Enrico, you were sure spot on about this brush being a pain in the butt to restore. Getting the old knot out was easy. After drilling the initial hole, the rest came out in pieces very easily. The hole was initially 25mm with the knot out. That's too small for a 24mm knot, but I didn't want anything smaller, so I decided to open up the hole a bit. That's why I ran into the steel ring inside, as you had mentioned. I couldn't get it out and was afraid of messing up the ferrule, so I needed to grind it. It took quite a bit of grinding with a Dremel to get that ring ground down enough to accept a 24mm knot. I had to go slow because the ring would heat up, causing the ferrule to heat up. I was concerned that the ferrule might be some type of celluloid that might start to burn if it got too hot, or at least some kind of plastic that would deform when hot, so it took a while. The results are good. The epoxy has been curing for a few days, so tomorrow morning will be the inaugural shave. Below is a photo of the handle with the knot out, showing the steel ring, along with the finished product.
John, your brush looks great! I'm not saying they all are awful, but I believe the bottom is made of celluloid and the top bakelite. The celluloid can go bad and disintegrate; this can be seen in straight razors as well. I'd say you got a good one! The brushes I pick up are literally on there way to the landfill and I'm their last hope of someone saving them. I get a good deal cause no one else thinks they're salvageable. If that's your first brush restore and if that's your hundredth, still a great job!
Well it's been some time since I posted some work .... This is made of two brushes ... a Stag, that the base shrank and a Star who's top shattered. I thought it worked out pretty well. A 24mm synthetic horse hair seems looks nice; I intentionally set a little deeper to increase the backbone of the knot. This is to be a thank you gift; so its next stop is to the post office. I'm restoring a green Hardright that had lost its bottom cap; hoping to post it soon. And as always ... more to come.
Well I realized I've been slacking or my restoring of brushes so I pulled out this black and white Stag. A nice little black and white Stag (sold by Rexall drug stores). The top and bottom were separating, so after removing the knot and all the plaster inside; I carefully pried the glue joint apart. I then cleaned the mating surfaces, re-glued it (with superglue) and coated the interior with a thin coat of 5 minute epoxy. Wanting a more pleasing shape; I bored it out to accept a 22mm knot and sanded the height down ~1/8". I weighted, polished, removed vintage glue residue and re-knotted it with a 22mm synthetic Timber Wolf (from Maggard's). (sorry for the poor pic) Very pleasing in shape and weight; also looks far better in person. And as always ... more to come.
Well it's been a cool damp day here, so worked on another brush in need of restoring. It's an Erskine 3104 that (like the Stag) was separating at its mid point. After removing the knot, and plaster; I cleaned up the mating surfaces and super glued it. I then weighted, bored it to 24mm, polished and set its new Tuxedo knot from Maggard's. I reduced its height by ~ 1/4" to give it a much more appealing look. All ready for a new life! And as always .... more to come!
Discretion is the better part of valor. Caution is preferable to rash bravery. Falstaff King Henry the Fourth, Part One William Shakespeare.