Thread: Lather-Off: Thater 2 Band Silvertip versus Golden Nib Silvertip A Grade.

I had some time this morning to compare two new brushes side by side, under identical conditions to lather up and see how they felt. I did a 4 pass DE shave on my cheeks and 2 pass on my neck.

The contenders:
1. Heinrich L. Thater 4292/6 B 28mm Two Band Finest Silver Tip Fan (cleaned, used 5 times),
2. Golden Nib 30mm Sivertip Grade A (cleaner, used twice).

Prep: 3 minutes soak in hot tap water.

Lather: I use creams and face lather and they were both right up to the task of making lots of fine, smooth, thick lather using the brush tips. Draw.

Feel: I was circling each brush on my cheeks at the same time and closing my eyes and concentrating on the feel. I swapped cheeks and because they have similar black handles I purposely got confused as to which was which and tried to guess the brush by feel. I really wanted the Thater to feel softer and smoother. What I found was that they were both very similar in softness. At times I preffered the GN as softer than the Thater. Other times the Thater felt softer. Again a Draw.

Pressure: When a firmer pressure was applied to the brushes the differences stood out a little more. The GN Knot splayed out more at the edges and almost got a little "mushier", almost collapsing at times in the middle under pressure. It surprised me a little that it got so wide being a bulb. At times it felt wider on my face than the Thater fan. During the last lather it felt a bit floppier.

The Thater definitely has more backbone to the hairs and you feel it when you load it up. It felt like the outer hairs were holding the inner ones straighter, like a tight cup. It felt more dense, fuller and even a tad more scratchier than than the GN under pressure. Win to Thater.

Price: $69AUS - Golden Nib Silvertip A Grade 30mm Blub $49 + Handle $20 delivered to Australia.
$220USD - Heinrich L. Thater 4292/6 B 28mm Two Band Finest Silver Tip Fan delived to Australia.

At this early stage of these brush's lives they felt extremely similar to each other to use. The Thater has the softness and backbone that it is renowned for, but the GN Silvertip is not that far behind and excellent for it's price.

Interesting...

Good stuff. I have had a few turned brushes using GN knots and I concur with your findings. I think the key to it all is how densely the knots are packed. For the $, the GN knots are good, but I have found that they also tend to shed a bit more after a few months of use, my Thater on the other hand hardly ever lets a hair go...

I've always thought any quality brush will lather just fine. The real differences aren't so much in how much lather they produce but more in the fill density and how they perform on the face and the feel they have.

Interesting, I build brushes using GN knots.
I wonder how deep yours is sunk.
Looks like the Thater is deeper still, and that may account for the difference.

thanks for the good review! I was thinking of putting together a GN brush here soon

The GN Knot is set about 1-2 mm below the handle edge. The Thater I do not know how deep it is set.

I feel it may be better to set the GN knots a little lower to help boost the backbone.