Dope Brushes

[Mike Griffin]

Guys I am kind of in a quandary here.  The brushes I have used in the past to brush one Nitrate or Butyrate clear dope came from Hobby Lobby and they were probably 3/4 - 1"  wide and had a clear acrylic handle.  The bristles were kind of an amber color and I am pretty sure they were nylon.  I have had these for years and when they finally wore out, I went to buy more and could not find them anywhere, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, ....anywhere.  So I bought some that I thought were close from Hobby Lobby and they seemed to work ok until I tried to dry the bristles off with a paper towel and they bristles just pulled right out of the handle in one swoop.  Obviously the dope and/or thinner ate up whatever was holding the bristles in the handle.

Anyway, I have to buy some new brushes and was wondering what you guys were using as far as type, brand and source.  Any help would be appreciated.  I think I am going to look on Amazon as well.

Regards,

Mike

[Bootlegger]

 Mike I use 1"-2" foam brushes that I get from Wal Mart or Home Depot, after I use them I place in a zip lock bag, and they are good for a few days. one to three weeks...

  Hope that his helps..  Will we see you next month at the contest here in Baton Rouge, well now Zachary...

[Motorman]

The cheap Atlas camel hair brushes from Tower Hobby are very nice for doping and hold together no problem. Just don't get the thinner on the painted handle or they get sticky.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXWRS2&P=ML

MM

[George]

Mike,

I use the cheap hobby store ones with the wooden handle. Perhaps you are cleaning them wrong.

First step is to remove excess dope by squeezing the brush at the ferrule and working toward the tip using a paper towel to contain the paint. I like to hold the brush handle down so excess paint/thinner will wick up inside the ferrule and hold the bristles in place. At no time do you pull on the bristles. Most are merely held in place by being squeezed by the ferrule.

Like many, I jiggle the brush in some cheap lacquer thinner then a second time in the thinner used for the dope. Then I clean the brush with soap and water to remove the thinner.

While the brush is wet, smooth and shape the bristles. If some hairs will not cooperate, use a paper towel to shape the bristles and set the brush aside to dry. Be careful to not allow the bristles to be misshapen while they dry. I store mine bristles up in a jar.  

George

[Norm Furutani]

I think we went through this topic about an year ago and I'm still very happy with this line of brushes. https://www.amazon.com/Loew-Cornell-3550-3-Comfort-Handle/dp/B000YQH8WS
I did notice the 1" is currently not available, at least through Amazon. Much better than so-called camel hair and pretty close to my old sable brush at about 1/4 the cost.

Norm Furutani, 60 years of tissue and dope!

[Perry Rose]

I get my brushes from a spray can.

[George]

Mike,

Your question piqued my interest so I did a little online research and found that a camel hair lacquering brush may be what we need. These have bristles that are set in the ferrules with solvent resistant epoxy. That should make them good for "draggy" paints like lacquer and dope.
See:  https://www.solobrushes.com/products/3364-finest-flat-camel-hair-lacquering-482/ 

I have been removing stray bristles since the early fifties. I remember when my LHS started stocking the 1" SIG dope brushes...at ~$0.25! You can lessen the amount of bristles lost by keeping the paint flowing. I have a habit of dragging the brush through dope that has started to set and that will pull out bristles. Guess I need to move faster.

I have also used the foam brushes mentioned. They work great and are cheap enough to be disposable. They are wasteful for touch-up though especially considering they suck up a bunch of paint, well...like a sponge. 

I once got the bright idea of using CA to keep the bristles in the ferrule. That didn't work so well. Even though I carefully applied the CA along the ferrule, I did not realize how much it would wick. With only the last 1/4" to use on paint, I put the brush in de-bonder (nitromethane) and was able to recover over half the brush.    ...only once! 

Well, you have lots of options from the various responders. The final choice is yours to make. Good luck.

George