Loft: What a difference a few mm makes!!

I bought this vintage Rooney handle reknotted in the (now unavailable) UK Silvertip knot from TGN a while ago, from a guy who restored it himself.





Part of what attracted me to the brush was the beautiful butterscotch handle (pretty substantial - that's a 24 mm knot in there). The knot itself was another attraction - I've always liked the UK Silvertip knots.

This brush was assembled at the height of the 'super dense knot' craze over on B&B, and the loft was set low - to make the brush unable to really bloom much. It also limited the flow-through, and so, while I liked the brush and the feel of the knot, I didn't care for its other characteristics, and I kept trying to sell it.

I thought about just reknotting it, but that would have meant sacrificing the knot, and I didn't want to do that.

So, then Teiste put up his little tutorial on knot removal here, I decided to give it a go with this brush. This was the result:



The knot essentially came out whole, though the plug may have been left behind a bit. I thought I'd just re-adjust the knot height and use it in the same handle.

Some judicious gluing later, this was that I had:



You can see the difference in bloom (when compared to the first pic, above). The feel on the face improved a lot too, it resembles a Chubby 2 in Super, even though the knot is smaller. The flow-through was just about spot-on.

I am really happy with the brush now, and will almost certainly hold onto it indefinitely. It's pretty much perfect for me, and all it took was raising the knot by a few mm!!

So, thanks Teiste!! Without your tutorial, I would have sold this brush, and that would have been a pity.

That looks great. What did you glue the knot to, or use as a spacer?

Depending on the size of the whole/knot, a nickel or a quarter works well for a spacer.

Great job! Brush looks fantastic. I am with you on not understanding the whole super dense, short loft craze

(03-25-2012, 08:05 AM)churchilllafemme Wrote: That looks great. What did you glue the knot to, or use as a spacer?

I used two nickels. So this restoration cost me 10 cents.

Hi Yohann

Very! nice, looks good

Take care, Mike

Great job! It looks lovely now!

Nice looking brush.

Thanks Yohann. Now I'm off to read Teiste's tutorial.

Great job, congratulations!

Very nice job Yohann.

(03-25-2012, 10:01 AM)Sully Wrote: Thanks Yohann. Now I'm off to read Teiste's tutorial.

Wait for me Shawn, I'm right behind you.

So what did you use to glue the knot?

Since you were able to get the knot loose using steam I doubt that it was previously set with epoxy.

Yohann,my friend,glad to know that I worked for you,and yes,a couple mm could change how we like/the behavior of a brush.

(03-25-2012, 07:08 PM)MaxP Wrote: So what did you use to glue the knot?

Since you were able to get the knot loose using steam I doubt that it was previously set with epoxy.

I don't know what was used to set it in the handle the first time, but I used rubber cement. It works, and it can be removed without drilling - both positives in my book.

The difference in height that it was set at was about 3 mm, and still the difference in feel is pretty amazing. The brush retains its backbone, but the flow-through is much, much better.

That's a nice touch, Yohann. Enjoy it.

That's a Vulfix Silvertip, it must have been set extremely low to try and compensate for its lack of density; glad to see you remedied the previous owners folly.

Yohann,
Great job resetting the knot. Beautiful colour!

Nice finish and full bloom!

Excellent work!

(03-25-2012, 08:10 AM)Johnny Wrote: Depending on the size of the whole/knot, a nickel or a quarter works well for a spacer.

And it adds an additional 5-25 cents in value!

I'm not the biggest fan of butterscotch brushes but I do have to say that is one awesome looking brush. It's definately now in my top 5 of brushes that I've seen!

(03-27-2012, 04:22 AM)Sodapopjones Wrote: That's a Vulfix Silvertip, it must have been set extremely low to try and compensate for its lack of density; glad to see you remedied the previous owners folly.

Actually I own 2 of these knots and am convinced that it was Simpson's 3-band super hair. The knot is actually extremely dense. I've owned Simpson's 3-band super brushes in the past and these knots feel the same to me. Based on the knot size, I and others really thought that this was a Chubby 1 knot.

In fact, I believe the prior owner of this brush (was it SliceOfLife Yohann?) was in the same agreement as I in regards to this being a Chubby 1 knot and he knew his brushes as well. Wish he was still around to post as he was a host of good information.

I have one set at 52mm, which I thought might be too high but it turned out to be one of my favorite 3-banders. I got another knot earlier this year and had it set at 48mm and it does make a huge difference. So far I'm liking the higher lofted one better.