My first brush preservation...

Hello folks. I finally finished my first brush preservation...I'm not calling it a restoration because I really didn't restore it. It's a Strong-Set brush that my grandparents gave me. My goal was to preserve the wear-and-tear on it and just make it usable again. I really like the aesthetics of a worn item so I didn't want to repaint the handle or anything. So, I coated the handle with 3 coats of satin polyurethane just to protect any bare wood revealed by scratches and chips. It worked well enough.

The cavity in the handle for the knot was tough for this project. First, the knot I had (thanks to Mastershake!) was about 1mm too big, so I had to whittle it bigger. It's a black badger, which I'm pretty sure is what was in there to begin with. But, the wood is of pretty poor quality, so rather than getting nice smooth curls of wood as I carved, I got jagged splinters and chips. As a result, the opening was a little uneven and when I cemented the knot in, some of it seeped out the sides and into the bottom of the knot. It wasn't much and doesn't effect the pliability of the brush. At first I was upset, but it dried more-or-less clearly and now I'm ok with it. Plus the amount that came out helped seal the gaps from the uneven carving. Curiously, the hole was about 4X deeper than the new knot, so I had to fill in the cavity with wood filler. Added some nice heft to the brush, which I like.

Overall, I'm pleased with my first project and if the opportunity presents itself I'd love to do it again. I learned a few things but I'm glad that I have a nice serviceable brush to use now.

Sorry for the poor pic. I just used my phone.

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