Ever-Ready restoration questions from a beginner

If this is in the wrong forum, I apologize.

I was in an antique store last year and found a vintage Old Spice mug that I wanted. Included with it was an Ever-Ready 1000 Pure Badger brush that has been sitting around since then. The knot was pretty shot but I liked the handle and figured I would re-knot it at some point. I started working this weekend and got the old knot out with a drill and a dremel wheel. It looks pretty nice but has a few scratches that are discolored which I would like to clean up. Can I safely use wet & dry sand paper on this or does anyone else have any recommendations? Please let me know what you think. Please excuse the not so great pics from my cell phone. Thanks in advance.

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Nice looking handle :tu

I'm no help but I bet that those that are in the know will be chiming in.

With that said, I don't see why some high grit wet and dry (used wet) wouldn't work. :shrug:

Will be a nice handle restore.
Is it wood or resin? If Wood you will want to mindful of the depth as you sand, don't want to burn through. With resin, you are less worried. Some wet dry will work well on it wet.
Good luck.

It's some kind of hard rubber/bakelite. It's an old Ever-Ready that says "Set in Rubber" on the bottom.

I started with 1200 grit wet&dry. It wasn't quite getting to the scratches, so I dropped to 800 grit just lightly over the worst parts, then back to the 1200 over everything. I followed that with some Maas polish. The pics aren't great but the actual result is like night and day.

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Now for a knot...

I measured the inside diameter of the handle and it is about 21cm. The Ever-Ready spreadsheet on the SRD Library says the knot size for this brush is 20mm. Based on what I have read on some other threads, especially from HARRYWALLY, I ordered a 20mm two-band knot from Virginia Sheng on e-Bay. It should get here in about who knows when, but I'll be back to let you know about the next step.

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

Looks great Demetrius That knot should fit nicely.
Let us know when it arrives,,, in July.. ;)

Cool looking handle, that will be great when it's back up and running. I re-knotted a couple Ever-Ready brushes for the first time a couple months ago and went with that same knot you got for both, worked great. What's the inside of the handle look like as it is now? The ones I did were hollow and I filled the empty space with pieces of Popsicle sticks and epoxy up to where I wanted the the bottom of the knots to be. Nice job so far!

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Originally Posted by MikeB52

Looks great Demetrius That knot should fit nicely.
Let us know when it arrives,,, in July.. ;)

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Thanks, Mike. I think the over/under on the arrival is about May 28th, but we'll see. The only other thing I ever ordered from China on e-Bay was a Loupe. It actually made it in about 4 weeks.

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Originally Posted by xiaotuzi

Cool looking handle, that will be great when it's back up and running. I re-knotted a couple Ever-Ready brushes for the first time a couple months ago and went with that same knot you got for both, worked great. What's the inside of the handle look like as it is now? The ones I did were hollow and I filled the empty space with pieces of Popsicle sticks and epoxy up to where I wanted the the bottom of the knots to be. Nice job so far!

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Thanks. This one's not hollow, which surprised me since most of the Ever-Ready handles are. It's a little uneven at the bottom. My plan, for now, is to use a dremel grinding wheel to even it out as best as I can, put some epoxy in to level it out, let it dry, then set the knot.

Sometimes stuff from China comes pretty quickly and sometimes not so much. I think it depends on when your item goes into the big shipping container. If it's one of the first items in, you'll have to wait until they (and whoever else is using that container) get enough orders to fill it before it ships. If your item is one of the last ones into the container then you don't have to wait as long. ... I think.

Looks like you did well with the wet sanding. I'm thinking your going to have a great brush in the end!

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Originally Posted by Demetrius

Thanks. This one's not hollow, which surprised me since most of the Ever-Ready handles are. It's a little uneven at the bottom. My plan, for now, is to use a dremel grinding wheel to even it out as best as I can, put some epoxy in to level it out, let it dry, then set the knot.

