White bakelite Ever Ready

[JeffE]

Ok, I just found this one for sale and bought it, and I can't wait to get started on the restoration. I've seen quite a few of these Ever Readys with black collars, but the white collar is definitely rare. Bonus is that this one is in pretty nice condition to start with too, which cuts down on the sanding and polishing.

Anyway, enjoy!

 

[Snargle]

Good looking brush, Jeff. What kind of knot are you thinking of using?

 

[JeffE]

I've got one really nice Vulfix cream boar knot left from my stash from TGN. Tony doesn't have these anymore, and I think they work really well with these kinds of handles. Badger could be nice too, but I'll have to see what Tony has available in this size. I don't think the handle will take anything larger than 20 mm or so. What do you think?

 

[Deltaboy]

The current knot looks good enough to clean and use as is.

 

[JeffE]

The current knot looks good enough to clean and use as is.

Yea, I will check that out too, of course. I've gotten quite a few of these brushes in nearly new or even NOS condition, and in most cases, the boar knots LOOK just great in photos, but when you feel them with your hands, the bristles are completely dried out and dead, with no spring or flex to them at all.

If anyone knew how to breath some life or youth back into old boar hair, I'd be very interested, because mostly I just end up replacing the knots entirely.

Thanks.

 

[bobfarvour]

That's a nice one. Doesn't look like it needs any sanding.

 

[Brownbear]

Pretty brush. The ferrule is likely celluloid, if you sand it let us know if it smells of camphor. All the white ones I have are celluloid. Easy to work and sand, careful with solvents.

 

[Hex]

Pretty brush. The ferrule is likely celluloid, if you sand it let us know if it smells of camphor. All the white ones I have are celluloid. Easy to work and sand, careful with solvents.

That's what I was thinking. On my 1st restore, having never smelled formaldehyde, I mistook the smell of camphor for it. Both smell quite yuckie, just different. I since depend on the Simichrome test as well.

This brush will clean up nicely.

 

[Brownbear]

That's what I was thinking. On my 1st restore, having never smelled formaldehyde, I mistook the smell of camphor for it. Both smell quite yuckie, just different. I since depend on the Simichrome test as well.

This brush will clean up nicely.

I like the smell of celluloid, reminds me of Vick's Vapo Rub.

Catalin/bakelite on the other hand reminds me of pickled dog fish shark in biology lab. Loved dissecting them but the smell could never be anything but repellant and irritating.

 

[strop]

...reminds me of pickled dog fish shark in biology lab. Loved dissecting them but the smell could never be anything but repellant and irritating.

Now that brings back some memories!

Mark

 

[JeffE]

I'm going to try to avoid any sanding at all. I don't have the brush yet, but just the finish in the photos makes it look like no sanding is going to be necessary. Thanks for all of the kind comments, though. I will let you know what I end up doing about the knot. I have a few old Certifyd's with the original knot, and these are practically the only brushes that I've ever seen where the boar will keep its life for 30, 40 or 50 years. All of the other brushes I've ever restored (Hess, Ever Ready, Rubberset) all end up with "dead" knots, even when the brush is in like-new condition.