Thread: Bristles came out of handle???

I picked up my brush this morning and the bristles fell out from the wooden handle of my brush. Fortunately, the bristles stayed all together and I think they can be glued back in without any trouble. What is the best kind of glue to put them back in with? Will a hot glue gun do the trick?

Thanks!

I can't really answer your question, but I'm curious as to what would cause the knot to fall out. Were you soaking it in hot water or anything else that might effect the glue? What is the brand/make of the brush?

I use lock-tite marine epoxy (get it at lowes, Home Depot, etc) when I put brush knots in custom handles. Works great. Mix it, strengthens in 10 minutes, ready to use in 24 hours.

Unfortunately when anything is epoxied you can't guarantee that you get perfect coverage. I've seen this happen to many commercially and custom made items not just brushes. I have seen this consistently on flyrods. About 6 times a year I get a call from my local fly shop asking to reglue a reelseat. There are also situations where you might not have gotten a great mixture, old epoxy or even some limitations on the mechanical bond.
I agree that epoxy is the best fix. If you feel uncomfortable with epoxy try contacting the maker to see if they will fix it for you. I just hope I didn't make that one.

Originally Posted by sharp

I use lock-tite marine epoxy (get it at lowes, Home Depot, etc) when I put brush knots in custom handles. Works great. Mix it, strengthens in 10 minutes, ready to use in 24 hours.

This is what I use when I restore brushes. It dries quickly and the brush can be used the next day.

It's only a $15.00 Tweezerman badger hair brush. For the money, you can't beat it. It gives just as good a lather as an expensive one. When I bought it, I bought 2 so, fortunately, I have a back up. What I was thinking of doing to make sure the bristles stay in this time, is drill several small holes (3/32" or so) into the bottom of where the bristles seat. This way, the epoxy will have something to flow into to give it some foothold.

You really shouldn't have to drill holes to get it to seat. Give both surfaces (base of the knot and the hole in the brush handle) a quick wipe with mineral spirits, let it dry, and you should be good to go. If drilling the holes will make you feel better, that's fine. Just to be clear, you are talking about drilling the holes in the handle, not in the brush knot end right?

You would be beneficial to run a bit of 60 grit across the end of the knot and inside the handle. Holes aren't really needed.

When my knot fell out I used the epoxy method however in my case the brush was a custom job and the maker made the hole a tad too big and I wound up using gorilla glue which has worked out very well. You just have to be careful with it because it expands and can create quite a mess.

Devcon 5 that does what you want