Simpson KW3 - aka, the Drubbing Memorial Brush

Mark1966

Mark1966

Canberra dwelling Happy Clapping Bean Counter
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A 'recent' eBay win arrived today, my vintage butterscotch Simpson KW3 Pure Bristle brush.


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It is marked on the back with 'Whiting Manchester' - not sure if that was a store it was made for?


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There is a little crack in the side too as you can see in the pic above.

It was, however, the size that surprised me. 116g on my scale and a B-I-G brush compared to my others:


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I suppose that the '3' should have been a giveaway about the size!

It seriously looks unused and I suspect will chew up a LOT of soap!

Being boar and Simpson maybe this is a brush that even Drubbing can admire?
 
Send it back! The decal is askew. Unbelievable! Simpsons obviously had QA problems way back then.

What a pisser of a brush! Never seen one like that. Nice to have it confirmed that they also made boar brushes and weren't always pandering to whims of the hoity toity Manchurian badger crowd.
 
The knot looks in really good shape for a vintage brush, it barely looks used at all. That's pretty cool, I wonder if you sent it to Simpson if they'd fix the decal for you.
 
Mong. said:
.............. I wonder if you sent it to Simpson if they'd fix the decal for you.
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I wasn't serious! It's just a piss take of the usual Simpson hate that happens over at YKW.

If you take the decal off you'd find a little patch of original faux ivory coloured brush. So, you'd have to have to place the new decal exactly where the old one was and you'd end up with a new askew one. A complete waste of time in other words. Decals are meant to fall off anyhow. It's only the tragics that cover it with nail varnish or whatever. I haven't got that problem with my one and ony Simpsons brush because it's signed by Old Jebediah Simpson (or whatever his name is) himself.
 
Ahh, so Pete has a Wee Scott I presume? I missed out on a vintage one of those recently.

Alas it seems that this will NOT be a brush that Drubs lusts after following this comment over YKW.

Size wise -

Handle: 60mm high, 40mm diameter at base

Knot: 55mm loft, 28mm diameter at base

Yes, it looks unused to me as well.

I'm in two minds what to do with it to be honest. I wasn't expecting such good condition and so big. It would take have a tub of soap to load this thing up!
 
Nice pickup - one for the collectors.

The decal hasn't fallen off so it's clearly a pre-YKW brush. 55/28 is a great size, once they get to 60 in that diameter they're a bit too big to use comfortably.
 
Drubbing said:
Nice pickup - one for the collectors.

The decal hasn't fallen off so it's clearly a pre-YKW brush. 55/28 is a great size, once they get to 60 in that diameter they're a bit too big to use comfortably.
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I confess to never having used a brush so big. it could be interesting!

Although over YKW nobody seems to have seen one before - maybe I should leave it intact!

So many decisions
 
Mark1966 said:
Ahh, so Pete has a Wee Scott I presume? I missed out on a vintage one of those recently.
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Yes I do. Great little brush.

Mark1966 said:
I'm in two minds what to do with it to be honest.......
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What do you mean? You weren't seriously considering taking that really nice vintage boar knot out to replace it with badger? That's a seriously unusual one-of-a-kind brush. If you get it re-knotted the only real option is to use badger and haven't you really got enough of them already? Use it for a while. It's not like those floppy ol Semogues. It'll be really soft with a fantastic backbone. Just hope for your sake that the glue holds out.

I had an Omega boar brush that size and it really doesn't feel as big as that.
 
Pjotr said:
What do you mean? You weren't seriously considering taking that really nice vintage boar knot out to replace it with badger? That's a seriously unusual one-of-a-kind brush. If you get it re-knotted the only real option is to use badger and haven't you really got enough of them already? Use it for a while. It's not like those floppy ol Semogues. It'll be really soft with a fantastic backbone. Just hope for your sake that the glue holds out.

I had an Omega boar brush that size and it really doesn't feel as big as that.
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NOOOOO. I wouldn't get it re-knotted (although I presume Simpson could do it in boar).

Given its rarity I wondering whether to use or not ...
 
Mark1966 said:
NOOOOO. I wouldn't get it re-knotted (although I presume Simpson could do it in boar).
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Good, you had me worried there.

Mark1966 said:
Given its rarity I wondering whether to use or not ...
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Absolutely! It's utilitarian, not heirloom material. I guess if the knot disintegrates (they used animal glues in those days) you might want to stop using it. I had an old boar knot in a travel brush which was really nice. Don't know why I ripped it out. I guess I was in the middle of my brush restoring phase and thought it a good idea. It was similar looking, but much smaller of course, to yours. Really nice to use. Even if it's not used I think age really softens it up. That knot has got "use me" written all over it.
 
Yeah you are probably right.

Needs a clean to be safe - maybe a New Year surprise, after my 10 of course ...
 
For completeness, some information from Gary Young on another forum:

'Circa 1965 brush. We made a great many boar brushes up until the late 1980s. Everyone seems to think of Simpson as a badger brush maker but back in the day our boar brushes were very well made as well! I think your brush has been reknotted- doesn't look like one of our old boar knots to me. This is a KH design (Keyhole)-and yes this was a customer from 'Up North'....'

So it seems that it may have been reknotted. I've asked Gary if he has any pics of Simpson boars. The best I've come across is this scan from an old advert he posted on SMF here. Personally I can't see how it differs from the middle boar shown but anyway ...
 
Mark1966 said:
For completeness, some information from Gary Young on another forum:

'Circa 1965 brush. We made a great many boar brushes up until the late 1980s. Everyone seems to think of Simpson as a badger brush maker but back in the day our boar brushes were very well made as well! I think your brush has been reknotted- doesn't look like one of our old boar knots to me. This is a KH design (Keyhole)-and yes this was a customer from 'Up North'....'

So it seems that it may have been reknotted. I've asked Gary if he has any pics of Simpson boars. The best I've come across is this scan from an old advert he posted on SMF here. Personally I can't see how it differs from the middle boar shown but anyway ...
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Seems a bit unlikely to me. Reknotted after 10 yrs of daily use? That thing looks brand new to me.
 
Pjotr said:
Seems a bit unlikely to me. Reknotted after 10 yrs of daily use? That thing looks brand new to me.
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Hmmm, good point. I wonder why he suggests it is not their knot...
 
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