Thread: Lathe-less Handle

I have quite a few ideas for making a brush handle with no lathe as I do not have one. As I get a chance to test these ideas i will put them up.

For those of you that started with a VanDerHagen set up when you were starting you will recognize the picture below. I figure many people probably purchased this set up to start but would eventually upgrade to a better brush if they stuck with SR shaving.

Well The Golden Nib sells brush knots for a good price and I hear they are good quality. If you don't have a lathe and would like to upgrade your brush on the cheap. One option would be to buy a nib and use the handle from your VDH brush.

There are a few reasons I think this is a good idea and wanted to suggest it...

1. Very cheap upgrade if you are willing to do a little work.

2. The VDH handles is soft enough that it should be easy to mod the handle for your style.

3. The one pictured has a 23mm hole but you could easily bore out the hole for any size/depth you wish.

4. Good trial run if you plan on restoring/making brushes in the future.

5. If you ruin it you can spend $7 to replace it with a new VDH brush and bowl.

The one below I sanded out the plastic seam running up the sides and bored out the bristles. I then polished up the handle to make it look a little nicer (the picture with the bristles is the before, I have not added the nib yet).

May not be the fanciest handle but I bet it will work nice with a quality nib in there. (I may do some sculpting and make it more "me" though)...