Thread: Talk to me about custom brushes...

I'm pretty clueless when it comes to brushes... all I know is badger hair is good

I trust whatever badger has pledged his hair to me, but I'm curious about handles and the different things can be done with them, and relative price for a custom brush?

Going to pull the girl card here... I'm looking for something more womanly or nature like... I have something in mind, but don't really want to share yet because it's kind of a goofy pattern. I was thinking it'd be possible if someone does wood burning or something like that? My mother use to do wood burning but I have no idea if that's even possible for a handle.

PM sent. There are members who make custom brushes or handles that require you to buy a knot for it. The Golden Nib is a good place to start if you need a knot.

Thanks for the advice! Newbie question... is the knob the hair section? lol

Knot is the hair piece, inside the handle all those hairs are knotted and affixed to the handle.

lol thanks!

I've been thinking about it a little more and I got a pretty wacky idea, not sure if it's been done or if it's possible at all... can you make a handle out of stone? or maybe a large chunk of quartz??

well, soap stone is used for carving, and can be polished, but will easily scratch, so possibly not the best idea for a handle. im thinking stone has probably been done before, and someone somewhere could do it for you, but there are more wood workers who will carve or turn wood on a lathe. do you want the stone carved, turned/lathed, or raw? do you want it to have a flat bottom so it can be set upright?
interesting idea for a stone handle.. i'd be curious what others could come up with.

Here's a boar brush I have, set in a jade handle with brass bolsters.

I think it really depends on what it is. If it's an actual stone I'd like it turned, but if it was rose quartz, amethyst, or citrine I'd want it raw. The different quartz's would be amazing turned but I don't think I could suffer the cost of doing that. lol! In general I'm really leaning towards one of those types of quartz. I'm slightly terrified cost wise. haha. Do you guys think it could be done? I know stones can, and I've seen quartz that's been rounded and machined before so theoretically it should be doable?

have done a few in the past using the grinding attachment on my southbend,is more trouble than it is worth.
Search the web,you can find some cast from recon stone.y
Another option is seach ebay,waterford,made a crystal shaving brushmay appeal to you.

Hrm... well where there's a will there's a way!! Maybe I'll find a way to do it myself... I know Dremel has diamond bits that work with drilling quartz. It'd be VERY slow going, but if I have enough mineral oil and don't get it too hot it should work theoretically. Even if I go through a bunch of bits I could still live with that. I can see how it'd be too much of a PITA for someone selling one, but I'm pretty sure that's what my heart's set on now. I have a feeling this might turn into a come hell or high water situation.

Any tips? I know it's not easy and it'll probably be several mishaps but that's okay.... how big does my base need to be to fit a knot? I don't need a big knot either.