Thread: Homemade knot?

It's a pretty specialized art and not that easy to do if you want good results. I think it's easier to do a handle. The first step is harvest the hair and then match it for consistency and sterilization is somewhere in there probably via steam.

Originally Posted by Deckard

Sounds fun,
Just be carefull with untreated animal hair.
I'm not sure about Badger but some animal hair can harbour anthrax spore.
It should be possible to get it sterilised.

Thanks for the warning. I lick my fingers so much while flytying that might as well just lick the hides.

I don't know if much out there would survive the salting, tanning, etc. For what it's worth, none of my hides smell bad. But yeah, now that you mention it, I'll do something special with the badger before I swab it all over my face.

I have seen a specialized jig they use to compress the hairs into a cylinder with just enough to tie off and glue the butt end. I do something on a much smaller scale with thread and a little superglue when I rehair violin bows.
I think they use epoxy type glue on badger knots. I am fairly sure they have to be glued either ahead if time or in situ in the brush handle.
All the ones I have made came from Golden Nib and they were preglued.

Just a WAG. You might need a really big hair stacker with a shaped base to get the desired taper.

Some where I have a book on brush making, artist brushes. It is just like Onimaru55 said, a stacker with a dished bottom to gather the hair. Tie the knot off, then dip it in shellac or glue to bind it all together.

I have seen some good videos on youtube of brushmaking but cannot find them at this time.

Charlie

edit added link: the pictures in this article look like they are from the video that I was trying to find

http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-...s-1262660.html

Thank you, everyone, for the info and links! Looks like it'll be a little while while I gather wits and fabricate a stacker. When I get going I'll post pictures.