Thread: Taking the knot out of an old brush - How?

I have a "The Duke" Simpsons brush that I want to replace the old knot with a new one. Why you ask? 'Cos many years ago my young son got to it with a pair of scissors & took off the top of the knot!

I bought this brush over 30 years ago in England and it has sentimental value & I would like to restore it to its former glory. I have kept the brush & occasionally used it but the bristle is too short & stiff stiff to hold enough water & soap to make a good lather.

It has aged (like us all) but there is no way that I can shift the knot. So does anybody know a way of getting it out without destroying the knot itself. I'd like to keep the bristles for another purpose - making flyfishing flies.

Happy lathering

If it were mine, and with sentimental value, I'd contact Simpson/Vulfix and have them replace it with a 2 band super knot. Alternatively, Bernd of Shavemac will do it, too. He has some nice DO1 silvertip, and I believe he has some in two band, as well. From my experience, their hair is better than the DIY knots you can buy, plus no risk of you messing up the handle.

Originally Posted by RayG

If it were mine, and with sentimental value, I'd contact Simpson/Vulfix and have them replace it with a 2 band super knot. Alternatively, Bernd of Shavemac will do it, too. He has some nice DO1 silvertip, and I believe he has some in two band, as well. From my experience, their hair is better than the DIY knots you can buy, plus no risk of you messing up the handle.

Yeah, I agree. That 2 band from Simpsons is well worth the price, IMHO

Thanks, guys. I'll follow up with Simpsons/Vulfix. I'd hate to mess it up because of inexperience. By the way, what is a 2 band knot?
Happy shaving.

Originally Posted by RayG

If it were mine, and with sentimental value, I'd contact Simpson/Vulfix and have them replace it with a 2 band super knot. Alternatively, Bernd of Shavemac will do it, too. He has some nice DO1 silvertip, and I believe he has some in two band, as well. From my experience, their hair is better than the DIY knots you can buy, plus no risk of you messing up the handle.

Gentlemen:

RayG has the perfect answer. I think that's what I would do.

Regards,
Obie

What I would do is to clamp the brush and carefully drill out the knot with the correct sized drill piece, ie. 20, 22, 24 or 26mm depending upon its diameter.

I would order an English badger knot from golden nib to the correct size, wait a week or two for it to arrive, mix up some epoxy and glue the new knot in.

You would have a great silvertip at a great price.


In any case, I'd be interested to see how you get on and pictures of your new completed brush.

Shave on

Originally Posted by beechy52

Thanks, guys. I'll follow up with Simpsons/Vulfix. I'd hate to mess it up because of inexperience. By the way, what is a 2 band knot?
Happy shaving.

This should help you out.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/brushes/45316-bands.html

Originally Posted by beechy52

Thanks, guys. I'll follow up with Simpsons/Vulfix. I'd hate to mess it up because of inexperience. By the way, what is a 2 band knot?
Happy shaving.

Beechy

For what its worth, I'd have a go at it yourself. Simpsons/Vulfix might charge you an arm an a leg to commission that brush, when in reality it is a very simple job to drill out the old knot and replace it. If you have the tools or access to a friends tools, it would be extremely difficult to mess it up.

Originally Posted by beechy52

I have a "The Duke" Simpsons brush that I want to replace the old knot with a new one. Why you ask? 'Cos many years ago my young son got to it with a pair of scissors & took off the top of the knot!

I bought this brush over 30 years ago in England and it has sentimental value & I would like to restore it to its former glory. I have kept the brush & occasionally used it but the bristle is too short & stiff stiff to hold enough water & soap to make a good lather.

It has aged (like us all) but there is no way that I can shift the knot. So does anybody know a way of getting it out without destroying the knot itself. I'd like to keep the bristles for another purpose - making flyfishing flies.

Happy lathering

This is a beautiful handle and it should be restored and used another 30 years. It can be done DIY, and I have done my share of restores and a number of them were brushes with a lot of sentimental value like yours.
I will walk you through how I do a restore:
* First, cut off most of the hair with a pair of scissors as close to the handle as you can
* wrap the handle with masking tape - the kind that can be easily removed
* cut out a lot of the shortened hairs and part of the rubber that holds them with a sharp knife/box-cutter or so - make sure not to slip and cut in the edge!!
* for the next step one should use a drill press and a good holding vise (I use a pen drilling vise) - wrap a piece of rubber, leather or similar padding material around the handle before you clamp it down in the vise
* drill out the knot: I use a 3/8" bit to start, then a 1/2" bit - make sure to check from time to time what is under the rubber/glue plug
* then I take the handle out of the vise and remove as much as I can with a small pair of pointed pliers and a craft knife. You see now if there is a metal ring inside (some brushes have these!! And they can be bad in the next step - don't ask me how I know)
* put the handle again in the vise with the padding and select a Forstner drill bit that is a tad shy of the hole size - carefully drill out the rest of the knot - carefully means not to force too much, avoid the bit to catch and spin the handle, back out often and see how the hole is cleaning out
* remove handle from the vise again and clean out the hole completely by hand with the appropriate tools (craft knife, picks, small pliers, small sanding drum in a hand-held drill - not a Dremel, you want control)
* select new knot and glue it in (I use 5 min 2-parts epoxy)
* if the handle is hollow under the old knot, fill it with cork slices etc; cork slices are also great to set a certain loft of a brush - you need to drill out deeper than the loft you want and put the new knot on a "stool"
* enjoy a the "rejuvenated" brush

Thanks to all for your helpful comments and guidance. I have emailed Vulfix for an estimate so I'll see what comes back from them. An arm and leg maybe worth paying if I can get a really good job done. On the other hand, Rudyvey's post suggests that it might not be THAT difficult.

Too be sure, I'm not going to rush it. What I'm thinking I'll do is see if I can get another old brush and practice on it first before attempting myself. Like practice shows up any problems and, they tell me, makes perfect.

Will keep you informed of progress but it may be weeks or months rather than days!

Cheers & a steady hand!