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The Hooded Fountain Paint Brush: A Dome Shares the Paint Between Both Sides
Franklin E. Fornwalt, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania · Public domain (expired patent)
Martin

Created by

Martin

6. October 2026NO
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The Hooded Fountain Paint Brush: A Dome Shares the Paint Between Both Sides

Paint fed into the middle of a brush clogs its head, and one side of the bristles runs dry. Franklin E. Fornwalt of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, received US 842,644, patented 29 January 1907, for a fountain brush "for applying paint": a tin holder clamped over the brush carries a reservoir whose floor has a row of apertures under a hollow turning valve, and below it a hood whose dome sends equal paint to both sides of the bristles. This rung works out the flow a brush needs, then folds the holder from aluminium sheet over a 120 mm brush and measures the paint it lays on each side of a stroke.
Intermediate
About 5 hours

Instructions

1

Paint the brush needs

Loading Jupyter Notebook...
2

A turned perforated tube before it

The embedded blueprint turns a perforated tube to change how water leaves a brush. Fornwalt turns a perforated valve to open or close a row of holes over a hood.
3

Read US 842,644

"In virtue of the provision of the said hood D paint is effectually prevented from getting on the brush-head b, and at the same time liability of the brush becoming choked and impaired is reduced to a minimum. It will also be apparent that the hood D conveys an equal quantity of paint to each side of the body of bristles a and assures the paint reaching the sides of the body of bristles in the form of thin layers, which obviously contributes materially to the efficiency of the fountain-brush as a whole."
4

Fold the tank

Fold aluminium sheet into a box 160 × 60 × 70 mm with a lid. Rivet the seams and seal them inside with silicone. Cut a 25 mm filling hole in the lid.

Materials for this step:

Aluminium SheetAluminium Sheet1 piece
Pop RivetsPop Rivets1 piece
Silicone SealantSilicone Sealant1 piece

Tools needed:

Tin SnipsTin Snips
Flat-Nose PliersFlat-Nose Pliers
Bench ViseBench Vise
Pop Rivet Gun KitPop Rivet Gun Kit
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Hole Saw KitHole Saw Kit
Leather Work GlovesLeather Work Gloves
5

Drill the floor

Drill six 3 mm holes along the floor's centre line, 20 mm apart.

Tools needed:

Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Permanent MarkerPermanent Marker
RulerRuler
6

Make the turning valve

Cut 200 mm of 10 mm copper tube. Drill six 3 mm holes in a line to match the floor's, and file a 6 mm slot along the opposite side. Pass it through both end walls just above the floor and bend one end into a crank.

Materials for this step:

Copper Tube 10mmCopper Tube 10mm1 piece

Tools needed:

HacksawHacksaw
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Files (Hand File)Files (Hand File)
Bench ViseBench Vise
7

Fold the hood

Bend an aluminium strip into a ridge with 40° sides and rivet it under the floor, its peak under the holes.

Materials for this step:

Aluminium SheetAluminium Sheet1 piece
Pop RivetsPop Rivets1 piece

Tools needed:

Bench ViseBench Vise
Pop Rivet Gun KitPop Rivet Gun Kit
8

Clamp on the brush

Rivet two side skirts below the tank. Drill them and a 120 mm brush's stock for two M6 bolts, and clamp the brush between the skirts with nuts so their lower edges rest on the bristles.

Materials for this step:

Paintbrush SetPaintbrush Set1 piece
Hex Bolt AssortmentHex Bolt Assortment1 piece
Hex NutHex Nut1 piece
Flat WasherFlat Washer1 piece
Pop RivetsPop Rivets1 piece

Tools needed:

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

The patent drawing

US 842,644 drawing sheet, public domain (expired patent).
Step 9 - Image 1
10

Paint and weigh

Fill the tank with thinned acrylic paint. Weigh a plywood board, open the valve half, and paint one 1 m stroke each way. Weigh it again; compare how wet each side of the bristles is.
Step 10 - Image 1

Materials for this step:

Acrylic Paint SetAcrylic Paint Set1 piece
WaterWater1 piece
Plywood SheetPlywood Sheet1 piece

Tools needed:

Digital Kitchen ScaleDigital Kitchen Scale
Tape MeasureTape Measure
StopwatchStopwatch
11

A brush that clogs, floods or paints one side

Hooded fountain paint brush troubleshooting.

Flow

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12

History and honest limits

**Franklin E. Fornwalt** of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, filed US 842,644 on 28 September 1906; it was patented 29 January 1907. His holder is preferably tin; bolts through the brush head with thumb nuts press the side walls in against the bristles, and removing them lets the brush be replaced. A connection may take a hose from a paint supply or compressed air. A right-angled form paints vertical surfaces, feeding the upper side of the bristles only. **Honest limits.** Riveted aluminium stands in for his tin, and plain nuts for his thumb nuts. Your weights are the result.

Materials

11

Tools Required

16

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CC0 Public Domain

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