Hi all,
My apologies for the pic, this camera is not the best for such photos and I left my good camera at my parents' home. I restored that silver-plated set a while back (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=169459) and I got a hankering for brush restoration if I could find another metal-handled brush.
I saw one on the Bay, for $9 including postage (I used my E-bay bucks to bring that down to $5.50) and that's the silver coloured one. It had horse hair originally and smelled foul. I ripped the knot out with a bit of twisting by hand and it popped out. I did, however, gouge out a chunk of the handle near the opening with my tools while cleaning out glue. I did a clumsy repair filling in the gap with JB Weld right over the knot (slightly discoloured but oh well, I'm not selling them and the brush handle wasn't destroyed at least or wasted).
The wooden handled one was originally a brand new pure bristle brush from Daiso, some Japanese discount chain (I went to the one in the Westlake Center in downtown Seattle). $1.50 and I was bored so I tugged super hard on the knot and it came out (it would have been fine for normal use but I was curious if I could replace the knot).
Well, they were too small for the 22mm black badger knot from TGN but I didn't care. I got the black badger knots and I tried an experiment. I'd file the bottom half of the knot base down and then socket it into the brush handles (Why? I don't know, possibly because I was curious if the final effect would work).
I then used super glue to cement them into place and put in a bit of JB Weld to seal the gaps and as a second layer of adhesive holding the knot to the brush handle. I don't know what longevity will be like but they have lots of loft and the black badger is nice and scritchy. I've face lathered with the wooden handled one and it does ok. I didn't soak them in water, though, as I wasn't sure the JB Weld was dry yet. I used the JB Weld to try and put some contrast in on the silver brush, so it goes silver to dark grey JB Weld and then part of the white of the knot's base, and then the black badger itself. With the wooden-handled one, the same idea, that thin band of JB-Weld for colour contrast. It's not as pretty looking up close as in the photo but it's for my personal use and they are good enough for me.
My apologies for the pic, this camera is not the best for such photos and I left my good camera at my parents' home. I restored that silver-plated set a while back (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=169459) and I got a hankering for brush restoration if I could find another metal-handled brush.
I saw one on the Bay, for $9 including postage (I used my E-bay bucks to bring that down to $5.50) and that's the silver coloured one. It had horse hair originally and smelled foul. I ripped the knot out with a bit of twisting by hand and it popped out. I did, however, gouge out a chunk of the handle near the opening with my tools while cleaning out glue. I did a clumsy repair filling in the gap with JB Weld right over the knot (slightly discoloured but oh well, I'm not selling them and the brush handle wasn't destroyed at least or wasted).
The wooden handled one was originally a brand new pure bristle brush from Daiso, some Japanese discount chain (I went to the one in the Westlake Center in downtown Seattle). $1.50 and I was bored so I tugged super hard on the knot and it came out (it would have been fine for normal use but I was curious if I could replace the knot).
Well, they were too small for the 22mm black badger knot from TGN but I didn't care. I got the black badger knots and I tried an experiment. I'd file the bottom half of the knot base down and then socket it into the brush handles (Why? I don't know, possibly because I was curious if the final effect would work).
I then used super glue to cement them into place and put in a bit of JB Weld to seal the gaps and as a second layer of adhesive holding the knot to the brush handle. I don't know what longevity will be like but they have lots of loft and the black badger is nice and scritchy. I've face lathered with the wooden handled one and it does ok. I didn't soak them in water, though, as I wasn't sure the JB Weld was dry yet. I used the JB Weld to try and put some contrast in on the silver brush, so it goes silver to dark grey JB Weld and then part of the white of the knot's base, and then the black badger itself. With the wooden-handled one, the same idea, that thin band of JB-Weld for colour contrast. It's not as pretty looking up close as in the photo but it's for my personal use and they are good enough for me.
Last edited:
They didn't fit perfectly but...I made them fit (like any good DIY man should! 
). The seal seems to be good and they do lather creams well in a bowl and also on my face. I think my black badger needs a little more water than I thought so the lather did need a touch up on my 2nd pass, a little too dry. I haven't seen any real shedding other than the usual new brush stuff but I'll keep you guys updated as I go and as the brushes get more use.
With my brushes, I was trying to go for that Star Wars Original Trilogy look the 'lived in' universe. I think they sort of work.
