Thread: They All Look Alike ....... Sorta .........

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I'm here to tell you if you're looking for high quality, SCRITCH, at a reasonable price look no further. I got a 24mm x 48mm two band D0 that will damn near take the chrome off of a trailer hitch. Almost, but not quite, too much of that good thing. I believe it will lighten up enough with use to be perfect for my preferences.
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I got my 22x46 D01 Fan about 18 months ago. My first use was unpleasant; I thought the knot was made of straw. Was tempted to immediately sell it. It softened up with each use, and by #20 or so I was quite happy with it. Still has the scritch. I like having 'one' with scritch. After 100+ uses though, it still hasn't bloomed. The knot is so tight that when in use (meaning on my face) the brush doesn't hold water or lather. It gets squeezed out and runs down to the shelf on the handle or worse, onto my hand. This is my sole complaint with this knot. Anyone else have this problem? Anyone know how to initiate a proper bloom in a tight knot?

I was just thinking about that earlier. There's a lot going on with putting a knot in a handle, and I had a very good lesson with making mine. My 30mm knot is really only 28mm at the base of the epoxy plug. It doesn't hit 30mm until above the epoxy line. I accidentally oversized my hole to about 34mm. I think this extra "breathing room" really helps the knot hold more water. That and because it's so dense, it has room to actually bloom out. Just speculation from someone who has literally made one brush, but I think the top 3-5mm of the handle should not be tight, but touching for sure.

Most knot sizes are quoted at the glue plug and then bulge out just above it so the hole it sits in needs to be a mm or so larger because of that. I guess depending on how stuffed the knot is it may need even more clearance to fit.

The other thing is how deep the knot is set into the handle to create a certain loft. If the knot is set to create a loft less than 1/2 the knot size you will have a lot of backbone. That coupled with a tightish fit bore hole won't let the knot bloom much.

The combination of low loft, densely packed knot in a tight fitting bore hole would create a very stiff non blooming knot that likely won't hold a lot of water.

Well, that is my guess anyway.

Bob

Why are they so different? Easy really. They come from an animal and each animal is an individual and it's coat depends on what it eats and it's life and it's location and it's genes. Then you factor in the seasons and the severity of the winters and climate change.

Even with us our hair is different from person to person.

Then they make a knot from hair that comes from who knows how many different animals and the fill varies from brush to brush and the loft varies.

It's no wonder each brush can be so different.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Why are they so different? Easy really. They come from an animal and each animal is an individual and it's coat depends on what it eats and it's life and it's location and it's genes. Then you factor in the seasons and the severity of the winters and climate change.

Even with us our hair is different from person to person.

Then they make a knot from hair that comes from who knows how many different animals and the fill varies from brush to brush and the loft varies.

It's no wonder each brush can be so different.

Great minds think alike ......... and I thought of that believe it or not ......... but ......... how come all the old Simpson Somerset made Supers/Manchurians were scritchy ? The Rooney FInests until he could no longer get the hair ...... No longer get that hair ? What is that about ?

How come everyone who gets a Shavemac D0-1 two band says it is scritchy, and every Thater is not, though they both have great backbone ? It's got to be supernatural I tell ya .......

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Great minds think alike ......... and I thought of that believe it or not ......... but ......... how come all the old Simpson Somerset made Supers/Manchurians were scritchy ? The Rooney FInests until he could no longer get the hair ...... No longer get that hair ? What is that about ?

How come everyone who gets a Shavemac D0-1 two band says it is scritchy, and every Thater is not, though they both have great backbone ? It's got to be supernatural I tell ya .......

Agreed Jimmy...Shavemac seems to have solved that as you correctly point out.

As I posted on another thread - Shavemac now has a chart on their site which is basically a guideline allowing you to choose what you would like the feel to be - from uber soft, to stiffness:





So Shavemac seems to be offering knots that are most importantly - consistent - so you can decide and pay for what you get - which is an excellent step forward in setting and fulfilling customer expectations.

In that same chart it also explains why 2 band hair is different from the 3 band hair and why the 2 band is more expensive. There are also 2 versions of the 2 band knots. The plain 2 band silvertip and the DO1 2 band silvertip knots.

If you don't want scritch/scratch I can tell you to go with the plain 2 band silvertip. Both my 2 Band Silvertip brushes have soft tips without any scratch/scratch that I can detect, more than enough backbone and enough density to not be lather hogs.

It is a good thing to be aware that there are 2 different 2 Banders available depending on what your needs/likes are. I am glad Bernd Blos advised me to go with the plain 2 Bander after I described to him what I wanted for face feel from a knot which did not include scratch/scratch.

Bob

Firstly, if you are looking for a scritchy knot, then you may want to contemplate one of the Vie-Long Epsilon 2-Band 27x50mm ones. I have one (Bulb 28.5 x 52mm) and it is quite scritchy, indeed! However, it is a lovely knot! I also have a Shavemac D-01 2-Band Bulb 29 x 52mm that is superb! Some lovely gentle scritch, interluded by lovely softness.
I did go through four of these knots to eventually realize how great they are, and surprisingly, this one is the largest and lowest-lofted one of the bunch! The scritch did task awhile to subside to a manageable level, also.

I may have to conclude that these Shavemac D-01 2-Band knots might just be the best overall knots, in my opinion. However, I still love variety.
Epsilon is in the first photo and Shavemac is in the second.

Celistino, both of the brushes in your pictures have a nice bloom. My 22x46 D01 2band knot doesn't spread beyond the circumference of the handle it is embedded in. I'm at work so I cannot provide a picture. I'll ask again, anyone have a suggestion how I might facilitate the blooming of the knot?_

Originally Posted by cau

Celistino, both of the brushes in your pictures have a nice bloom. My 22x46 D01 2band knot doesn't spread beyond the circumference of the handle it is embedded in. I'm at work so I cannot provide a picture. I'll ask again, anyone have a suggestion how I might facilitate the blooming of the knot?_

By any chance can you post a photo of the brush before you used it, and after ? When you get home from work I mean.