Thread: Making a brush

Is there a way to make your own brushes? I am a fly tyer and have worked with various furs and hairs before. Now I know that they make them somehow and I get great satisfaction out of using things I've made. I know that if I got a plug of durable wood and carved it that could be a handle. But, I'm not sure how I would go about putting the bristles together or what material would be good for bristles. I would think that it would need to be fairly stiff guard hairs. Any suggestions?

You could buy pre made knots from suppliers such as The Golden Nib and others, and then just make your handle out of your desired material. Good luck and keep us posted on what it look like.

I don't know anyone who sells raw fur. You would probably have to go out and dispatch the animal yourself and harvest it's fur. Then you would have to make a knot and sterilize it. It's a pretty specialized skill. The ready mades are probably your best bet. There are several guys have used and seem to like.

i've never heard of anyone making their own knot, but if you're up to the challenge more power to you. that would be a great project to see, so if you do it be sure to take a bunch of pictures!

Originally Posted by crazydiamond

But, I'm not sure how I would go about putting the bristles together or what material would be good for bristles.

shavings brushes are typically made of badger hair (hair from different parts have different stiffnesses), boar hair, and sometimes horse hair.

Horse hair is readily available in the US. I have seen the process in pics and it is much different from stacking elk for a caddis. A knot of sufficient density cannot be stacked in the finished size. it could be stacked in a series of bunches and placed in a pipe clamp, then once the tips are even you could tighten the clamp and cut the roots to even and set in a puddle of thinned epoxy, trim epoxy to size and set it.
I have not tried the above method, but have thought it through multiple times. Make sure you don't clip the ends.

Having made from scratch several boar knots,trust me,is not worth the effort.
Buy one pre formed.
When one considers there are approx 18,000 hairs in a 20mm hand formed,hand trimmed badger knot,may be best to buy one.