Rubberset 49-3 restore

[unobtainium81]

I found this nice looking brush at a vintage market local to me inside an old travel kit.

Here's what it looked like:

A bit bent out of shape where it was sitting in the travel kit but the handle was in good condition so I bought it.

After getting it home and giving the knot a soak it straightened out back to its original form.

But the knot just seemed too old to work up a good lather as the hairs just seemed brittle and almost creaky.

So I made the decision to seek out a knot and attempt my first brush restore. The handle was lightly sanded and stained. I felt that the lighter stain used wasn't quite right so I went with a darker shade and once dry gave it a layer of wax and a polish up.

Knot out and stained and polished it was ready for a nice new Silvertip knot from Larry at whipped dog. I must say Larry was a great help to me in selecting a knot and choosing what loft height to go with. Shipping was really fast from the USA to UK and the knot looked very good quality.

So here is what the end result looks like with a 24mm silvertip knot at about a 48mm loft.

 

[Mark1966]

Great job mate - looks exceptional!

 

[unobtainium81]

Great job mate - looks exceptional!

Thanks. Now to wait for the glue to dry.

 

[stillshunter]

Noice! Rule Noice!!!

 

[Lifes a Peach]

Lovely brush...just lovely.

 

[alfredus]

Great brush - hope the the glue dries fast!

 

[filobiblic]

Top effort for a first restore! What a lovely brush. [emoji106]

 

[Pjotr]

Very nice indeed. Many wouldn't choose one as nice as that for a first restore. I certainly didn't. By the way as it is your first, have you considered redoing the lettering? It's a lot easier than you think.

 

[unobtainium81]

Very nice indeed. Many wouldn't choose one as nice as that for a first restore. I certainly didn't. By the way as it is your first, have you considered redoing the lettering? It's a lot easier than you think.

I thought about it but didn't want to mess it up. Any tips?

 

[Pjotr]

I thought about it but didn't want to mess it up. Any tips?

Only do this if the indentations of the letters are still distinct otherwise you'll just end up with a load of indistinct paint blobs. Give it a really good clean and gently paint the letters in with whatever colour you think is suitable. Just get one of those little car colour sample pots. Basically any oil based paint. Don't worry too much about going outside the line as it were. Let it dry thoroughly (you might want to paint a couple of times), then gently sand it back with some high grit wet and dry sandpaper. It obviously affects the area surrounding the letters so then buff it back with some aluminium/chrome polish (Mothers is the best in my view) to bring the whole thing to a shine.

It's bit tougher to do with butterscotch handles as you'll end up sanding the butterscotch layer away. Butterscotch is after all only a thin layer of oxidised/UV affected plastic.

Edit: Actually just remembered, I used a paint marker to paint the lettering in. A lot easier and less messy than getting paint and a wee brush.

 

[Anthony]

Looks awesome!!! I'll Looking at restoring a Rubberset myself and can only hope it comes out as good!

 

[unobtainium81]

Thanks. There will be an update to this in due course. The previous finish didn't play well with water so it's just drying out after a varnish. Looks even better to me.

 

[unobtainium81]

The wax finish didn't play well with water so it had to be refinished with some varnish. I actually think it looks a lot better with the mahogany finish.

 

[borked]

I concur.

 

[alfredus]

Looks really beautiful!