Took the plunge. Found an almost perfect "Beta" brand brush and decided it was time to try this. I got lucky, I pulled on the knot and it came right out with a loud pop. I figured this was going to be easy. Well, as usual, I was wrong. I decided to change the color. Original color was black, but I couldn't leave well enough alone and just touch up the black paint. Oh no, I had to do something flashy.
Using sandpaper and polishing paper I started to remove the black paint. 95% came off easily. Unfortunately some of the rot/rust from the knot seemed to have seeped into the acrylic. Sanding would remove no more. I know, I'll use chemicals. Well chemicals and clear Lucite don't mix. At least the ones I used. Nail polish remover and paint thinner. Those are no-no's for Lucite I found. So, after some hazing and crazing I decided on paint. The color looked great in the bottle. I mixed some with epoxy to build a shelf and get the loft I wanted and it dried to the green in the picture. I set it on a windowsill overnight to dry. Guess what, my windowsill slants ever so slightly. I added more epoxy to level things out and lost about 2mm. Polished out the handle as much as I could and finished with some Flitz.
Painted her up and put in an Envywhite badger knot from Nathan Clark. Overall she's about 3mm over where I wanted her and the green just isn't my favorite. It was more of a teal in the bottle. But she works and lathers like crazy with anything I give her. It's special because it's my first and functionally works great.
Things I learned. No chemicals on Lucite. Get a Dremel. My 50 year old fingers aren't made for this. Test your paint color on something. I also learned this is fun. I've already got my mind moving on my next one.
Thanks for reading and hopefully enjoying my ride.
Kurt
