Restoration in progress

[Luc]

Yes, I know, I can only blame Ian who goes by the name of Fidjit on this board. If you see this avatar ->

I advise not to discuss brushes with him, you will end up restoring at least one...




Let's cut the long story short.




It all started when I saw Wim

buy a Semogue so I decided to buy a Semogue 2020 from Leon

at Vintage Scent. I'm still waiting for the brush but that's not the point.

That dark Tasmanian Devil Fidjit told me that I should restore a brush instead. I'm thinking, 1... 1 knot, it would better, considering shipping, to have a few? Yes. So I'm looking at lots.

I'm sure you all know where this is going.

I'm seeing an auction with 6 brushes and Ian tells me that he saw a Simpson in there, he's willing to split it. No worries there. I didn't win it. I tried another lot by the same seller and did win it.

Got the brushes and now I'm getting them ready.

What's in there? From left to right

• Simms - Set in Rubber - Sterilized - Made in Canada
• Simms - Rubberset - Pure Badger Hair
• Rubberset - Sterilized - Made in Canada (same logo so I'm assuming Simms)
• Ever-Ready - C40 - Made in USA - Sterilized
• Simms - Rubberset - Made in Canada
• Simms - Butterscotch

Now, the blue and white handle died in the process of removing the knot.

I used:

• Gloves
• Long nose pliers
• Newspaper (to work over so the bristles wouldn't fly everywhere - They did but anywho).
• Fine Steel Wool
• Rubber Gloves

Some of the knots came out be just pulling on the hairs in 1 lot. Others where 1 hair at the time...

They were all stinky!

So, what do I have left?

• Simms - Set in Rubber - Sterilized - Made in Canada - 24mm - Red/White
• Simms - Rubberset - Pure Badger Hair - 19.5mm would be exact so I would say 19mm - Beige
• Rubberset - Sterilized - Made in Canada (same logo so I'm assuming Simms) - 23mm - White/Blue
• Ever-Ready - C40 - Made in USA - Sterilized - 19mm - White/Red
  [*]Simms - Rubberset - Made in Canada - Blue/White
• Simms - Butterscotch - 20mm - Butterscotch!

My 2 favorites are the second and fourth ones.

They smell much better now. I just need to get some knots now...












To be continued...

 

[fidjit]

Yes, I know, I can only blame Ian who goes by the name of Fidjit on this board. If you see this avatar ->

I advise not to discuss brushes with him, you will end up restoring at least one...

That dark Tasmanian Devil Fidjit told me that I should restore a brush instead. I'm thinking, 1... 1 knot, it would better, considering shipping, to have a few? Yes. So I'm looking at lots.

I'm sure you all know where this is going.

I'm seeing an auction with 6 brushes and Ian tells me that he saw a Simpson in there, he's willing to split it. No worries there. I didn't win it. I tried another lot by the same seller and did win it.

Hey , I resemble that remark !!!!!

To me, there is nothing more satisfying than restoring a brush yourself, being able to customise it and use it.

And good to see you're doing it the old fashioned tool way too.

May these be the first of many

Nothing to see here...move along

p.s. don't forget my wiki entries, there's sure to be something to help you out there

 

[Luc]

Hey , I resemble that remark !!!!!

To me, there is nothing more satisfying than restoring a brush yourself, being able to customise it and use it.

And good to see you're doing it the old fashioned tool way too.

May these be the first of many

Nothing to see here...move along

p.s. don't forget my wiki entries, there's sure to be something to help you out there

I'll see when they're done... But I have to admit that I'm excited by this... I might PIF one...

Your link, if someone wonders...

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/User:Fidjit#Brush_Restorations

 

[Legion]

My favourites are the butterscotch on the left and the blue bottomed one in the middle. They look like they will all come up well though.

Good score.

 

[Luc]

My favourites are the butterscotch on the left and the blue bottomed one in the middle. They look like they will all come up well though.

Good score.

The left butterscotch is small but heavy. It's going to make a fine restoration, love the grip. It has some kind of wood pattern printed on it. I just saw a stamp on it that says "Pure Badger".

 

[Joe Edson]

That dark Tasmanian Devil Fidjit
and his threads inspired me as well. Problem is, when I get an AD I get it bad!

I was in the same boat as you, why restore 1 brush and pay $7 for shipping when you can restore many more and save on shipping

I haven't knotted any of these yet. I'm planning on keeping the front 5 on the right. The rest just came in the lots I purchased with the ones I like. I'm planning on slowly knotting the handles I don't plan on keeping with the various TGN knots to get a feel for the loft and which knots I like, so that I won't mess up my precious 5 that I plan on keeping. Hence, in the coming months you may see some brush restores on BST....

I really need to stop reading this board.

 

[luvmysuper]

Luc, that Octogon Butterscoth on the far right is sweet!

 

[Luc]

All right, I will order some knots this week-end (got to finish this project if I want to start the other straights that need sanding... No comments...)...

