Thread: Removing old knots.

I found an old barbers brush at an antique store; the ones with a wooden handle, a two inch plastic piece securing the knot, and boars hair, for $7. The wood needs to be sanded and refinished but other than that the handle is structurally sound. However the knot is shedding like it has the mange. Any tips or tricks for getting the adhesive and knot off without cracking the handles? This is my first brush restore as I'm more into blade restoration, but for the money I couldn't pass it up. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Wrap the knot heavily in masking tape,clamp it in a vice, than pull hard,if that will not work, cut it off close to the handle.
Drill a series of holes in the knot and pull the hairs out with pliers.

Thanks pixel! Any suggestions on an online source for silver or super knots by any chance?

Originally Posted by tiddle

Thanks pixel! Any suggestions on an online source for silver or super knots by any chance?

Silvertip Standard Knots : Fountain Pen parts - NIBS, - Wholesale Fountain Pen Ink - Golden Nib AZ

For inspiration, heres an Ever-Ready 100 I'm working on. Its not fancy but I like it. I used a progressively larger drill bit method after carefully cutting the boar off.

Thanks a ton. You've been a huge help. I will be sure to post some before and after for sure.

TGN and Larry sell good knots.

slow on my draw.

Larry is "Whipped Dog".

Originally Posted by HaiKarate

For inspiration, heres an Ever-Ready 100 I'm working on. Its not fancy but I like it. I used a progressively larger drill bit method after carefully cutting the boar off.

So basically drilling the knot base out until you can remove it in pieces, or progressively to enlarge the diameter to accept larger knots?

It never came out in pieces. When I cut the boar down it was very solid at the base, starting at the 'rim' down. Once I was close to the correct size (this one is 19mm) I finished with sand paper so as not to chip it. I covered the whole base in tape first to prevent any scratching. The hair was held in by some ancient resin that was extremely hard. I drilled into it about a 1/2 inch.

Be very carefull trying to enlarge a bore in a plastic handle with drill bits,is a recipe for disaster,is the only time I would use a Dremel with a small sanding drum