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The Capped Fountain Horse Brush: Water Out Only Through the Bristles
Howard R. Danielson, Crookston, Minnesota · Public domain (expired patent)
Karen

Created by

Karen

6. October 2026SE
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The Capped Fountain Horse Brush: Water Out Only Through the Bristles

A horse caked in mud is slow to clean with a dry brush, and a hose alone soaks the handler. Howard R. Danielson of Crookston, Minnesota, received US 987,967, patented 28 March 1911, for a horse brush "so constructed as to avoid leakage, and to provide no outlet for the water except through the bristles": a perforated wooden back under a steel cap whose bead sits in a groove round the back, held by a clamping wire and bolt, with a pipe clamped through the cap by washers and nuts; loosening the wire lets a worn brush be replaced. This rung shows why the valve sets the water use, then caps a scrub brush in aluminium, plumbs it and measures the water a grooming takes.
Intermediate
About 4 hours

Instructions

1

Water per grooming

Loading Jupyter Notebook...
2

A horse brush before it

The embedded blueprint cleans the coat dry with rubber ridges. Danielson brings water to the bristles and lets it out nowhere else.
3

Read US 987,967

"A clamping wire 7 is placed around the cap and body within the groove in the cap presented by the said bead 6, and the ends of this clamping wire are formed into perforated lugs or ears 8 through which a securing bolt or screw 9 is inserted." "The brush is moved over the body of the horse and the water permitted to flow through the pipe to the interior of the cap, whence it will escape through the perforations in the body or back of the brush and escape through the bristles to the animal. The flow of water may be regulated according to the condition of the animal's skin so that mud or other matter may be quickly and easily removed and the horse quickly cleaned."
4

Perforate the back

Drill ten 4 mm holes through the scrub brush's back between the tufts, from the top.

Materials for this step:

Scrub BrushScrub Brush1 piece

Tools needed:

Bench ViseBench Vise
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Permanent MarkerPermanent Marker
Clear Safety GlassesClear Safety Glasses
5

Groove the edge

Rout a 3 mm groove 3 mm deep round the back's edge, 8 mm above the bristle face.

Tools needed:

RouterRouter
Router Bit SetRouter Bit Set
Clear Safety GlassesClear Safety Glasses
6

Shape the cap

Cut aluminium sheet to the back's outline plus 25 mm all round. Snip the margin into 15 mm tabs, fold them down over the sides, and press their edges into the groove. Seal the tab gaps with silicone.

Materials for this step:

Aluminium SheetAluminium Sheet1 piece
Silicone SealantSilicone Sealant1 piece

Tools needed:

Tin SnipsTin Snips
Flat-Nose PliersFlat-Nose Pliers
HammerHammer
Leather Work GlovesLeather Work Gloves
7

Wire it on

Lay a strip of rubber sheet across the cap's joint. Lay galvanised wire in the groove over the tabs, bend its ends into eyes, and draw them together with an M4 screw and nut.

Materials for this step:

Rubber SheetRubber Sheet1 piece
Galvanised Steel WireGalvanised Steel Wire1 piece
Machine ScrewsMachine Screws1 piece
Hex NutHex Nut1 piece

Tools needed:

Flat-Nose PliersFlat-Nose Pliers
Screwdriver SetScrewdriver Set
Adjustable SpannerAdjustable Spanner
8

Plumb the cap

Drill the cap's end for a threaded brass connector from the fittings. Clamp it with a flat washer, a rubber washer and a nut each side. Fit the ball valve and a hose connector to it.

Materials for this step:

Brass FittingsBrass Fittings1 piece
Flat WasherFlat Washer1 piece
Rubber SheetRubber Sheet1 piece
Ball ValveBall Valve1 piece
PTFE Thread Seal TapePTFE Thread Seal Tape1 piece

Tools needed:

Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Adjustable SpannerAdjustable Spanner
9

The build in 3D

FreeCAD model of this build, not of the patent: a 190 × 90 × 24 mm elliptical back with ten 4 mm holes and a groove, the cap and clamping wire, and the connector, valve and hose tail.
Design FileBLENDCC0 - Free
Download Model
10

Test it

Connect the garden hose. Set the valve to fill the jug in one minute and note the litres; look for water anywhere but the bristles. Time how long it takes to loosen the wire and lift the cap off.
Step 10 - Image 1

Materials for this step:

Garden HoseGarden Hose1 piece
WaterWater1 piece

Tools needed:

Measuring JugMeasuring Jug
StopwatchStopwatch
11

A brush that leaks, floods or will not come apart

Capped fountain horse brush troubleshooting.

Flow

Loading...
12

History and honest limits

**Howard R. Danielson** of Crookston, Minnesota, filed US 987,967 on 26 March 1910; it was patented 28 March 1911. The back is preferably a wooden block of elliptical outline; the cap preferably a single piece of steel. A slit lets the cap spring over the back, sealed by a rubber block behind it. Inside, a clamping band riveted to the cap supports the pipe's inner end. He wrote that its life "is practically limitless, as the wear will all be on the bristles." **Honest limits.** Our tabbed aluminium cap needs silicone where his pressed steel cap did not, and a bought scrub brush stands in for his. Your water use is the result.

Materials

13

Tools Required

15

Design Files

1

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CC0 Public Domain

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