Thread: DIY Brush question

I have an old boar brush from wal-mart the knot and plug come out very easily so I was thinking I could fill in the handle and epoxy in a new badger knot, voila silvertip badger brush on a grad student budget.

So heres what I'm wondering does anyone have an idea on a way to fill in the handle without making it extremly heavy and glue in the new knot?

I know it won't look the prettiest but with my limited resources hopefully I can get a workably brush.

Thanks in advance for any ideas

I guess i do not get it? what's the plug?

why can't you just get a knot of the appropriate size and with just a little glue fix it?

The handle is hollow. The knot on the boar is attached to a plug that goes into it, so to put a new knot in I would have to make a plug or fill in the handle.

The picture is of the boar knot/plug and the handle.

you can fill it if you want too. epoxy, wood, whatever.

a silver knot has a plug as well, only different design... I'm sure you have seen them.

I never glued either of the two handles I have made. The knots fit tightly with friction well enough, usually staying put unless i want one out.

So you could get slightly dissimilar size, the plastic of the knot can be made smaller with a file, or the hole in the handle enlarged, whichever you choose. (I tapered the end of the knot to help it start in the hole and tapped in down) 1 or 2 mm adjustments is all you need account for. Start by measuring the handle

or it could work out that you need to put just a little adhesive on the plug and set it up so it dries in the proper position.
you don't want it squeezing out and spoiling the appearance

I recently refurbished one that had a hollow handle and just set the knot in place with 6 minute epoxy from Tower hobbies. If you want to put something in the hole you could use sawdust, Styrofoam or anything to fill the space.

bj

I read somewhere that a guy wanted to add a little bit of weight to the handle and put in a nut (not the edible kind).

Question to Errnest: Was the plug glued inside the handle? And would it be possible to cut the hair and drill out the existing plug for re-use?

Most knots are 20mm.

1- For a standard brush that has hair in a knot
- Cut the hair to the base
- Drill out with appropriate size forstner bit.
- Clean up edges with exacto knife
- Mix up marine epoxy and line the inside
- Insert plug and twist
- Let sit for 24 hours.

For your situation measure across the top of the handle in MM or convert from inches. Buy that knot from goldennib or blankityblanks. I bought my silvertip 20mm from golden. Get some marine epoxy, its waterproof, and glue the mass together. The deeper you set the knot the "stiffer" the bristles become, the shallower the floppier.

Hope that helps

one thing to that you can look for is a block of balsa woos to fill that. the stuff is cheap and easy to work with. i would find out what size knot you need them shape the balsa wood to fit inside the handle. dry fit them first to make sure that it is hte right lengh then glue them with epoxy. that should work out well. good luck

I'm not sure if it was glued or not, I've had the brush for years, it came right out with only a little bit of pulling to get it out. I think I'll hacksaw the old bristles off and epoxy the new ones in.

Thanks for the insights so far