular bulb is 26mm.
I'll do some sanding on the remaining glue bulb, but it should be relatively easy to put it in any 26mm handle.
The Zenith unbleached boar is a very nice knot. I've kicked myself for not spending another $10 for the solid olive wood handle. But the knot has a very tall loft. I believe it's intended for Italian barber style holding of pinching the knot with your fingers to adjust the splay, which I don't like doing. So, since I like the feel of the boar knot and wanted to adjust the loft I decided to risk trashing it. I also have a new, unopened one in my drawer, so not much risk. I feel the knot is nice enough to warrant a nice custom handle from one of the many great handle makers out there. I had great success doing the same thing with an Omega 10049 last year, but Zeniths are a little bit different.
Here is my nicely broken in Zenith unbleached boar unsuspecting.
Here is the instrument of destruction. Squeeze it at the bottom until it breaks.
Put some glasses on as the plastic fly off.
Squeeze it again at the base of the knot to crush the plastic.
The black band has to be cut off. I used a regular hack saw. Once you cut through the black band it will pop off of the glue bulb with a screw driver or scratch awl.
The resulting bulb on this particular bulb is 26mm.
I'll do some sanding on the remaining glue bulb, but it should be relatively easy to put it in any 26mm handle.