Newbie Brush Rebuild

[ZombieDad]

Okay, after an excessively long hiatus from the forums I'm back and finally getting to work on a project brush. I need some pointers from the more experienced folk and I'm hoping my less than adequate photos will help explain my problems.

First off, I'd like to be able to identify the maker of this brand. If you can't read what it says in the photo below, it reads "Trademark Nevershed Pat. Feb. 14-05 Made in U.S.A."

Moving on. After pulling the remaining bristles out, I noticed there's a small cone in the center of the wooden handle. Would this affect the placement of the new bristles? Should I work on removing the cone and leave a flat surface? Also, you may notice that without the bristles to hold it in place, the metal ring hangs pretty loosely off of the wooden handle. Should I be trying to either epoxy or nail this in place to prevent movement?

Finally, we come to the replacement knot. Having remembered the many virtues extolled by forum members about the Golden Nib website, I immediately set about finding a replacement. I'm currently using an Omega boar bristle brush (something I picked up on clearance at Target years ago) and found a suitably priced badger hair one. Here's my main question. The new bristles measure 22mm across while the top of the opening measures only 21mm. I doubt that one measly millimeter is going to pose a problem (especially since the metal sleeve tapers outward) but I wanted to ask before doing anything foolish.

Any thoughts, comments, details, haikus or other points of interest will be greatly appreciated.

Scott

 

[paintflinger]

Is that cone the glue from the knot? It's really quite difficult to tell from your photos. Either way, yes it will get in the way of a new knot. 1 mm won't make a huge difference, but it will force you to use a higher loft to make sure that the knot opens up enough.

 

[ZombieDad]

From what I can tell, the cone looks to be part of the wooden handle. Probably easier for the lathe to leave the cone on than to shave off every single handle. I'll get to work on sanding it down.

How does one tell the loft of the bristles? Most of the descriptions only mention the width of the base and not the overall loft.

Scott

 

[paintflinger]

From what I can tell, the cone looks to be part of the wooden handle. Probably easier for the lathe to leave the cone on than to shave off every single handle. I'll get to work on sanding it down.

How does one tell the loft of the bristles? Most of the descriptions only mention the width of the base and not the overall loft.

Scott

There's no way that they would be able to install a traditional knot with something like that in the middle. That's why I was wondering if it was maybe the glue plug as seen in this image.

Loft is the height of the bristles above the top of the brush. Free loft is the height from the top of the glue plug to the tips of the brush. Basically the height that you set the knot determines the loft. If you loft it too low, it will have too much backbone and crappy flow through.

 

[ZombieDad]

Loft is the height of the bristles above the top of the brush. Free loft is the height from the top of the glue plug to the tips of the brush. Basically the height that you set the knot determines the loft. If you loft it too low, it will have too much backbone and crappy flow through.

So, how does one set the loft? Does a spacer fit in between the handle and glue plug?

 

[ZombieDad]

Here's what I did today. After sanding out the center cone (full disclosure: it was part of the handle and not some leftover glue plug), I fitted a short section of dowel into the body and used waterproof glue to attach it.



While that dried, I ran out and got some marine epoxy. After carefully sanding away the extra millimeter from the glue plug, I lined the remaining hole with epoxy and press fit the bristles in.



Not bad for a first outing and a total newbie in brush restoration. This originally was boar bristles, so the badger will be a huge step up. I'll give everything a few days to set and will report back on how well it does.

Scott

 

[Dr Hfuhruhurr]

Very nice, Scott!

 

[ZombieDad]

Wow, what a difference to boar bristles! Although the first lathering smelled odd (my initial thought was "dairy farm"; does anyone else get that gamey smell?), the soap went on thick and rich and I genuinely feel like I'm getting a better shave out of it. I may just grind out my old Omega and replace the bristles because it's that good. It's also given me more than a few ideas to try and turn a few custom handles on the lathe. All in all, worthwhile experience and will keep me hunting for more handles to restore.

Scott

 

[BigJ]

Great work!