Hello all
I did my first brush restorations today and thought I would share my experiences with the B&B community. Firstly thank you all for the great threads on brush restoration and the very helpful tips. Although quite frankly why would anyone expect anything less from the B&B community.
Thing to note. I am the least practical person on the planet. Today was the first time I used a vice since High School. If it was me vs a chimp in a using a screwdriver contest, my money would be on the chimp.
Anyway. I bought two 1930's brushes from the bay and when they arrived they were quite small. I had to use the bay once again to find some 20mm knots to go in them. The original knots were in a terrible mess so they were promptly trimmed down.
I started to drill them out with a few drill bits. I then luckily found some dremmel bits which improved things massively. Unfortunately the 18mm bit was missing and the 20mm was too big so I had to make do with the 16mm. I ended up with raised lips on the inside of the holes which prevented the knots going all the way in. After some mucking about and jigging the 16mm dremmel bit inside the hole the lip disappeared enough to get the knot in.
Unfortunately I chipped the blue handled brush and the metal rings surrounding the holes didn't survive
I mixed up some standard araldite. If I had used the fast setting stuff the knot would of ended up stuck to my hand and my face to my shin. The slow setting stuff gave me plenty of time to get the knots in and wash my hands.
The finished brushes
I think the knot in the blue brush is a bit wonkey but we will see. The araldite will need about 24 hours to set. They are up stairs setting and will let you know how they lather tomorrow.
I did my first brush restorations today and thought I would share my experiences with the B&B community. Firstly thank you all for the great threads on brush restoration and the very helpful tips. Although quite frankly why would anyone expect anything less from the B&B community.
Thing to note. I am the least practical person on the planet. Today was the first time I used a vice since High School. If it was me vs a chimp in a using a screwdriver contest, my money would be on the chimp.
Anyway. I bought two 1930's brushes from the bay and when they arrived they were quite small. I had to use the bay once again to find some 20mm knots to go in them. The original knots were in a terrible mess so they were promptly trimmed down.
I started to drill them out with a few drill bits. I then luckily found some dremmel bits which improved things massively. Unfortunately the 18mm bit was missing and the 20mm was too big so I had to make do with the 16mm. I ended up with raised lips on the inside of the holes which prevented the knots going all the way in. After some mucking about and jigging the 16mm dremmel bit inside the hole the lip disappeared enough to get the knot in.
Unfortunately I chipped the blue handled brush and the metal rings surrounding the holes didn't survive
I mixed up some standard araldite. If I had used the fast setting stuff the knot would of ended up stuck to my hand and my face to my shin. The slow setting stuff gave me plenty of time to get the knots in and wash my hands.
The finished brushes
I think the knot in the blue brush is a bit wonkey but we will see. The araldite will need about 24 hours to set. They are up stairs setting and will let you know how they lather tomorrow.