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Sounds like a good plan. I did couple restores not too long ago, and the one handle was hollow. It was a tiny handle, I believe I put a 16mm knot in that one. The handle was very light. I used plain old auto fiberglass resin to fill the handle up to where I needed the knot to sit at. Let it cure a couple days and then epoxied in the knot. Gave the handle some nice weight and worked well.

Great job and I will be following this, I have an ever ready that I need to re knot, I have the wet sanding done so maybe I can learn along with you :D You did a fine job on the sanding and polishing so far :D

As of last night, the knot was in Yiwu, China. I think that's outside of Shanghai, but my Chinese geography is not too good. :confused::shrug: When the knot arrives, I'll be back.

Nice work! Please post pictures of the finished brush, I'm sure it will be great.

The knot arrived from VS in China yesterday. It seems to fit perfectly so I plan to set it with epoxy this weekend. Any suggestions on a particular epoxy to use? Also, how long should I let it set before using?

Naaah. Just use a good 2 part epoxy, and once you set it, leave it and don't touch.

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Cool that the knot came! You'll be able to use that brush before you know it.

It's been a busy couple of days at work so I haven't been able to get out and buy some epoxy. The stuff I had is pretty old, so I plan to go to Lowe's in the morning and pick up some fresh stuff. In the meantime, here's a pic of the knot and handle, pre-glue:

Attachment 262179

I'm a face latherer and I think this will work really nicely!

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Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

Naaah. Just use a good 2 part epoxy, and once you set it, leave it and don't touch.

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I plan on using Loctite. It says that cure time is 24 hours after it sets. I'm planning on 48 hours if I can force myself to wait.

It's a good idea to use the 24 hour, good call. Creates a stronger bond. It's really looking good so far. Are you sure you don't want to set it down deeper though. From the pics, the loft looks high.

That being said, it's your brush and if that's what you like, that's what you should set it at.

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Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

It's a good idea to use the 24 hour, good call. Creates a stronger bond. It's really looking good so far. Are you sure you don't want to set it down deeper though. From the pics, the loft looks high.

That being said, it's your brush and if that's what you like, that's what you should set it at.

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I realized after you mentioned this, that when I took the picture, I had just loosely set the knot in the handle. When I really seat it down in the bore, I think it's right. In the first pic, the loft was over 55mm. In this one, it is about 52. It does look better.

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That does look better. You got it! :tu

Looking good! Great handle, even better with the knot in there.

Lookin' good, thanks for the picture!

I epoxied the knot in this afternoon. It is sitting quietly on my desk, eyeing me...tempting me to try it out...evil thing. The epoxy label says it can be used after only one hour...must resist... Pics to come after I wash out the knot on Monday and use it on Tuesday morning, all nicely wet and bloomed.

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Originally Posted by Demetrius

It's been a busy couple of days at work so I haven't been able to get out and buy some epoxy. The stuff I had is pretty old, so I plan to go to Lowe's in the morning and pick up some fresh stuff. In the meantime, here's a pic of the knot and handle, pre-glue:

Attachment 262179

I'm a face latherer and I think this will work really nicely!

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Looks great! For some reason, I totally thought the knot was going in the other end from the pictures.. this makes more sense!

Adam


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The epoxy has cured and I have washed out the knot with shampoo. I then hand lathered some Tabac to take out the last stink. It bloomed really nicely and I plan to try it out tomorrow with more Tabac. Pics to follow...

Enjoy it! It's so satisfying to be able to use something you fixed or made. Makes you kinda want to do another one!

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Originally Posted by xiaotuzi

Enjoy it! It's so satisfying to be able to use something you fixed or made. Makes you kinda want to do another one!

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Yup. I have had my eye out for more vintage handles to restore.

Here it is:

Attachment 262476

I washed it out with mild dish soap last night followed by a hand lather with Tabac that I let sit for an hour or so, then rinsed out. The knot was surprisingly clean and had very little funk. I used it to face lather Tabac this morning and it is just about perfect. Time to find another one to work on.

Thanks, everyone, for all the advice and support.

Looks excellent in full bloom. Well done!

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Fantastic job! Sweet brush, looking forward to seeing your next project.

That is a fine-looking brush!