Thread: Need a brush restored

Hey y'all, now I have an early 70's ever ready 504 rubber set that was my pawpaw's that I would like to have restored. Now I do not frequent the brush makers alcove because I know very little about restoring brushes and I want this project to be perfect. This was part of my Christmas gift from my Father. Now I was wondering if y'all can give me a starting place or a name of a professional around here to get me started.

Pixelfixed, Harrywally, and Walleyeman to start would be good sources for info! Maybe they'll chime in here.

I usually will dip the end of the knot in paraffin. I leave about 3/8" to 1/2" of the knot hair bare just above the handle. Sometimes I will slide o-rings down the knot in a few places to make it stiffer before I dip in paraffin.
I then take a razor blade and very carefully cut the hair as close to the handle as possible.
I usually use a forstner drill bit to drill out the old knot, being very careful of the size. Too big and you get into the handle. too small and you don't remove enough of the knot. Then hand scrape the rest of the knot and glue out.
One thing that is very important is to be able to hold the handle secure while drilling and scraping!!
If it is too loose you stand a chance of wobble. Then the hole can get off center and out of round.
All this and remember to protect the handle from work marks. You don't want to go through all the trouble and have a gnarly exterior.
To re-glue I use a 2 part epoxy. Devcon or loc-tite are about the best.
Make sure the knot height is where you want it to be. To high drill a little bit more. To deep add some quarters or nickels in the bottom to bring the loft up. Then glue. You can use 5 min. epoxy or they have 60 min. epoxy. That is the working time.
Too much epoxy and it will travel up and out of the sides of the knot getting it on your handle. Too little and it may not hold.
Kind of a catch 22.
But most important there are no guarantees. The handle could come apart during your resto and then it is a done deal.
It is a gamble. Sometimes your a hero. And other times your a zero.
Good luck if you choose to take this mission!!

Ray

I use a simpler method. Adjusting the knot depth I do about the same as Walleyeman. I do no were near as many as he does though :<0)

Knot out , knot in. - YouTube

Pull the knot, replace with a new knot,is not rocket science.

Thanks Bill for reminding me!!
First try to pull the knot out! That is the easiest.
Don't know why I didn't say that first.
Gettin old I guess.
You can try by hand, then move to a vise.
If all else fails move on to the drilling and stuff.
I guess I was thinking it would be a worse case scenario.
See now I am even older than I was when I started talking.
Better go to bed and start again tomorrow!!

Ray

Originally Posted by Bamasamson

Hey y'all, now I have an early 70's ever ready 504 rubber set that was my pawpaw's that I would like to have restored. Now I do not frequent the brush makers alcove because I know very little about restoring brushes and I want this project to be perfect. This was part of my Christmas gift from my Father. Now I was wondering if y'all can give me a starting place or a name of a professional around here to get me started.

If you could add to your information/always being shown/where you are in this wide world would be helpful!! Some of the members mentioned may be very close by!!

I had a similar situation when my dad gave me his dad's old brush for my birthday in November. He knew I liked shaving stuff and he was right, I loved getting the brush. And, it turned out really great.

Here is the thread - I hope it gives you a picture of how it goes. It really is as simple as getting the knot out and putting another in, although I needed to fill the hollowed out handle with epoxy. My tools were basically epoxy, calipers, a vice and a dremel.

If you pay for a new knot,you pay the return postage,will do it gratis,PM me

I cut the knot down as Walleyeman does with a utility knife, then drill it out with a forstner bit. You can clean up the hole with a dremel and a small drum sander. I hand sand the handle with say 320, 400, 600, 1500, 2000, 3000, then buff it, should brighten it up if it's a hard plastic handle. I would use a cork to adjust the loft though, you can cut it to the height you need easily and sand it to fit the knot hole. haven't figured out the white lettering yet, thought about using white nail polish maybe?