Plate Brushes

[nickrego]

Has anyone else given up on using the standard “off-the-shelf” plate brushes ?

I have tried several brands and models of brushes. I have also experimented with several modifications that I have read about on various boards (I like to tinker). All with the same result…

Standard plate brushes are too coarse to do the best job in our area.

I work in an area where the natural dirt is an extremely fine sandy loam. Although most of the private schools truck in the nice red ash, 99% of our fields are the natural dirt. A standard plate brush will not clean the plate in one pass. The first pass gets the bulk, but a light dusty layer remains and requires a second pass. Personally, I think taking all day to clean the plate just delays the game unnecessarily and doesn’t look professional.

So my solution was this;

I purchased a high quality 4” black bristled, black handled, ‘stain’ paint brush. The version used for stain has bristles that are 25% shorter than a standard paint brush. This gives the brush a little more stiffness. I cut the slender part of the handle off and painted the silver band black to match the handle (didn’t want to look like I was using a paint brush). If fits perfectly on end in my ball bag brush slot, which I had sewed up to a shorter depth years ago.

Now, it only takes one quick pass and the plate is nice and clean.

One other point to make…

Some of those private schools, in addition to having the good ash dirt, also paint the plate with the White Silicon Plate paint. Let me tell you, with that stuff, all you need to do is fan your brush just above the plate and it is spotless. The only drawback is when the coach tries to paint an extra inch or two around the plate. Can’t help but laugh.