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NOS Vintage Stanley Brush 169

I'm excited that I just received a vintage Stanley 169 shaving brush and was able to confirm that it's truly NOS. I love using vintage brushes, but I'm especially happy when I'm able to luck into an NOS one so that I don't have to spend time replacing the knot before using it. I'm just going to clean this one up and use it tomorrow morning. The hair could degrade due to age, but I'll get some use out of the original knot.

Here are some photos.





 
Do you have to use a conditioner to soften the hair?

I should have. I washed it with shampoo and let it bloom overnight, using it this morning. The knot couldn't whip up a lather, which is the first time I've run into this, even with a vintage knot. It also smells "old". I think a load of conditioner would help.

This is also my first experience with a "badger and bristle" vintage knot. It's essentially a synthetic bristle knot in the center with badger bristles encircling it. So the outside of the knot is softer than the inside of the knot. Even if I get the smell handled and get it softened up generally, I may still have to replace the knot because the two materials have different enough properties to be inconsistent with each other.
 
I should have. I washed it with shampoo and let it bloom overnight, using it this morning. The knot couldn't whip up a lather, which is the first time I've run into this, even with a vintage knot. It also smells "old". I think a load of conditioner would help.

This is also my first experience with a "badger and bristle" vintage knot. It's essentially a synthetic bristle knot in the center with badger bristles encircling it. So the outside of the knot is softer than the inside of the knot. Even if I get the smell handled and get it softened up generally, I may still have to replace the knot because the two materials have different enough properties to be inconsistent with each other.
I got a couple old boar bristle brushes a while back I wanted to try out. They were so far gone though it wasn't worth the effort to try and clean them up. Too bad though since I wanted to try a boar brush. I guess I'll try my hand at re-knotting sometime down the down, Lord willing.
 
My mother in law sold Stanley Home Products for decades. I always thought it would be cool to have one of their brushes in the stand and sometimes I look at them on eBay thinking to buy one, but there's no way I could use one without replacing the knot. The thought of using a really old animal knot NOS let alone second hand makes me squeamish, just because I'd expect the same experience @Borderboss just had. I think his knot was not synthetic but real boar bristle, the same way Omega uses the word bristle to describe boar hair. It's a mixed-hair knot. I guess they were relatively common back when pure badger was too expensive for most guys to afford.

Just yesterday somebody else posted that they put a 21mm banded boar in a vintage Made Rite handle and it looked just right. For me it would have to be that or a mixed-hair knot but I don't know where those are sold in what we now consider such small sizes, and I'm not sure I know how to replace the knot in a handle like this without breaking it. So I let the idea go.
 
My mother in law sold Stanley Home Products for decades. I always thought it would be cool to have one of their brushes in the stand and sometimes I look at them on eBay thinking to buy one, but there's no way I could use one without replacing the knot. The thought of using a really old animal knot NOS let alone second hand makes me squeamish, just because I'd expect the same experience @Borderboss just had. I think his knot was not synthetic but real boar bristle, the same way Omega uses the word bristle to describe boar hair. It's a mixed-hair knot. I guess they were relatively common back when pure badger was too expensive for most guys to afford.

Just yesterday somebody else posted that they put a 21mm banded boar in a vintage Made Rite handle and it looked just right. For me it would have to be that or a mixed-hair knot but I don't know where those are sold in what we now consider such small sizes, and I'm not sure I know how to replace the knot in a handle like this without breaking it. So I let the idea go.

I never gave it any thought that "bristle" in this case meant "boar" instead of it being synthetic. That would explain the smell. Maybe I'll wash it again and hit it with conditioner, and then let it soak for a day or two to see if that gets rid of the smell.

I agree with you on used knots. I won't use one regardless of age. Some folks seem to have a way to clean them up that makes them comfortable, and that's alright, but I'll pass. This one was definitely NOS.

The knot appears to be set in a metal ring that's just below the surface, which is then set in the plastic. That's along the lines of the Hardright brushes. When it comes time to replace it, I'll likely heat it for a little bit with a hot air gun to see if I can loosen the glue (but not affect the plastic), and then twist it out. Probably won't work and I'll have to drill, but it's worth a try.
 
Over the weekend I did the "fast break-in" technique for a boar knot shown by Mantic59 in a video. I soaked it all weekend, shaking it out and drying it on a towel, then putting it back in fresh water every 12 hours. I then washed it with shampoo and conditioner, then let it dry overnight.

The results are better, but not great. The boar bristles are definitely softer and more integrated with the badger bristles. The smell is greatly reduced but still there. That's the positive.

The negative is that it will still barely whip up a lather. I used the same AOS Lavender cream that I used on Friday and that I've used for a long time. The brush was able to do better with whipping up a lather, but it can't hold a candle to a pure badger knot or a modern synthetic knot. Perhaps this is just a thing with boar, but I would find that odd.

In any event, once this brush dries, it goes goes in the drawer with about 4-5 other vintage brushes that are in line for having the knots replaced with pure badger. :a20:
 
I think I found the trick with this knot. Perhaps it's because I've never used boar before. Anyway, I soaked it for about 10 minutes and used probably twice the amount of cream as I normally do. I was able to get a decent lather whipped up and the bristles had softened considerably. So I won't reknot the handle, but treat it differently.
 
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