If it was my brush and handle, I would keep the beehive as is and get a new knot for the handle your dad made for you. I would be wary of damaging the knot as it came out of the beehive handle, and then need to replace the knot with a new one anyway. Plus, I really like both the color and shape of that beehive. But I like shorter, rounder handles. And butterscotch is a favorite color for me, looks old school.
Here is my only other thought: I am not sure that brush is still being made, and Vie Long does make a pretty nice butterscotch. If it were mine, the handle on that particular brush would almost be more valuable than the knot. A guy could buy one of their cheap models to knock the knot out of. Then again, if you aren't a big horse fan, and that is a knot you like? I find horse knots to be very inconsistent, and how much you pay for them doesn't seem to matter. (At least Vie Long /Epsilon) So if you are only gonna have one, and that is a good one, back to the hammer with it because you might buy three more and they won't be as good. Did that help?
I think all of this has made me decide to hold off on deciding. For now, I'll leave well enough alone and just use the brush in the rotation as is. My hammer is not going anywhere, and I'm not hurting for brushes to use. Since it's something I can't un-decide, I'll put a spare cashmere in the cypress handle using silicon, and put the whole thing on the back burner. Besides, with Hurricane Irma bearing down on us, this decision has taken on less importance this week. Thanks for the feedback, guys!
Well after deciding not to decide, I made a decision (at least temporarily)... How's that for being decisive? The "send me to crazytown" votes seemed to be gaining momentum, so I ordered a cheap ($15) 22mm Vie Long horsehair brush that got mixed reviews (i.e. some were shedders) on Amazon. This decision was made after my first "less than 100% successful" transplant job of a 24mm Stirling finest badger knot into a custom wooden handle. It worked out fine, but ended up losing some small tufts of hair on the edges which really ticked me off, and taught me that a 100% successful transplant is not always a given. Pics to come if anyone expresses even the slightest interest in seeing them (or possibly even if not). Also, speaking of slight interest, I recently started a thread to review a bunch of really good soaps. Since I'm spending the time to write this stuff down hoping to lead someone to (or away from) their next soap pick, feel free to click the link and follow along with my creatively named Review of 30+ Soaps thread.
Oh, I meant pics of the new job, not the old one. Now the Stirling knot is in the new handle and my mistakes are not noticeable to anyone but me. If I move that knot again (easy peasy because I always set my knots with silicone to avoid having to drill, steam or put the hammer to them) I'll post a pic of its undercarriage, which was ultimately glued together and then siliconed to a cork for stability. If I still have a piece of the base of the knot that was ridiculously fused to the original handle, I'll post it too.
Yeah, I don't totally get the beehive love, but I'm holding off on destroying it, as maybe it's an acquired taste. I don't dislike it; just not as excited about it as others here. The fact that it is unobtainium is what caused me to change gears. By the way, once you get to know me better, you may change your answer.
Yes, I would really like to see how it turned out. I predicted the original horse hair knot would go well with the cypress, but I haven't seen the newly purchased horsehair knot.
I would leave the bee hive alone and buy a new knot for the new handle. Then you can put them side by side and see what one you like. I would also buy a boar hair knot. I think you would like it better.