The Poet Creek Express - Foamie Hybrid

[S. Heisley]

Since I don’t have ready access to hot water in the loft (and don’t want to invade Karl and Chris’ kitchen on a regular basis) when I finish up I clean my brushes with mineral spirits, wrap them in a disposable plastic shopping bag, and bring them home to wash out. So how do I hang them to dry and remember to bring them along with me the next day? Stick them on the side of the fridge with magnet clips next to my lunch bag (my man purse) where I will see them in the morning. Not only that, but the cover slip for the smaller natural bristle brush is clipped to the strap of my bag.

Now, that's clever!

[GPW]

Having gone through literally thousands of brushes over the years , the best way to store/dry them is in the original paper covers they came in .... It keeps the chisel shape of the brush , not splayed out like the one on the left ^ ... If we don’t have the cover, we make one out of Kraft paper or thin cardboard (chipboard) and rubber bands ... We wash them as best we can , give them a good shake to get rid of excess water , and wrap them up to fully dry .... They always come out like brand new (shape) ... the ones shown are 15 years old , and I still use them .... The price of brushes , we want them to last and last ...

Ps. If you have paint dried in the brush , we found common hand sanitizer , soaked in overnight , removes the paint (latex) .... Wonder what it does to hands ...

[KCStudly]

So it's ok to put the brush in the sleeve while it's still damp? I thought that would just deteriorate the sleeve and cause paper fibers to transfer to the brush.

Once dry I put it in the sleeve and it seems to train it back nice, all the same.

The bristles up by the ferrule on that one are clogged with solidified poly. I tried the acetone soak and it did a good job of freeing up most of it, but the area up by the ferrule is pretty solid.

Is your soap method (apply dish soap after cleaning, then rinse out before use) only for water based products/ Seems that a water damp brush might not play nice with oil based products. How about the hand sanitizer; is that okay for oil based products?

[GPW]

KC, everything is Always Damp around here... No problems ... The hand sanitizer only seems to work on the water based products ... I use Spic N’Span to clean em ... Strong stuff... getting harder to find...

On my good sable watercolor and oil paint brushes I use mild hand soap ... Really have to take care of those !!!!!! .... some are over 100USD (each) ...

[KCStudly]

Ah, that explains such diligence with your brush maintenance. I thought it was a lot to pay $7-9 for the one on the left. Much nicer than a chip brush, tho, so worth taking care of.

In fact when I thought it was a goner (before the acetone brought it most of the way back) I looked for another and they (big orange) no longer stocked the natural fiber version, just "white bristle" synthetic. Bought it but have not used it.

[GPW]

Being OLD we have a hard time getting used to those plastic bristles ... They just don’t hold paint like the natural bristles... Supposedly the thing to use for Latex , but we stubbornly persist on using natural bristles .
RE: Shaking them dry... I should mention , that ever since seeing Bob Ross (the happy tree painter eh ) , I’ve been drying my house painting brushes off like he does , repeatedly slapping them against a pole ... (fence pole outside) , which really removes a good bit of any water. Good trick !! Horribly messy inside (yep, tried it) ...

Ps. I’m still using sable WC brushes I bought in the 70’s ... a little TLC goes a long way ... Thrifty, in the long run eh !!!

[wagondude]

RE: Shaking them dry... I should mention , that ever since seeing Bob Ross (the happy tree painter eh ) , I’ve been drying my house painting brushes off like he does , repeatedly slapping them against a pole ... (fence pole outside) , which really removes a good bit of any water. Good trick !! Horribly messy inside (yep, tried it) ...

I use the same method (learned from the same master). Although I seem to be able to do it without making too much of a mess in the stainless kitchen sink by slapping it across my fanned fingers held down at the bottom of the sink. I'll have to do it out side if we ever get around to remodeling the kitchen.

[KCStudly]

Just a quick update. Had to work late tonight, but still made it out to do another round of poly.

First coat for the front wall skin.


Scuffed and second coat for the small ledgers.


And the inside of the locker door.


Have to think what the next steps will be.

[Wolffarmer]

The boot scoot boogy

[KCStudly]

I'm not much of a dancer, but a little Stevie Ray Vaughan will usually get my toe tappin'.

Love Struck Baby

Blues masters tribute to SRV (1 hr 19 min)

[Wolffarmer]

I really do not like much country. Which includes almost all of what is heard on the radio these days. ugh.

Now SRV. YES!!!!

[Hardryder56]

Have seen but not used one of these but they are supposed to be the bomb when it comes to cleaning varnish brushes at boat yards.
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/us ... o?pid=4046

Tom

[GPW]

Brush spinners work Great , but sure do throw paint Everywhere ... We had one ... used it a lot when building the house... Then it disappeared... Guess the painters liked it too ... never got another one , since finding the Free Happy Tree method ... Thanks Bob Ross, wherever you are ...

[KCStudly]

First wipe the excess poly off on a paper shop towel; then I swirl, slosh, agitate and dip the brush in mineral spirits for a few minutes (debate as to if this is soaking or not, but when using two different size brushes I prioritize keeping a wet edge on my work over stopping to clean a brush); wipe with rag again; a few good flicks into an old cardboard box (to contain the off cast); wrap in plastic bag for transport to home; wash with hot water and dish soap; use the slap the knuckles/palm technique down in the sink to contain off cast; and hang to dry. Last night I put the good brush back in the sleeve while still damp, but I don't think it will make a big difference over waiting for it to dry first.

[KCStudly]

Another short night and quick update.

Despite my paint brush hanging scheme, I managed to be distracted this morning and rushed off without my brushes (drat). Well it was rainy and humid today, so rather than use the other brushes I have, I decided to let the first round of poly have an extra day to set.

I picked up some cyanoacrylate (CA or crazy glue) to reinforce the screw holes in the locker. I just used pine for the case and I am especially concerned that the screw holes for the lid support and hinges don’t get wallowed out. By dropping a couple of drops of CA into each screw hole (after having dry fit and removed the screws) the glue soaks into the wood fibers similar to how CPES would, hardens the wood fibers and helps keep them from striping out. Old trick I learned from making balsa and tissue model airplanes.


I’m not sure if this next step was even necessary. The joints in the locker case are pretty rock solid and the whole thing will be encased in glue and canvas, but I decided to seal the inside corners with paintable sealant anyway. Note the cut down credit card (actually an old health insurance card) used as an applicator (I think it was Wobbly Wheels that suggested using old and junk mail CC’s as applicators).


Trimming the edge of the card to an angle allowed it to be laid into the corner at a trailing angle. It was easy to sand the cut edge flat and round over the tip.


The sealant in the squeeze tube cost a little more per ounce than that in the caulk gun tubes, but I figured that it might keep better in the squeeze tube once opened.

I forget what these screw holes in the inside top of the locker were from (I may have said previously), but they aren’t needed anymore so I filled them with wood filler, just ‘cuz.


Another test fit of the front wall skin to the locker. My justification was that the stain and poly might have swollen the wood and made it fit harder, but really I just wanted to see how it is going to look.


And with the door (looking from the top down, but it looks pretty much the same either way).


I finished up by working on my list of things I need to remember to bring for next time.

When I got home I found that the guide bearing I ordered had arrived; looks right.