What I was thinking:

• Simms - Set in Rubber - Sterilized - Made in Canada - 24mm - Red/White
• Simms - Rubberset - Pure Badger Hair - 19.5mm would be exact so I would say 19mm - Beige
• Rubberset - Sterilized - Made in Canada (same logo so I'm assuming Simms) - 23mm - White/Blue
• Ever-Ready - C40 - Made in USA - Sterilized - 19mm - White/Red
• Simms - Butterscotch - 20mm - Butterscotch!

I only want something short and chubby for the second one. The others, dunno. Any suggestion, I don't like my brushes to be picky. From what Ian was saying, Finest/best is great! I might go with that. Not really interested in pure badger or boar.

Which sizes according to the measurements up here? Is it better to buy them 1-2 mm smaller or exact size?

 

[fidjit]

[*] Simms - Set in Rubber - Sterilized - Made in Canada - 24mm - Red/White
[*] Simms - Rubberset - Pure Badger Hair - 19.5mm would be exact so I would say 19mm - Beige
[*] Rubberset - Sterilized - Made in Canada (same logo so I'm assuming Simms) - 23mm - White/Blue
[*] Ever-Ready - C40 - Made in USA - Sterilized - 19mm - White/Red
[*] Simms - Butterscotch - 20mm - Butterscotch!
[/list]

So the sizes you've given are the width of the knot holes? What about the depth of the existing shelves ? A lot of what you get is going to depend on that if you don't/can't drill them out !!!

What do I mean, let's say you use a 20mm knot and you have 19mm depth hole. Without modifying your handle the standard loft will be:

Silvertip A 67mm = 48mm loft
Best 62mm = 43mm loft
Finest 60mm = 41mm loft
Super 64mm 45mm loft

So you'll get a lot of variation just by using the different know without considering the grade of the hair. The hair and knot will then set the density and softness of the hair.

Generically assuming you don't want to have to enlarge holes, you'd most likely be looking at 22m, 18mm, 20/22mm, 16/18mm, 18mm.....mainly because of the bulge above the knot holder on most of the knots ( except the UK's ).

Can't talk about the Best until me Bone handle finishes curing tomorrow morning , but Finest, Silvertip A and Super are all good.

Since you've got so many handles, go for one of each, but you've got to have some idea what loft you can get/want too....

I believe like me, you don't have many tools, so I'd start by looking at the solid handles ( 2 and 5 ) which are the hardest to modify. Work out what loft you reckon you want, measure the depth of the knot hole, work out which of the standard lofts of the knots will give you what you want. That pretty much sorts out those two. The other 3 are hollow and if need be can be drilled out so then you can start looking at what other knots you want to try.

Make sense ?? It's kinda hard to put into words sometimes........

( and in the end does it make that much difference and am I being OCDish about it all )

 

[Luc]

I'll measure the holes tomorrow!

 

[W_B_K]

Ah Guinness... good man!

Congrats on the first restores, I am sure they will turn out beautifully! I really like that Simms second from the left.

 

[Luc]

All right, I got the deepness of the holes now.

First is the diameter, second, how deep.

• Simms - Set in Rubber - Sterilized - Made in Canada - Red/White - 23mm/19mm would be the deepest
• Simms - Rubberset - Pure Badger Hair - 19.5mm would be exact so I would say - Beige - 19mm/8mm deep
• Rubberset - Sterilized - Made in Canada (same logo so I'm assuming Simms) - White/Blue - 23mm/6mm
• Ever-Ready - C40 - Made in USA - Sterilized - White/Red - 19mm/no bottom so I'm free with this one.
• Simms - Butterscotch - Butterscotch! - 20mm/11mm

So, keeping in mind that I want a small and chubby brush for #2, the others, I'm not too fuss. I was thinking the short Best 18mm/58mm for that one....

For the diameter, it's better to have 1-2mm smaller?

 

[jwcarlson]

Any of the bottoms unscrew? My Simm's had a removable bottom.

 

[Luc]

Any of the bottoms unscrew? My Simm's had a removable bottom.

The two white/red ones, yes.

The blue/white, no.

The 2 beige handles are 1 piece!

 

[Luc]

Knots ordered and dispatched already.

I got 3 BEST and 2 Silvertip.

In the whole process, Ian told me to get Finest or Super and I totally missed it and got the BEST. Hope they won't scratch too much...

 

[pauls51]

Damn it Luc... He's gotten to you too!!!

 

[alabamalawyer]

The brush restoration AD is spreading quickly! I have complete the pictured EverReady and Rubberset brushes. The other three handles are just waiting on the knots to arrive from TGN! There is something satisfying in taking the old, seemingly usuable brush and turning it around into something that you are proud to display on your counter.

 

[Luc]

Yes, victim to the Tasmanian Devil...

I will take some pictures of the final set when I get the knots!

 

[rm71]

Ian was a big help when I made my own custom brush. I have yet to restore a vintage one though. BTW, Luc you have some nice looking handles there mate.

 

[ezmike]

Joe there's at least 4 that I find interesting, the butterscotch bottom black top, the black bottom ivory top, red bottom black top and the other butterscotch bottom black top with the ring around the bottom portion.

Good luck with them.

Mike