I am working on some vintage brushes. The lamp black in the stamps is fading pretty severely.
I was thinking about burning a candle and holding a metal plate over it to collect soot. Assuming I use a parrafin candle, this soot should be chemically identical to the lamp black that was originally used to blacken the stamps that were indented into the handles. Then I figured on letting it cool, and using a very fine model paint brush to pick up miniscule amounts at a time, and apply the soot to the interior of the stamped lettering (which is still indented in the bakelite). A light touch with a stiff pencil eraser should then be able to clean up the edges without conforming down into the stamp shape.
When all was said and done, I was going to coat it with Testors clear coat to protect the freshly lamp blacked lettering, but only over the stamping and labels.
Does anyone have a better method of restoring Lamp Black on a vintage brush?
I was thinking about burning a candle and holding a metal plate over it to collect soot. Assuming I use a parrafin candle, this soot should be chemically identical to the lamp black that was originally used to blacken the stamps that were indented into the handles. Then I figured on letting it cool, and using a very fine model paint brush to pick up miniscule amounts at a time, and apply the soot to the interior of the stamped lettering (which is still indented in the bakelite). A light touch with a stiff pencil eraser should then be able to clean up the edges without conforming down into the stamp shape.
When all was said and done, I was going to coat it with Testors clear coat to protect the freshly lamp blacked lettering, but only over the stamping and labels.
Does anyone have a better method of restoring Lamp Black on a vintage brush?