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- 15,924
- Location
- Halifax, Republic of Yorkshire
I have a couple of HJM Professional boar brushes, which sport a really soft, floppy knot that is superb for "professional" lathering in big, open tubs of soap ... like Wickham's or OSP. I was musing over buying in another to cut apart (the handles are wood and the knot is already in a ferrule) and retreive the knot and started fiddling with the one I don't use much ... to find with a mere twist, the knot came clean out!
Perfect!
Why? Well, I have this Razorock 400 handle in orange which came to me with an Omega Professional knot, which promptly fell out and so I popped some epoxy in and test-fitted the knot. Just right ... and then it sank. Eh? Yeah, sank ... and the epoxy came up and around the base of the bristles. What an amateur! Ho-hum! I've used that brush and enjoyed it, but it always irked me and so I started thinking about what to re-knot it with (see above).
Pictures?
Of course ...
Pretty chuffed with that ... pictured against the Omega Professional for comparison, the knot maybe another centimetre of loft but standing much higher on the slender 400 handle. Lovely!
How did I get the old knot out?
I begin with a heavy kitchen knife and cut the hair right back, carving into the epoxy knot base as close to the top of the handle as I can. I then (amateur) use a drill to pop a pilot hole as close to the centre as I can and then spade bits ... first a 19mm just to get some bite, then 22mm and in this case, finally a careful ream with a 25mm bit. Absolutely bob-on. The pilot part of the spade bit goes down into the centre of the handle so a little extra epoxy to fill that little hole.
That technique does not work well with Lucite handled brushes as the shape of the bit can be clearly seen in the handle. I have to pop over to my son's and use his lathe when I do that type of handle.
Perfect!
Why? Well, I have this Razorock 400 handle in orange which came to me with an Omega Professional knot, which promptly fell out and so I popped some epoxy in and test-fitted the knot. Just right ... and then it sank. Eh? Yeah, sank ... and the epoxy came up and around the base of the bristles. What an amateur! Ho-hum! I've used that brush and enjoyed it, but it always irked me and so I started thinking about what to re-knot it with (see above).
Pictures?
Of course ...
Pretty chuffed with that ... pictured against the Omega Professional for comparison, the knot maybe another centimetre of loft but standing much higher on the slender 400 handle. Lovely!
How did I get the old knot out?
I begin with a heavy kitchen knife and cut the hair right back, carving into the epoxy knot base as close to the top of the handle as I can. I then (amateur) use a drill to pop a pilot hole as close to the centre as I can and then spade bits ... first a 19mm just to get some bite, then 22mm and in this case, finally a careful ream with a 25mm bit. Absolutely bob-on. The pilot part of the spade bit goes down into the centre of the handle so a little extra epoxy to fill that little hole.
That technique does not work well with Lucite handled brushes as the shape of the bit can be clearly seen in the handle. I have to pop over to my son's and use his lathe when I do that type of handle.