I buy cheap acid brushes in packs of 36 and use them for spreading glue. They work great but always seem to drop some bristles in the glue joint. I’ve tried hammering the base of the brush but bristles still drop out. I recently found a better solution. Put just a drop of thin cyanoacrylate (CA) glue on both sides of the brush at the base of the bristles, and you won’t lose a single one. To apply the glue, hold up the brush at an angle so the glue doesn’t run down to the tip and harden all the bristles. The thin CA glue is like water, so don’t squeeze the bottle; just rub it along the bristles on both sides and let a little glue soak into the ferrule area. I have also used this on 1- and 2-in. chip brushes, and it works great every time.
—Mike Cyr, Westport, Mass.
Drawing by Dan Thorton
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