Nos Eveready C40 restore or leave original?

[Badkarma]

Love the brush but what would you do. What is natural bristles? Any advise would help. It’s just a little brush that I would use. I use all my shaving gear. I don’t display I use. If it was used in the 50”s can I just use it?

Thank you for your help!

 

[Alum Ladd]

Love the brush but what would you do. What is natural bristles? Any advise would help. It’s just a little brush that I would use. I use all my shaving gear. I don’t display I use. If it was used in the 50”s can I just use it?

Thank you for your help!View attachment 1535402View attachment 1535404View attachment 1535403

I think its probably boar.

Here is a past B&B thread which you might find helpful.

Has anyone actually ever used a NOS Ever-Ready C40? - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/has-anyone-actually-ever-used-a-nos-ever-ready-c40.256276/

Good luck. It looks a sweet retro design!

 

[Badkarma]

I think its probably boar.

Here is a past B&B thread which you might find helpful.

Has anyone actually ever used a NOS Ever-Ready C40? - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/has-anyone-actually-ever-used-a-nos-ever-ready-c40.256276/

Good luck. It looks a sweet retro design!

Thank you

 

[CCS]

Love the brush but what would you do. What is natural bristles? Any advise would help. It’s just a little brush that I would use. I use all my shaving gear. I don’t display I use. If it was used in the 50”s can I just use it?

Thank you for your help!View attachment 1535402View attachment 1535404View attachment 1535403

If you're a user and the brush is in as good condition as it appears to be, why not use it? It looks like new old stock in the photos. Looks like dyed boar bristle. I suppose there is a risk of bristles coming loose or breakage but you don't want to display it so...

 

[NorthernSoul]

It looks like boar hair with a dyed decorative stripe. It should be fine to shave with as is. It will need to break in, just like most boar brushes.

Here's a suggested break-in procedure. Soak the bristles in cold water for several hours before first use. Then, just use it every other day. For each use, soak for five minutes or so in warm water, lather up, shave, rinse, let the brush dry thoroughly. After 20-30 lather cycles like this, it should be getting broken in. The tips will have split, and it will be much softer.

 

[Rayotech]

Myself, I would put a new knot in it. I've had a few NOS brushes that once put into service just flopped like a noodle.
You might be luckier than me and find it lathers well?

 

[CapnPanther]

Bought the same exact brush with the intention of restoring it. After shaving with it a couple of times decided to keep it as it was. Perfectly serviceable boar brush. Good backbone with a fair amount of scritch. Lathers really well, particularly on hard soaps. Maybe lost 2-3 hairs in more than five years.

 

[Jim99]

I have two of the C40 brushes. One was shot, so I replaced the brush with a synthetic knot. I had to bore out he opening as the original boar knot was 19mm and I put in a 22mm synthetic. I added a little weight to the handle while the brush was out. It came out nice!

The other C40 was NOS and I use it once a week. It’s not the greatest of brushes, but I do love using it and like the looks. Break-in was no big deal as I soaked it in the beginning overnight with shampoo to soften up the bristles. It’s a small knot, but does work reasonably well on hard soaps.

 

[Vraad]

the c40 is one of my favorite knots, fairly short loft, nice boar backbone and the knot is anything but small at ~20mm I find it to be the prefect size knot!

 

[KW Driver]

I found my grandfather or uncle's Ever ready 150L (boar) and the knot broke up and disintegrated. I replaced it with a TGN (the golden nib) silvertip.

if the knot's bad, or not to your taste, it shouldn't be too hard to pull and replace. there's plenty of help in the restoration tab. I'd recommend for a painless install, measure the brush opening, then get a knot 1-2mm smaller and you won't have to open up the brush more.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Here’s a C40 that I found years ago. The original knot wasn’t very good so I replaced it with a Whipped Dog black badger. You won’t know if you like the original knot until you try it a few times.

 

[Jim99]

Here’s a C40 that I found years ago. The original knot wasn’t very good so I replaced it with a Whipped Dog black badger. You won’t know if you like the original knot until you try it a few times.
View attachment 1536505View attachment 1536506

Very pretty! I love the shape and color of the c40. That knot looks great too. I agree, try out the original knot first before just deciding to replace it.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Very pretty! I love the shape and color of the c40. That knot looks great too. I agree, try out the original knot first before just deciding to replace it.

Thanks. At the time I chose that knot strictly for appearance, the performance leaves a lot to be desired. Whipped Dog knots are very good, I’m just not a fan of the black badger after trying it.

 

[Jim99]

With all of this talk about the C40, I’m going to use my NOS one tomorrow morning and really looking forward to it.

 

[Jim99]

With all of this talk about the C40, I’m going to use my NOS one tomorrow morning and really looking forward to it.

I used my NOS (I guess it really isn’t NOS anymore) C40 and it performed admirably. It’s definitely on the small side, but I tend to like small brushes as they’re easy to control at 5:00am.

Just my thinking, but I’ll keep the original knot in there until it needs replacement.

 

[Lord NSIC]

As others have said, it's a boar knot, and while they are smaller than the 24+mm knots popular today, they perform just fine. I've replaced a few knots in ER handles that are past being usable, but I also have two that are original and while not NOS they clean up and work just fine. One thing I have noticed is that the original boar and mixed badger/boar knots often seen to have been trimmed already and the hairs don't want to split and soften, so they stay really "scritchee" and become perfect candidates to be reknotted.