Back in March I won a beautiful butterscotch handle from Moe, just waiting for a 18mm knot. Then in April I asked for advice on which knot to put in it, and the consensus was a TGN Finest. I ordered it, and dry fit the knot into the handle and it sure looked great! Unfortunately, the brush sat there, unfinished, because I was overly concerned about screwing it up. I bought the 2 part epoxy, read a few threads, but my concern was that I put enough epoxy in for a solid hold, but not so much that it oozed out and ruined the knot. I decided to use a cable tie to tighten the hair and get it out of the way, then I used gaffer's tape around the knot and around the handle as one would with painter's tape. I mixed the epoxy, scooped it into the handle, then grabbed the knot and pressed it into the handle as I twisted it back and forth. A bit of epoxy did come out of the handle but the tape protected the handle and knot. With a 5 minute set time, I took the tape off after 2 minutes and it looked great. I was feeling a bit smug. Unfortunately, either I missed it then, or it was drawn up later, but some epoxy wicked it's way up a few millimeters into the knot. A little came out onto the handle, but I was able to scrape that off pretty easily. I'm going to have to try not to get irritated every time I see that epoxy in the knot though. The maiden voyage will be tonight. Here's the finished product, and a little closer look at the epoxy.
It looks fine Pat, don't even worry about it. It is minute and won't effect the experience man. You did well. Use it and be happy
Just a little tip, the way I put in a knot. I start with just a small amount of epoxy in the center, fit the knot, pull it out and see if the epoxy is on the bottom of the knot, then add small amounts till the bottom is pretty much covered with epoxy and let it set up. With a non absorbing brush material you don't have to worry about sealing the sides of the hole. Better too little than too much, after all what is the worst that could go wrong? The knot falls out and you glue it back in. I am really happy to see you tackle the job, enjoy.
Hey, thanks for the tip! I should have thought of that. I do plan on doing this a few more times once I find some more nice handles. With my Vulfix 660S having been sent back to the vendor for replacement, this brush has seen a lot of use lately. I thought with the smaller 18mm knot it would have a hard time keeping up with 3 passes but that has not been the case. It's more than up to the task.
