Coming to terms with fibreglass brushes

Richard H

Western Thunderer
I recently started work on an etched brass locomotive kit intended for my Craster layout. It’s a very long time since I last made an etched kit, and soon after I started I realised that;
  1. I had forgotten the finer points of some techniques and had to re-learn, or at least rehearse and refine, some very rusty practices, and …
  2. Fibreglass brushes are still as malicious as ever, and receiving a couple of punctures while working on the kit had instantly revived an almost visceral dislike of them.
I really do dislike the fibreglass brush, whilst at the same time recognising it as a very useful and even necessary tool which is by far the easiest and most effective way of cleaning metal both before and after operations. No matter how careful I try to be, or how carefully I clean up after using it, I usually end up trying to pick fragments of the accursed stuff out of my fingers, or even my forearms where they’ve perhaps touched the bench later.

A search for solutions or advice wasn’t very informative, other than to confirm that most people seem have the same problems. I had already intuitively developed techniques such as putting the workpiece on a piece of paper or card and putting the card on a soft mat of kitchen paper or toilet paper which would hopefully catch most of the splinters, then discarding the mat after each use. This was helpful, but not enough be regarded as a solution. I found latex gloves uncomfortable and they made fine manipulation difficult, and could get snagged on metal edges – also they didn’t solve the problem of stray splinters on the work surface.

Two days ago I decided that if the innate malignance of fibreglass could not be controlled, then it would have to be contained.

I quickly discarded ideas like using the brush inside a polythene bag or making one of those containment cabinets with gloves, seen in films about unconventional scientists saving the world from killer viruses.

More seriously, realising that paper mats do actually collect a fair amount of fibreglass debris, I made the tentative assumptions that, at least when dealing with small workpieces:
  • most of the splinters fell within a short distance of the workpiece, and
  • most of those that didn’t were not flying far, nor at any great altitude, and therefore ...
  • the workpiece did not need to be fully enclosed in order to contain flying fibreglass debris.
There’s a caveat here, in that in any case the brush must not be used with excessive vigour, so as to minimise the risk of actually projecting splinters.

My experimental solution was to put the paper mat inside a plastic ice-cream carton. I also put in a piece of 45x19 softwood about 3” long to rest the workpiece on. These stay inside the box at all times, unless I am replacing the paper at the end of a session. Here's a photograph:

Fibreglass brush Containment Box Mk1 200115 reduced for WT.jpeg
I reinforced the sides of the carton with strong gaffer-tape, and marked it to avoid confusion. In use, I am able to rest my hands on the sides of the carton, and place the workpiece on the wooden block – a longer block could be used as appropriate to support any workpiece that fits inside the carton. Not visible in the photograph, the wooden block is also marked to remind me that it is contaminated. The workpiece can be held (very carefully) on the block with a wooden probe of some sort if the workpiece is robust enough to allow this, otherwise by a reluctant finger. I have found that by using long tweezers and a simple wooden probe I can place and hold most things without actually putting my fingers near any fibreglass.

I have use used this Mk.1 improvisation over two days now, and it seems to work as I’d hoped. I can see the considerable accumulation of splinters in the bottom of the carton, but I have not been afflicted with splinters even once. I still wipe down my work surface intermittently but it has, as far as I can tell, remained clear of splinters.

Forgive me if this technique is already a known, or perhaps in common use, but I thought the idea worth reporting. I’d be interested to know what other solutions are in use.

Emptying the ice-cream carton in the first place was fun, too.
 
Last edited:

Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
One tip I read once was to soak the fibreglass inserts in dilute pva & let them dry out before use.
I did try it and it seemed to work in reducing the amount of longer filaments that break off in use, but as I'm not into etched kit construction any more I haven't done it in a long time. For the rare times I use a fibreglass brush these days I keep an old vacuum cleaner handy to suck up the debris a.s.a.p.
 

Osgood

Western Thunderer
I have a GF brush but have yet to form any kind of relationship with it.

This may be a silly idea, but -
given that often either prior to or subsequent to using said brush the workpiece is washed - then taking your ice cream carton/bowl idea one stage on:

what about performing the GF brushing process underwater ?

Ok a bigger bowl may be required, but it would be one sure-fire way to contain the debris, and you're all set up for de-fluxing too.
 

Richard H

Western Thunderer
One tip I read once was to soak the fibreglass inserts in dilute pva & let them dry out before use.
I did try it and it seemed to work in reducing the amount of longer filaments that break off in use, but as I'm not into etched kit construction any more I haven't done it in a long time. For the rare times I use a fibreglass brush these days I keep an old vacuum cleaner handy to suck up the debris a.s.a.p.
Hmm - that sounds interesting. Was there any risk of the PVA swelling the diameter of the brush so that it jammed in the 'propelling' mechanism?
 

Richard H

Western Thunderer
I have a GF brush but have yet to form any kind of relationship with it.

This may be a silly idea, but -
given that often either prior to or subsequent to using said brush the workpiece is washed - then taking your ice cream carton/bowl idea one stage on:

what about performing the GF brushing process underwater ?

