n00b-ish questions

Hey guys, I've been here a wee while now and have been slowly acquiring razors, soaps etc, but for a wee while now I've been looking at getting a third brush to supplement my Semogue 2015 and to replace my Tweezerman (which is annoyingly shedding bristles). I've been looking at buying a couple of the Golden Nib knots and trying to make my own brushes, but have a few questions (suitably organised from simple and n00bish, through to very subjective and unlikely to reach consensus).

1. The site lists their grades as silvertip, super, or best. Which out of silvertip and super is the better?

2. Sizings - can someone please explain what the two listed dimensions of a 22mm x 65mm knot refer to? What would people recommend for knots? I'd like to get one that's similar to a Tweezerman in length and diameter for soaps (so ideally with good backbone but still soft and not scratchy - hard to find, I know - if anyone can think of one from the Golden Nib that fits this bill please recommend it), and another longer wider one for creams (my Semogue is a good brush for both)

3. Epoxy - living in New Zealand, most of our epoxies are different in name to what's available in the US (I assume there are both safe and unsafe epoxies). Can someone please recommend an internationally well-known epoxy I can use that won't damage the knot? If most epoxies are safe, what should I be looking for in said epoxy?

4. Handle - I don't have access to a lathe (nor do I know how to use one), so clearly turning my own handle out of blanks is out of the question. Can anyone give me some ideas for commonly available items (preferably wooden) that I can set a knot into or that would be able to be tapped for the knot? I'm looking for a longer handle, similar to one of the SRD Stephen's Woodworking handles, or even better one like this Hess handle that another user restored - I use a pretty deep mug, so would like something that keeps my fingers out of the lather. Before anyone suggests it though, there are no antique shops in my city that stock old brushes, so I can't get any of those to restore.

Thanks for any and all responses to my aggravating questions.
Cheers,
Tom

I'll do my best here...

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Originally Posted by mosley59

1. The site lists their grades as silvertip, super, or best. Which out of silvertip and super is the better?

A lot of that is preference, and there is no "standard" for what counts as silvertip/super/best/etc. However, silvertip is generally considered the top grade.

2. Sizings - can someone please explain what the two listed dimensions of a 22mm x 65mm knot refer to? What would people recommend for knots? I'd like to get one that's similar to a Tweezerman in length and diameter for soaps (so ideally with good backbone but still soft and not scratchy - hard to find, I know - if anyone can think of one from the Golden Nib that fits this bill please recommend it), and another longer wider one for creams (my Semogue is a good brush for both)

The first measurement is the diameter of the base of the knot. The second is how tall the knot is. How wide the knot is in your finished brush depends on how deep you set it into the handle. Personally, I think all of the golden nib brushes are great. Just get whichever one is in the grade/size you want.

3. Epoxy - living in New Zealand, most of our epoxies are different in name to what's available in the US (I assume there are both safe and unsafe epoxies). Can someone please recommend an internationally well-known epoxy I can use that won't damage the knot? If most epoxies are safe, what should I be looking for in said epoxy?

I can't recommend a particular brand, having never been to NZ, but any waterproof epoxy will work. Look for a 15 minute epoxy. Faster or slower will work, but I find that the 15 minute stuff gives just enough time to get things tweaked.

4. Handle - I don't have access to a lathe (nor do I know how to use one), so clearly turning my own handle out of blanks is out of the question. Can anyone give me some ideas for commonly available items (preferably wooden) that I can set a knot into or that would be able to be tapped for the knot?

First of all, anything you can drill a hole in will work, even a rock. large cabinet pulls, wax fruit, anything. Just find something you like the look/feel of, and go to town. Also, there is a great tutorial on hand carved brushes in the wiki. Of you can get an old brush off ebay, remove the existing knot and redo it.

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Thanks for that Steve, but I should point out that I have very limited access to any tools, so a handle that won't require me to drill or shape it is going to be easier for me. Ideally I'd buy one of the many suitable old brushes off Ebay, only I can't since I live in NZ and none of the sellers ship overseas. Grrrr!

The reason I asked about silvertip vs super is that they decribe their super as specially treated silvertip that results in softer and lighter coloured bristle tips, so that suggested to me that it was better than regular silvertip. Either way, the difference will likely be too small for me to notice.

I think that if you have used dozens of brushes, and spent a great deal of time with each, you could probably tell the difference.

For the average person, I don't think the differences are particularly meaningful.

I can understand having limited access to material for brush handles, since I live in a studio apartment the size of a postage stamp.

You might consider looking around at antique shops. You'll be surprized what you find. Also, you might look for old burshes on the Australian ebay. I can understand sellers in the US not wanting to ship to NZ, but I wouldn't think getting someone to ship from Australia would be all that tough.

Beyond that, just poke around at the hardware store, and keep the various knot sizes in mind. Anything with a round hole at least 1cm deep will work, although a little deeper would give you more flexibility in how you set the knot.