Printable View
Hey gents. Got this awesome fixer up brush handle from a certain Texan on these here interwebs..
Attachment 245942
And a close up of the stamps.
Attachment 245943
I look forward to boring this out carefully to see what size shavemac I can fit inside.
Sterling silver, but would be curious what all those stamps actually mean.
Cheers, and thanks a sterling pound to Mr Tom for sending it my way.
:chapeau
Try this link - every hallmark you can think of.
Online Encyclopedia of Silver Marks, Hallmarks & Makers' Marks
The lion means sterling - .925, the anchor means Birmingham.
Attachment 245944
Were I to guess they mean as follows;
Goes well with After Shave, sinks like an anchor if dropped in the ocean, made from genuine Griffon tail hair, and made for Labatts
Course I could be wrong on a couple of the stamps...
:shrug:
Edit: Thanks Cincinnatus, I will look them up. :tu
"AS" is the maker and the cursive L is the date code - but I don't see that listed under Birmingham.
The cursive L is 1985. No idea who AS is - sorry.
Attachment 245945
It is for Argyle Silver. A very old name which was apparently kept alive by a more contemporary silversmith in London.
As he passed, no one was there to keep up the work and, as I understand, all the remains were auctioned-off.
Super cool story.
Argyle Silver, circa 1985.
Birmingham England..
Might need to find a Simpson knot for it now...
;)
Well, it was assayed in Birmingham. The maker was in London! ;)
I think it deserves a fine, larger knot. The silver was formed over wood and the maker did not make it deep enough to properly set a knot, IMO. Needs boring out a bit deeper.
Just don't chuck that handle up in a lathe, now! :nono:
Sweet handle! Love the shape of it too. Looks like she has a few dings..... Little Bondo should do the trick, eh Mike, eh Tom? :rofl2:
Or is that just a reflection?
Yeah, a few dings, to be certain. Being a wood core with silver laid-over, I figure a good silversmith may be able to fix?
I have seen people shrink out dents with liquid refrigerant and liquid nitrogen......
Anyhoo, we refer to that as 'patina'! :D
I bet Mike can do it, he's pretty good with that sort of thing. That being said, nothing wrong with a few dings I'd say.
I was looking at liquid nitrogen and dry ice ideas but not to much as yet.
A few dents do add character. Will have a better idea what I can and can't take on once I have it cored for a new knot.
Reaching out to a silversmith wouldn't be a bad idea as well. I believe we have a couple up in the hockley hills.
:tu
Well, either way, some experimenting on an obscure dent would not hurt a thing, actually.
I doubt if it would do anything at all! :roflmao
Damn if I don't think I shall miss Neil Miller the rest of my life. He would know!
Pessimistic Me! ;)
I always thought it quite special, in spite of the dings. It IS quite large and heavy!
Love the way the hallmarks tilt along, prominently!
Glad you like it, Mike.
Will take a bit of 'silver mining' to take a bit of the silver worked-down into the hole, the 'shelf' created, and get to a reasonable size, depth?
28 mm knot or so? Let's see a pic down in there, Mike.
A peak inside..
Attachment 245949
Better use the 'finesse' technique as boring that out! ;)
Attachment 245950
Thinking of trimming the silver at the top inside, prying a silver cylinder out, and making it be all it can be using epoxy?
http://straightrazorpalace.com/attac...ancy-image.jpg
What would fit now?
Go, Mike, GO! :D
That's a good idea Tom, I could then, in theory remove all the wood from the top area too and maybe even be able to work those dents from the inside as well as the outside.
A little bit of brass hammer action, in conjunction with the compressed air and heat, never know till you try.
I could maybe get a knot closer to 30 mm stuffed in this silver gem if I open up the top enough..
Hmmm.
Put the vernier inside the handle tonight, 23 mm across existing hole, figure I can get to 25 mm comfortably without removing too much of the inside of the shoulder radius.
Think I will be busting out the Dremel and some little cut off wheels this weekend.
Am thinking of a tiny drill-bit through the silver on the inside will tell if there is wood all the way up?
If not, you might want to lightly drum-sand on the inside til a 24mm fits?
Attachment 247101
Attachment 247102
Heads filled with chalk it looks like, and the lower body wood.
So I can remove all the chalk and try to tap out some of these little dents.
