Keeping things clean

[Rob Luter]

Keeping my bench free of debris is always a battle. I've managed to collect a couple tools to help with that. They never need sharpening :)

My now 40 year old drafting brush from when I pushed a pencil. Good for fine sawdust. An antique wallpaper brush I found at (where else?) an antique mall. The bristles are packed nice and dense and it's the best bench brush I've ever had. The round Osborne (also from an antique mall) is pretty handy around a drill press. I'm not sure what the original application for that one was. Too big for a paint brush. All three are real horsehair. They just don't make stuff like this any more.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52002479558_3d9ec16b01_b.jpg

[Maurice Mcmurry]

+1 regarding the battle for cleanliness! Those are nice.

[Tom M King]

That round brush is for varnishing spars with Spar Varnish. Epiphanes stills sells one, and it's not cheap, but the newest ones don't look that nice!

[john jesseph]

I’m a fan. I wish I could find a push broom with a vibe I liked.

[Jim Ritter]

Plus one for varnishing and painting round things. A flat brush bristles spread when offered up to a spar or pipe. I have one and used it on spar work, and my brother in law gave me another brush that he got when he was a painter for the railroad.
Jim

[Rob Luter]

Thanks for the tips on the intended use of the round brush. Not many spars here in Northern Indiana. Perhaps that's why it's in such good shape?

[Tom Bender]

John, I share your frustration with push brooms. They all seem to hold onto fine dust and drop it at the start of the next pass.

[Lee Schierer]

A barber where I lived many years ago had a brush like the round one that he used to remove the hair clippings from the back of your neck. The barber I go to know uses a vacuum cleaner with a round brush.

[Jason Buresh]

John, I share your frustration with push brooms. They all seem to hold onto fine dust and drop it at the start of the next pass.


I’m a fan. I wish I could find a push broom with a vibe I liked.

I have a "corn warehouse" broom I bought from Ace hardware. It's very old fashioned looking, so it fits in great with the hand tool theme, and it doesn't hang onto shavings or dust, but it does sweep clean. It's probably the best broom I've bought for the shop.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

One of the guys that helped teach me to appreciate a fine brush worked his way through art school by being the janitor in a museum. He enjoys the action of moving material around with a good brush in an effort to create something that looks nice, be it a clean floor, a skillfully painted room or house, or an artistic painting. I will try to get permission to post an image of his artwork.

[Tom M King]

I have a horsehair push broom in the mechanic shop that does a wonderful job on the smooth concrete floor, but I don't think it would do very good with sawdust, and shavings. I usually just suck those up.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Synthetic fibers sure do hang on to dirt and dust.

[Derek Cohen]

Rob, those are beautiful brushes, and I like them as I tend to be old school. However, all they probably do is move the dust around and lift the fines into the air. In practice, I use a HEPA filtered vacuum cleaner to sweep up.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[James Pallas]

Use to be the “Fuller Brush Man” came by every once in a while and you could get exactly what you needed. The synthetic stuff just doesn’t work as well to me. Have you ever tried to soak up a spill with a synthetic cloth. It moves the spill around and thins it out but you can’t wring anything out of it. Or a synthetic chamois, what s cruel joke.
Jim