Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-01-05
suy A GOOD BRUSH.
Foints About the Selection of an I'M
plrment of the Painting Trade.

Foints About the Selection of an I'm.
plrment of the Painting Trade.
Whsn painter buys poor brush, he is
very much like the man who takes in
counterfeit money for the genuine article
either poor judge or too careless of his
own interest. or too confiding in his fellow
man to look at it closely. Now, my boy,
here are two propositions which / wish to
impress upon your mind: First, that it is
of the utmost Importance to you that you
buy and use the best brushes in the market:
second, that nine-Jenths of the brushes
kept in the retail stores are not worth tax.
ing as a free gift, because no matter how
well skilled you may be a poor. i'll shaped
brush will retard your progress and in g
measure spoil your work.
have no doubt but brushes are ofteri
ruined by careless and improper usage, but
judging from long experience and observa-
tion am led to believe that more of them
are spoiled in the making than by imprope.
handling. There are two very important
points to bear in mind when selecting 8
brush: First, is it we'll made? and second.
is it good material?
Here is a fine boxing brush with long.
heavy bristles. Buy it for you? No, my
lad; In this case beauty is only skin deep,
and the name of the maker or recommen-
datlon of the sales man is not safe to go
by. Trust only to your own judgment or
to the judgment of some one qualified to
buy for you. Open this brush and look at
the filling. What is it? Echo answers.
WHAT" 1t certainly is not good, honest
wearing bristles II you soak this filling
in water it will no more stand alone than
a wet rag.
The question whether it is hair, wood
filler, Florida grass or what not cuts no
figure, because it water soaks and works
more like mop than like a good bristle
brush. 1t has good fringe of good bris-
ties on the outside, but they fail to do
their own part of the work and at the same
time furnish the spring for the worth
less hlllng, and the result is it splits and
wears to saw tooth edge. / am speaking
now OF the whitewash and calcimine
brushes. There is not enough good stock
IN such brush ten inches wide to make a
good 3-inch wall brush, and yet they are
SOLD at prices which ought to buy a fairly
good brush.
II there Is any one poor brush which |
despise more than another, it is a shedder.
which, like sick cat, keeps on shedding
the year round. 1t is surprising to see
how many hairs such a brush can she'd and
seem to grow no smaller. If you find a
brush has many loose bristles in it lust
make up your mind that there are more to
follow and don't buy it. Don't delude
yourself with the idea that you can soak it
up and make it hod. Such a brush will
go back on you sooner or later One of the
most desirable things about brush is n
good point.
10 hold good point brush must have
good filling. Take, for instance, a fiat
chIseled brush; its chief value is a good
edge or point; but as they are usually
made with all the good bristles on the ont
side and the poor ones in the center. the
poor stuff forms the point except a little
on the corners. The soft stuff in the CEN
ter will wear down faster than the good
stock on the outside, and the brush will
soon become stub unfit for cutting in
colors or for anything else
A brush of any kind should have a good
cutting edge, and to 10 good, durable serv-
ice should have good s-rsk in the center,
because whether grCunS GOWN or chiseled
by wear the center makes the point. When
the point is gone the brush is stub. and
that will soon happen when brush is
hI!ed like this, with short, uneven, in
ferior bristles. Every painter should be a
sOON JuuSS Vi % pIlSu, anu exercise his
judgment and take no mans word for it.
1t IS well to remember, my boy, that it
costs you more in time to wear out poor
brush than it does to burn it up and buy a
good one. If brushm akers must use short.
uneven stuff in their brushes l prefer to
have it on the outside and the good bristles
In body across the center, to give me an
even and good wearing point We are
using too many poorly filled and badly
made brushes. which are dear to us at any
price. Let us kick.-Painting and Dec
Grating.