This is the fourth brush I have done, three restores and one custom, I have used the knots from the Golden Nib exclusively and been very satisfied with the quality and the service.. My oldest restore is now over 2 years old, that brush is in high rotation, and has experienced near nill bristle loss... This was a Dubl Duck brush that I bought probably a year ago that I finally got so time to restore myself.. I used a bit different way of removing the old knot this time, believe it or not the idea came from a newbies post I placed the very edge of the old knot in my bench vise and crushed it, then spun it around, and crushed it again, the entire knot basically fell out intact no muss no fuss no bristles everywhere... I re-drilled the hole, with my drill press and a 7/8 in bit used a Dremel to fit the new knot and 2 Ton Marine Epoxy to hold it together... The knot was one of their two band overfilled 25mm Silvertips... New Pics: After a shave in Full Bloom:
These old school(c)* restos are always really cool. It makes me wonder why they don't make brush handles like they used to any more, especially the rubberset ones. *Don't forget that's a copy written name now
Nice brush. I was thinking of the same thing, to match my dublduck razor. But than I sold the razor Do you have a before pic?
Great looking restore, Glen! I see the pic of the bloom. Can you all explain what the "bloom" is for sure? Looks like it fuzzed out quite a bit. Is that what you're after? Just wondering. My old brush was made in/around 1949 and I've started using it again a few years ago for my lather rather than canned. It really doesn't bloom or puff out, so I was just cuious. Didn't even know Dubl Duck made brushes.
Sorry I didn't take one but just imagine the hundreds of old cruddy twisted Boars hair knots that you see on e-bay and that's what it looked like I bought this one because the handle looked to be in the best shape I had seen in awhile... IIRC I spent $8-$10 shipped All the "bloom" just means is "after the brush has been used", note the tight packed look of the bristles when the knot was new, compared to the fluffy look after it has been used... Some people judge the quality of the knot by the uniformity and density after the "bloom".. Basically all knots look good when the are brand new packed and tight, but many get rather sparse when they bloom... So far all of the knots I have bought from TGN have stayed dense and even after the bloom, but to be honest all of them were the overfilled knots.. I tend to like a Badger brush more toward the stiff/dense side then the softer side so I target overfilled brushes.. I use soaps, creams and Uberlathers so I like a Badger, but for soaps, I get a better response from a stiffer brush...
Glen, and others, my daughter just found one of these, a #4, in an antique store and gave it to me. I was just browsing around a while ago and came across this thread. I've redone probably more than a dozen old brushes. drilling out the knots the hard way. I saw where we can squeeze the knot in the vise, so I just now tried it, and I am amazed at how clean and easy it works. The old knot just popped right out. Now all I've got to do is figure out whether I want to replace it with a boar or a badger. Trouble is, I've got several nice TGN silvertips already. I haven't ever redone one in boar. Tony sells one that might fit. I'll make up my mind in a few days, now that the hard part is basically all done. Thanks Glen!