Then refill the area with epoxy and rebore for the 23 mm Shavemac 2band on its way. Stayed at 23 as anything bigger and I would be biting in to that top radius and I want to keep all of that intact.
Cheers.
Look up... Snarling irons on the web..
A way to hammer the inside of a meal object. An iron, home made, a vise, and a hammer, will do the job. May take a while to get the idea but, I have used and taught the technique. You should have no trouble.
~Richard
Man! The right guy got that!
Looking good, Mike! :nj
Curious.. Why do you think chalk?
Could it be old adhesive?
It IS from 1985??
It's chalk, or calcium for sure. Not adhesive.
All I can guess is for mass behind the Sterling to reduce denting maybe, or make it feel more solid up top. It is drawn or hammered very thin and took quite the skill.
I'm afraid to dent it worse so will be googling snarling irons, thanks Richard.
And thanks for the cool brush project Tom!
Attachment 247109
Got all of it away from behind the largest dent now.
Attachment 247110
Note the chalk like residue.
Cheers
Course maybe the chalk is to prevent buckling while they roll the silver, like filling a brake line with sand to prevent it from kinking when you are bending it..
Betcha it is drywall mud, spackling, "caulk'! The old guy who made it may have been using some older techniques as well? Great that it should be easy to remove and deal with those dings.
Gonna be nice, that! :)
Looks great Mike!
That is going to be one classy looking brush.
Sharpton beat me to it, That's what I thought too when you said chalk. Would be perfect to fill a void, add weight and cheap as can be.
That is going to be sweet!! Shavemac huh Im seeing a pattern here
This plaster like material inside the brush looks like what they used back then to set sharpening stones to wooden boxes. Many seem to think that it was plaster but the traditional way was a mixture of whiting and raw linseed oil that becomes hard like a glaziers putty.
Attachment 247135
Richard, snarling iron worked the treat and made perfect sense from an energy transfer perspective.
Attachment 247140
Turned an ikea Allen key into my iron. Filed the head to the profile I wanted for the inner striking face. Clamped everything down tight and used as much metal mass as I had handy.
Attachment 247141
Nothing really happened until I figured out how to strike and pull back the hammer with minimal strike contact, above where the key clamps into the vice. I knew it by the ringing sound when I hit clean and the energy was transferring to the tip.
Once I figured that out, the rest was straight forward and I proceeded to chase most of the dents away.
Attachment 247142
This is a shot straight at where the worst dent used to be. Almost completely gone!
Awesome technique I would have never known about were it not for Richard and his experiences, and willingness to share relevant snippets from a significant database of life skills.
The 'real world' should really take tips on how men should interact from the pages of SRP.
Thanks gents.
:chapeau
It also required a man willing to think outside the box and try it. Be well and prosper!
~Richard
Got a tracking note from Germany, seems the two bands have already shipped! Much faster than my last order I'm happy to say so I moved along on this brush and refilled the head with devcon liquid metal epoxy to ensure the head has some strength to it.
Smoothed it out with a finger while the epoxy set up and squished it right tight against the inside of the entire upper area. I can Dremel it out clean once fully cured in a day or so.
Attachment 247251
So since I couldn't do much else, I shone it up some with never dull.
Attachment 247252
Hopefully next week I'll be able to say I have a new favorite brush. And certainly a lovely photo op for SOTD before I send a certain Sterling clad Elliot razor on to finer beards than mine.. ;)
Cheers men.
Got my Shavemac order today and test fit the silver handle with its new two band 23 x 52 mm knot.
Here beside a walleyeman getting a 23 x 48 double density two band upgrade as well.
Attachment 247898
Can't wait to get these set up and cured..
Cheers..
Can I have my brush back now? :rofl2:
Love it! Beautiful stuff! :tu
Thanks Tom. I really love the feel of that handle.
Decided I need to make the hole a tad deeper on It before I set it. Want it a touch deeper to pull the fan together a bit more and give it a bit more stiffness.
Basically set it until the whites gone at the base.
Down low, dammit! THAT's where the performance is! :rofl2:
JMO
That's looks mighty fine Mike - and I lay all the blame on Tc for sending me down the Shavemac wormhole....can't wait to check out that knot, that Walleyman handle will get the well deserved knot it deserves...great work again Mike and thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeB52
Excellent work here Gentleman! That brush will live to see many, many more years. A very special brush, that's for damn sure!
