Thread: Making custom brushes pt 2. (MANY PIX)

I would also be interested in who supplies your knots. I have an uncle who does some real nice woodwork, and if I could get a few knots he might make me some handles to go with.

Shoot me a PM if you care to share your supplier info.

Jockeys, if you want, cut the pieces a bit long and slap them on a single screw faceplate. Then you can use the tailstock for the lathe (does a shopsmith have one?) to drill the hole for the brush. Not only will this give you the smoothest hole you've ever drilled, it will be easier because it is FAR more concentric. Now, you can chuck or use any other creative mounting technique in the brush blank hole to part and finish off the back side. Let me know if you have any questions about these techniques and I'll see if I can answer them for you.

Originally Posted by shotwell1234

Jockeys, if you want, cut the pieces a bit long and slap them on a single screw faceplate. Then you can use the tailstock for the lathe (does a shopsmith have one?) to drill the hole for the brush. Not only will this give you the smoothest hole you've ever drilled, it will be easier because it is FAR more concentric. Now, you can chuck or use any other creative mounting technique in the brush blank hole to part and finish off the back side. Let me know if you have any questions about these techniques and I'll see if I can answer them for you.

that's actually how i wanted to do it, but i couldn't find the faceplate for the shopsmith, so i did it the other way. i'm totally going to do horizontal drilling next time to eliminate the skew.

Good advice Shotwell. I have pre-drilled a block then used a compression type fixture in the hole and chucked it up.

Very nice brushes....you still have all 10 fingers I assume?

When are we going to get to see the finished product? The finish should be dry by now.

Originally Posted by kilowattkid

When are we going to get to see the finished product? The finish should be dry by now.

yes i have all my fingers. like i always say, "i'd rather be lucky than good" i haven't done the finish yet because i've been busy with work. hopefully i'll get some time this weekend

Excellent thread.

Originally Posted by jockeys

LESSONS LEARNED:

4) drilling non square, non flat, unclampable things is very tricky. need to think of a solution for this before the next batch.

Those handles look great! Good job! The pics just reminded me how much fun I used to have in the Design & Technology classes at school, we had a forge and everything..! Wish I'd been into straight shaving then so I could have made use of the tools to make my own kit.. Oh well, guess I`ll have to buy my own now..! I made an oversize baseball bat out of solid mahogany on the lathe at school, I could hit a ball about 17 miles with that...!

I have a possible solution to your problem! Mark up the end of the wood as you do to centre the lathe bits, but instead of mounting the wood on the lathe first drill the hole for the knot using the centering marks you drew as a guide for where to put the drill bit. You'll then have the dip right in the centre of the drilled hole (from the little guide spike "pre-drill" on the drill bit) as a reference point to centre the lathe bit. Its a little hard to explain without pics but hopefully I explained it ok?

The only small snag is that you would need to turn each handle separately. You'd also need to be very careful not to break any of the wood off around the drilled hole, as it will get pretty thin by the end.

Are you planning on selling any of your brushes when they are done?

Originally Posted by Stubear

I have a possible solution to your problem! Mark up the end of the wood as you do to centre the lathe bits, but instead of mounting the wood on the lathe first drill the hole for the knot using the centering marks you drew as a guide for where to put the drill bit. You'll then have the dip right in the centre of the drilled hole (from the little guide spike "pre-drill" on the drill bit) as a reference point to centre the lathe bit. Its a little hard to explain without pics but hopefully I explained it ok?

The only small snag is that you would need to turn each handle separately. You'd also need to be very careful not to break any of the wood off around the drilled hole, as it will get pretty thin by the end.

Are you planning on selling any of your brushes when they are done?

that's an interesting idea, thanks! i already gave all the brushes i made away except for one for me, i may or may not make more in the future