Well here are some brushes I restored recently .... A Ever Ready #79, Kingsley and a Ever Ready 936W (nylon) As received ... After a hair cut ... Initial clean up ... Filled and weighted ... Finished polished, lettered and re-knotted with Maggard's synthetic. The Ever Readys are 24mm and the Kingsley is a 22mm. I wasn't sure I was going to like the Kingsley so bought a beater, so had severe scratches, stains and edge short cracks. After cleaning and much polishing; finished looking like polished bone. really please with it. More to come ....
Yeah, I think I'm beginning to get BRAD, Brush Restore Acquisition Disorder. I don't know, I just made it up, but I like doing it.
Thank you! I was acquiring vintage brushes about a year and a half prior to actually starting to resort and re-knot them. Thank you! I've made my share of mistakes, but thanks! For deep scratches; 400 sand paper followed by 3M green scrubby. Polishing I use Turtle Wax rubbing compound. Sometimes followed by Hard Shell Turtle Wax. Takes time.
One thing that I've found that works good for me is to use sanding sponges in various grits. Helps with contours and you can vary it more by using really light or heavy pressure.
A few more restored ... A Buffalo shaving brush (looks like the knot was chewed on by the dog or very well loved) An Ever Ready 38N, the base got me hooked. A Gibbs nylon brush from the 1970's. The Buffalo brush was a fair straight forward except I bored it out to receive a 24mm knot and was (for a while) unsure of what knot I wanted to install. Settled on a Maggard's synthetic knot. There is a reason you don't see Ever Ready 38N's; they are prone to serious catastrophic failure. The cream top was eggshell thin; no more than a mm think. During knot removal the cream top crack top to bottom. The more I tried to repair it, the more it self destructed. As I said REALLY liked the base of it and it made me sick to chuck it out. So I improvised a new top to receive the knot. Unsure if I would like it I installed a cheap 24mm black badger knot. It's beautiful and well balanced, but very scritchy; may change it one day. The Gibbs had an awful nylon knot, so I removed it and bored it out to receive a 22mm Maggard's black synthetic. Finished polished, lettered and re-knotted with Maggard's synthetic and black badger. By the way; that's a 3/4" hose coupler on the Ever Ready 38N. More to come ...
I may re-name it the Ever Ready Coupler. It was the best I could do without my major power tools. Actually feels great in the hand.