I'm looking for a good, thickly-packed badger knot (silvertip would be nice, but not essential) to replace a horrid one in a gorgeous handle. FWIW I've come to like doing a combo lather (soap and cream), lather up in a mug. I have any number of small tough brushes; I want one fit for a king for this one. An economical, do-it-yourself kind of king, anyway. Any opinions?
Who sells the best replacement knots?
- Thread starter Zumkopf
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ive two golden nib knots - theyre great
Another option is to send the brush to shavemac to have Bernd do the re-knot. Many believe the shavemac knots to be of superior quality to the do-it-yourself variety.
Ok...so next question is...when you buy a nib, how do you pull the old knot and re-set the new?
Very carefully.
No really most people cut the hair off the old knot then either drill it out by clamping the handle in a padded vise and using a forstner bit in a drill press or using a moto tool like a dremel with a medium burr.
Set the new knot with epoxy.
I mask off the hair with tape to prevent getting squeezed out glue in the hair.
How do you know the size of the replacement knot to order? If the diameter of the brush is 23 mm, does that mean you need a 23 mm knot?
No, you go by the diameter of the hole that holds the knot. So a 23mm hole holds a 23mm knot, for example.
That makes sense. What if I measure incorrectly? Can I just use the epoxy to fill the extra one or two mm? Also, how much epoxy do I use?
Thanks and sorry for the hijack.
You do not want to use a lot of epoxy. Personally, I found a thin layer of marine epoxy to be more than enough to hold the knot in place. As far as extra space, I wouldn't worry about it. You'll probably get the measurement pretty close. Besides you'll be seating it deep enough there probably won't be a gap once the knot blooms.
What is The Golden Nib's highest grade badger knot? What type of paint would you recommend for the handle?
+1 I've had a few brushes re-knotted with various knots from the nib. None of them are as nice as a knot from Bernd. Don't get me wrong the nib offers an affordable alternative to do it yourselfers but if the OP wants true luxury I'd also recommend emailing Bernd.
The one I have is perfect so that might very well be true
If that's the case I'd definitely email Bernd. It will probably cost you almost double a Nib Knot, but it will be professionally installed and will definitely be a quality knot.
Very carefully.
No really most people cut the hair off the old knot then either drill it out by clamping the handle in a padded vise and using a forstner bit in a drill press or using a moto tool like a dremel with a medium burr.
Set the new knot with epoxy.
I mask off the hair with tape to prevent getting squeezed out glue in the hair.
Awesome thanks!
You just gave me a reason to start looking for old brushes in Antique Fairs
I bought several knots from Bernd in Pure and Finest grade and had to pass on the silvertips, if I recall correctly, they were somewhere in the neighborhood of $55 (22mm) -$70 (26 mm) a piece
plus shipping - they ship FEDEX.
I just bought a butterscotch restore off B/S/T with a 20mm Finest two-band Nib knot and it is absolutely amazing.
+1 for Golden Nib.
Maybe not THE best, but bang for buck you can't go wrong. Watch the knot sizes though - they are nominal sizes and some (but not all) measure smaller than the stated size. I got a UK black badger 20mm from them and the actual size of the knot was 16mm. However it did state this information on the website.
I am in the process of transfering one of my knots from a cheap one dollar handle to a new one made of genuine Swedish Reindeer antler that I bought from north of the Artic circle this summer
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Maybe not THE best, but bang for buck you can't go wrong. Watch the knot sizes though - they are nominal sizes and some (but not all) measure smaller than the stated size. I got a UK black badger 20mm from them and the actual size of the knot was 16mm. However it did state this information on the website.
I am in the process of transfering one of my knots from a cheap one dollar handle to a new one made of genuine Swedish Reindeer antler that I bought from north of the Artic circle this summer
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