Thread: First Brush Restore

Originally Posted by Costabro

Just thought I'd bump an ancient thread to get a question answered. It seems to me that the brush I want to restore is going to be in the 17mm range, yet so far all I've found at thegoldennib is 18mm. Are these sized precisely, or are the actual knots made a little smaller to fit the desired measured handle hole/cavity/thingy?

Your not going to get an 18mm nib into a 17mm hole, although you could probably make a smaller one, like a 16mm stay and look good in a slightly larger hole. The nib will "flare" our quite a bit after it gets wet the first time. You should measure your hole size after the old bristles are removed. This can be done by cutting them off as close as possible with scissors, then using a drill press to drill out the old nib.

Use a 16,the hole always needs to be a bit oversized or you will compress the hair and it will never bloom properly.

How oversized? example: if you have a 24mm knot, what size hole would this go in?

Originally Posted by kwlfca

How oversized? example: if you have a 24mm knot, what size hole would this go in?

It would go in a 24 or 25 mm hole fine.

Here's my first brush restoration of a silver plated Apollo Co. Set from what I believe to at least be from the pre '20's. before:
After:
The knot, of course, is from the golden nib. I'd originally measure/ordered a 16mm finest but it was too small. I called their number and got quite possibly the nicest lady ever who was able to hand measure several knots for me retrieving the exact specs (just under 17mm standard silver tip) I asked for......with NO NEED OF ADDING SHIPPING! Fantastic customer service.

Thanks for all the help, guys.

Those are two great sets; I would be proud to have them in my Shave Den (small crampted bathroom).

Wow! Looks like everything worked out well in the end. What a nice set you got there. I love the people at The golden nib. They have great customer service!!

Great. love the brush handle.