Ok a bigger bowl may be required, but it would be one sure-fire way to contain the debris, and you're all set up for de-fluxing too.
Thanks - I remember trying something similar years ago, by simply dipping the brush in water - if I recall correctly the result was a sort of sticky paste which got in the way. I didn't try actually carrying out the whole thing under water. I wonder - would the splinters would sink, or just float around on the surface and attach themselves to any finger that went into the water?
 

simond

Western Thunderer
Well, the density of glass is 2.5 times that of water, so, like your best crystal* vase in the washing up bowl, they should sink, but they’re very low mass so will be caught in every eddy, and surface tension effects will come into play too.

and the propelling mechanism may rust too, but it seems to me to be a very good idea.

* lead crystal glass is about 3.1

Atb
Simon
 

Richard H

Western Thunderer
For me, I'm afraid fibreglass in the finger ends is a fact of life like solder-burns and wash-day hands. An errant fibre sometimes glistens under a desk lamp and can be hauled from out of the skin with efficient eyebrow tweezers. :drool:
Tweezers, yes! I also found a recommendation to spread either PVA or Copydex on the afflicted part, let it dry and then peel it off, hopefully taking the splinter with it.
 

Richard H

Western Thunderer
Well, the density of glass is 2.5 times that of water, so, like your best crystal* vase in the washing up bowl, they should sink, but they’re very low mass so will be caught in every eddy, and surface tension effects will come into play too.

and the propelling mechanism may rust too, but it seems to me to be a very good idea.

* lead crystal glass is about 3.1

Atb
Simon
Thanks - it sounds as if it's worth a try, then.
 

michael080

Western Thunderer
what about performing the GF brushing process underwater ?

I' not sure if this works. I tried the GF brush (nice wording :)) once on a wet piece of brass and noticed that the brush wore down very quickly. So you may actually produce a lot more fibers if you use it underwater.

Personally, I am using a small handheld vacuum cleaner to clean my desk immediately after using the brush

Michael
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
Tweezers, yes! I also found a recommendation to spread either PVA or Copydex on the afflicted part, let it dry and then peel it off, hopefully taking the splinter with it.
Much easier way shown to me in my apprenticeship whilst working during electrical installations in roof spaces.

Looks scary as hell but if you do it exactly as prescribed you won't end up cutting your fingers off.

Personally I use a Stanley knife but you can also use a thin steel rule. place the edge of the implement just ahead of the splinter and then draw the edge sideways in a scraping action. It helps if the blade is not perpendicular but angled so that the cutting edge trails; so long as the cutting or sharp edge trails and you only scrape sideways, no injury should result, least I've not had one in 30 odd years.
 

Eastsidepilot

Western Thunderer
Soaked in week PVA and dried is the answer. They also last longer as they wear out not snap off.

As Peter say's PVA is the best way I've found, do the work on a large piece of paper, A3, then just screw it up carefully when finished......if you still get splinters in your hide then a scalpel works well :D.

Col.
 

richard carr

Western Thunderer
Although it is difficult to completely eradicate the need for a fibre glass brush, can reduce the need significantly.

If soldering is done with the flux from building O gauge online and regular washing during a session, use a hair drier to dry it off quickly, then use fine wet and dry when you need to clean something and you will rarely need a fibre glass brush.
Thats the best way to avoid it in your fingers.

Richard
 

adrian

Flying Squad
Although it is difficult to completely eradicate the need for a fibre glass brush
but not impossible.

Personally I never have any problems with glass-fibre splinters - they are the spawn of the devil and they are forever banished from my workshop. From my point of view they are not worth the risk to use them, for myself it's not the splinter in the finger that is the concern to me but more the splinter in the eye - you won't be getting that out with a stanley knife. :eek: I think I must have quite sensitive eyes, I wear glasses all the time in the workshop, likewise for cycling I wear glasses at all times, I have some clear glasses for winter cycling. So I have a variety of ways of cleaning etched kits, scrapers, garryflex blocks, wet and dry, burnishing brushes etc fortunately completely avoiding the pernicious glass-fibre brush.:thumbs:
 

Richard H

Western Thunderer
Much easier way shown to me in my apprenticeship whilst working during electrical installations in roof spaces.

Looks scary as hell but if you do it exactly as prescribed you won't end up cutting your fingers off.

Personally I use a Stanley knife but you can also use a thin steel rule. place the edge of the implement just ahead of the splinter and then draw the edge sideways in a scraping action. It helps if the blade is not perpendicular but angled so that the cutting edge trails; so long as the cutting or sharp edge trails and you only scrape sideways, no injury should result, least I've not had one in 30 odd years.
Fascinating! Thanks - I'll be prepared to risk this if I end up picking up another splinter
 

Richard H

Western Thunderer
As Peter say's PVA is the best way I've found, do the work on a large piece of paper, A3, then just screw it up carefully when finished......if you still get splinters in your hide then a scalpel works well :D.

Col.
Thanks - the evidence for PVA is building up!
 

Richard H

Western Thunderer
Although it is difficult to completely eradicate the need for a fibre glass brush, can reduce the need significantly.

If soldering is done with the flux from building O gauge online and regular washing during a session, use a hair drier to dry it off quickly, then use fine wet and dry when you need to clean something and you will rarely need a fibre glass brush.
Thats the best way to avoid it in your fingers.

Richard
Thanks - I'll try this, too.
 
Top