Glue / Acid brushes?

[Joe Caff]

What's your best (read: least expensive) source for acid brushes? It seems like the second they're called 'glue' or 'woodworking' brushes, the price quadruples.

Thanks!

Joe

[Stan Calow]

I have a bag of 'em from Harbor Freight. Not the best quality, but they work.

[Michael Stein]

I have a bag of 'em from Harbor Freight. Not the best quality, but they work.

Double that, Harbor Freight. I cut the bristles down a bit, makes them easier to work with. Got that tip from another guy. Sometimes on sale for 1.99, but you can always use a 20%. I buy a pack almost every time I go to or order something from HF. Probably have 3/4 unopened packs in the drawer at the moment.

http://www.harborfreight.com/36-pc-12-in-horsehair-bristle-acid-shop-brushes-61880.html

[Joe Caff]

Don't need high Q, just don't want it leaving a bunch of bristles in the glue line, which is what's happening with these. Don't know where these came from, bought the house from a retired WW'er who left them behind. Maybe there was a reason he left them behind. Hmmm.....

[Peter Quinn]

I don't use enough brushes to care about the cost, I soak/ wash and reuse multiple times to extend life. The not so well made ones....and they aren't always cheap...shed like a cat in spring. I can't work with with that. Last batch I got from Amazon, real natural bristles, very well made ferrul, they do not shed so much and work quite well. Wood working stores are the last place I shop for these, markup seems particularly high.

[mark kosse]

I don't think your going to find one of a quality that it doesn't shed bristles. I find the second time I use one its better because the bristles are glued in from the first time.

[Michael Stein]

I don't use enough brushes to care about the cost, I soak/ wash and reuse multiple times to extend life. The not so well made ones....and they aren't always cheap...shed like a cat in spring. I can't work with with that. Last batch I got from Amazon, real natural bristles, very well made ferrul, they do not shed so much and work quite well. Wood working stores are the last place I shop for these, markup seems particularly high.

Honestly, at the cost, this has never crossed my mind. I use and pitch. I may have to try rinsing.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I quit using them and switched over to using a silicone basting brush form the dollar store.
I also picked one up from Rockler when it was on sale & I needed a small item to make freight.

Use them - toss them aside and let the glue dry - pull off the dried glue (actually, kind of fun in a "packing bubble breaking" kind of way)

[Peter Quinn]

I quit using them and switched over to using a silicone basting brush form the dollar store.
I also picked one up from Rockler when it was on sale & I needed a small item to make freight.

Use them - toss them aside and let the glue dry - pull off the dried glue (actually, kind of fun in a "packing bubble breaking" kind of way)

I got one of those silicone brushes from a woodcraft on a whim and I like it a great deal but find it doesn't offer the kind of precision I need to glue mortises in stain grade work, cope and stick doors, etc where squeeze out and clean up are the enemy. More useful to me for edge gluing operations in table and panel construction where liberal amounts of glue are required. Places I used to use chip brushes.

[Chris Padilla]

I quit using them and switched over to using a silicone basting brush form the dollar store.
I also picked one up from Rockler when it was on sale & I needed a small item to make freight.

Use them - toss them aside and let the glue dry - pull off the dried glue (actually, kind of fun in a "packing bubble breaking" kind of way)

I picked up several of the silicone brushes from Rockler a year or so ago and I love them. Glue will not stick and like Rich said, it is kinda fun peeling it away.

However, I tend to use one and then toss it in a cup of water and swish it around when I remember (and before the water evaporates) and that also cleans it up nicely. No more bristles pulling out of cheap brushes.

[Chris Padilla]

I got one of those silicone brushes from a woodcraft on a whim and I like it a great deal but find it doesn't offer the kind of precision I need to glue mortises in stain grade work, cope and stick doors, etc where squeeze out and clean up are the enemy. More useful to me for edge gluing operations in table and panel construction where liberal amounts of glue are required. Places I used to use chip brushes.
There are smaller ones now available. I use them in place of the larger ones.

[John Sanford]

as others have said, Harbor Freight. I just make a point of ruffling the bristles to knock any loose ones out before getting the glue involved.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I bought a bundle of 50 from Woodcraft many years ago. Best I can remember, it was less than $5. Still have over forty of them, as I wash them out after use. Have been known to use one for applying flux

[Kelby Van Patten]

I bought a bunch from Harbor Freight and they work OK.

But then I bought one of those blue plastic glue brushes from Rockler. Then I bought two more. They are awesome. I don't use the acid brushes anymore unless I can't fit the Rockler brush in the area I'm gluing.

Highly recommended.

[Lee Schierer]

I don't use acid brushes, I recycle used our used toothbrushes through the shop for glue spreading. In between uses I drop them in a container of water so the brush part is in teh water. By the next day they are clean and ready to be used again. If One gets too beat up or dried out it goes in the trash. The work great for spreading glue.

[Art Mann]

I also use Harbor Freight chip brushes when covering a wider area. I prepare the brush by cutting half the length of the bristles off and then tugging on what is left to get rid of loose bristles. These are very cheap and they also work as a throw away pant brush for rough touch up work.

[Keith Westfall]

I usually buy the cheapest I can find (going to throw them away anyway most of the time!) but I squeeze them hard in my metal vise, and then trim to 1/4, 3/8?? long and they seem to work OK. Seems to help with the shedding...

[Chris Padilla]

I don't use acid brushes, I recycle used our used toothbrushes through the shop for glue spreading. In between uses I drop them in a container of water so the brush part is in the water. By the next day they are clean and ready to be used again. If One gets too beat up or dried out it goes in the trash. The work great for spreading glue.I use old toothbrushes to scrub oozing glue out of joints. I can see them working for spreading glue but you can't really use them like holding a pencil unless you use some strange-looking toothbrushes in your house. ;)

[Greg R Bradley]

A large amount of items from Harbor Freight are hardly worth the trouble if they were free.

These are a perfect example of where Harbor Freight makes a lot of sense. Some things make sense to use forever and should last but others are disposable like these. I just toss them in the recycle bin so the steel gets reused. Cheap garbage recycled into more cheap garbage.

[lowell holmes]

I also use Harbor Freight chip brushes when covering a wider area. I prepare the brush by cutting half the length of the bristles off and then tugging on what is left to get rid of loose bristles. These are very cheap and they also work as a throw away pant brush for rough touch up work.
Additionally, using a small hammer, tap on the handle at the bristles to flatten the metal and clamp the bristles in place helps.