I have a new (used only a few times) Muhle 25mm STF XL shaving brush that I posted about in another thread. It is easily the most satisfying synthetic knot I have used. Unfortunately, I find the handle too small, particularly on those mornings when my (arthritic) fingers are bothering me. Today I nearly dropped it! So I have a few choices: I could just leave things alone and use another brush on those mornings, I could sell the brush and buy a custom handled STF brush or I could remove the knot and set in a new, larger and more comfortable handle.
For the moment I'm leaning towards that last option. I have removed knots before, but I have had mixed results. Steaming is the easiest, but success is dependent upon the composition of the handle and the way in which the knot was glued into the handle. Has anyone tried steaming out a knot from a Muhle resin handle? In the past I was always trying to preserve the handle and simply cut off and dremeled out the knot. In this case I'm willing to sacrifice the handle if need be. Do I just put it in a vice and crush it? Will that work?
For the moment I'm leaning towards that last option. I have removed knots before, but I have had mixed results. Steaming is the easiest, but success is dependent upon the composition of the handle and the way in which the knot was glued into the handle. Has anyone tried steaming out a knot from a Muhle resin handle? In the past I was always trying to preserve the handle and simply cut off and dremeled out the knot. In this case I'm willing to sacrifice the handle if need be. Do I just put it in a vice and crush it? Will that work?
