Well this ain't gonna be easy. Hail Mary or drop back and punt?

[eelhc]

I had some good fortune with a brush restoration project:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/315133-Well-that-was-easy

To go along with that bit of luck, I now have an interesting problem. In the same lot of vintage brushes I bought was a Cavalier. There was a hairline crack on the upper portion of the handle. A little soak in soapy water the brush split open, the bottom plate came off and what was the filler started crumbling (feels like hardened caulk). In any case I cleaned it up and now have this:



I kind of like the color and shape of this brush but the the plastic (I don't think it's bakelite) is very thin. I've been mulling over how I might restore it but I think a quick sanity check is in order.

So what do you think?

1. I'm crazy. Vintage brushes/handles are cheap. Move onto the next one. (I'm leaning this way)
2. What's life without a challenge? Go for it!
3. SWMBO will kill me if "shaving" takes more time.
4. Pass it onto someone who's got more time. Plenty of folks on B&B more insane than me.

 

[GDCarrington]

I had some good fortune with a brush restoration project:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/315133-Well-that-was-easy

To go along with that bit of luck, I now have an interesting problem. In the same lot of vintage brushes I bought was a Cavalier. There was a hairline crack on the upper portion of the handle. A little soak in soapy water the brush split open, the bottom plate came off and what was the filler started crumbling (feels like hardened caulk). In any case I cleaned it up and now have this:

View attachment 279729 View attachment 279730

I kind of like the color and shape of this brush but the the plastic (I don't think it's bakelite) is very thin. I've been mulling over how I might restore it but I think a quick sanity check is in order.

So what do you think?

1. I'm crazy. Vintage brushes/handles are cheap. Move onto the next one. (I'm leaning this way)
2. What's life without a challenge? Go for it!
3. SWMBO will kill me if "shaving" takes more time.
4. Pass it onto someone who's got more time. Plenty of folks on B&B more insane than me.

Option #4 protects you from the aggravation of Option #2 which could lead to the possibility of doing Option #1. All of that would be short circuited by Option #3!

Consider Option #3 to determine the others.

Remember, it is all about OPTIONS!

Good fortune.

 

[bastimret]

Wow, that is really thin. The only thing I can think would be to put on the bottom with some super glue to help hold it in place and then filling the handle with epoxy. You can sand out the excess that leaks out the bottom if any. And it will will help give more internal support while providing a bond for the two upper portions. Then you could dremel or drill a new shelf into the epoxy and size it for the knot. With that thin plastic though, the heat from the reaction of the epoxy could cause damage to it, so maybe there's a better filler option. You just need something that's going to provide a bond for the upper and lower portions to keep them in place.

 

[Redstickjohn]

I had a couple of thin walled brushes just like that that I've come across over the last year. Every one of them cracked, split, or came apart in the early stages of the restoration. With one, I spent several days trying to get it back together, but finally just gave up. I just put all the pieces into plastic bags and sold them, along with a huge lot of other brushes I wasn't interested in restoring.

 

[Gigster]

It's doable, but I think it depends on how much time and effort you want to put into this project. You have valid concerns/ideas (#1 - #4). Like you, I'm on the fence with a restore I began last weekend. It had a meltdown when I was drilling out the old knot plug. Somewhat discouraging, as it's a nice handle, took me a year to find it, but it's going to take a considerable amount of time to repair it.