Thread: Brush choice: B&B vs SMF

I say go with the B&B brush, to me it just looks much better and the testing Joel and John did with it shows it's a quality piece. I'll be ordering mine on payday.

I say get both.
Either brush is a HUGE bargain. The SMF III is my current favorite brush FWIW and seems quite sturdily made although no admins or mods have deemed necessary to fire theirs with a propane torch or run over it with the Denali....(NO Joel I'm not sending it to you for testing ) although even as rough as I am on some of my brushes and razors, I can't imagine any of them ever needing to pass those tests,...it is, after all, not an implement for combat...
I'm looking forwards to trying the B&B brush as well, and it will be interesting to me to see how the two compare. I seriously doubt I'll be able to afford one in each grade or various types of handle or printing...but I'm sure there will be a comparison done at some point.
All that torture testing of the B&B brush has me wondering about a few other tests that would be interesting if one had brushes to spare, such as how well the brush bounces back after being used innocently by SWMBO or other female as an ersatz makeup brush, or perhaps dipped in paint...or (more real to me) hydraulic fluid, engine oil or jet fuel soaks onto the bristles...or SWMBO spills a bottle of hairspray on it.....
Don't know. Just some thoughts. IF my brush were run over by a car, then burned by a torch after all sorts of other stuff, I've got worse problems than which brush I selected.
Neither brush is to be missed.
John P.

Originally Posted by JohnP

I say get both.

I agree with the other sentiments expressed here that they are all excellent bargains. From the pictures the quality of hair looks to be quite good but without handling them all it's nearly impossible to tell if there are any differences at all between the grades.

My eyes tell me they are all pretty much the same grade of hair and what is absolutely true is that none of them are true silver tip (a la Plisson HMW). There may be slight variations between the brushes but my guess is not much and possibly not more than the natural variation between two brushes of the exact same model.

A good example of this is I have owned two Kent BK 12's and they were almost exactly the same except for a slight variation between the two, you can feel it if you pay attention but if you're not that attentive you may miss it, but it's there. The differences between these brushes may be that slight. But that also is argument for them being excellent bargains.

The comparible retail models go for a bit more money. The SMF 3 for instance is about $40.00 more when purchased retail. You're saving nearly 30% right there. My guess is that the 30% is the markup and the manufacturer has given it up in order to create good will amongst it's largest group of customers. Even though doing a brush like these doesn't profit them in the direct sense think of how many people just lurk or read of the good service these vendors have provided. It can win people over to at least try them thereby driving untold business their way. It's good for everyone.

I don't think anyone can go wrong purchasing any of the brushes. I myself purchased the SMF 3 because it has the look I like but any of the B&B brushes would have done just as well. I didn't need another brush I just wanted one for those days I don't use my BK 12 or my T&H Turnback. Which, now that I think about it is almost never. Oh well. I like the brush and in the end that's all I really need to do.

Regards,
EL

The manufacturer and retailer for the SMFIII apparently did give up much, if not all, of their profit margin on this.

If I, personally, called up a manufacturer and asked for 100 or more stamped brushes, I would certainly expect to pay something very near wholesale. Of course, with the B and B there is personalization, and with both brushes, individual shipping.

I hear people repeating that the SMF III is a big bargain and I am struggling to understand why. This is not meant against John, Scott, Mantic et al - I am just curious if they know something I don't.

How is SMFIII different from the Rooney Medium Supers? I mean - sure, the stamp is different, the shape of the handle is different. Rooney Super Med sell for the same price, more or less. Is, by any chance, SMF's hair actually Rooney Finest? This would be a huge bargain, indeed. Or maybe it's a Large knot size Super (vs the Medium size that I thought it is)

Now, I surely understand the idea that these are made by friends for friends, the volunteer community approach and have value for forum members just because of this but I wanted to clear the facts.

Cheers
Ivo

Originally Posted by adjustme69

I've asked Matt to work on one for me as well. I am really favoring the stiffer badger these days vs. the bristles that are more mop like with lather. I do find that a lighter touch with the less stiff bristles helps a lot. Bought me a Moss Scuttle for Xmas as well.....hahahahaha

Lynn

I find that density and loft play a huge roll in how a brush works/feels.

My Vulfix 2197 in pure is scritchy, but a little on the floppy side - due to the fact that the knot isn't terribly dense.

My Simpson Rover in pure is less scritchy than the Vulfix, but much denser and shorter - it works great with hard soaps (no slouch with creams either).

My SR3122 silvertip has a very dense, lightbulb-shaped knot - between the density of the bristles and the shape of the knot, its not floppy at all and is both soft on the face and firm in the sense that it loads up with a hard soap (i.e., Tabac) with no problems.

My last brush is a Rooney #1 large silvertip - at 26mm this is by far my biggest brush (all the others are 20 - 22 mm). It has the traditional fan-shaped knot - I was worried that it was going to be floppy, but the bristles are reasonably dense and the #1 style has the shortest loft of the Rooneys - the result is a vary soft, slightly mop-like brush - yet one that works well with soaps and creams. However, the same size knot in a #2 or #3 would likely feel much floppier as those models have a higher loft.

Anyhow, just a long way of saying that going to a "stiffer" grade of hair may not give you the desired result if the knot has a high loft and/or isn't dense enough.

As for the main question, if I buy a B&B brush at all, it will definitely be the finest grade - I already have silvertips, so want to try something different and something that would otherwise cost more than I would spend on a brush. I think that you can't go wrong with either grade of hair being offered - variations of a theme rather than apples to oranges.

Originally Posted by izlat

I hear people repeating that the SMF III is a big bargain and I am struggling to understand why. This is not meant against John, Scott, Mantic et al - I am just curious if they know something I don't.

How is SMFIII different from the Rooney Medium Supers? I mean - sure, the stamp is different, the shape of the handle is different. Rooney Super Med sell for the same price, more or less. Is, by any chance, SMF's hair actually Rooney Finest? This would be a huge bargain, indeed. Or maybe it's a Large knot size Super (vs the Medium size that I thought it is)

Now, I surely understand the idea that these are made by friends for friends, the volunteer community approach and have value for forum members just because of this but I wanted to clear the facts.

Cheers
Ivo

The Rooney Medium super at Classicshave is $100 plus shipping. The SMFIII is $90, international shipping included (at least 10 bucks?), plus a $10 donation to a children's hospital. The grade is supposed to be somewhere between the Super and Finest, which the Rooney mavens tend to confirm. Add a made-to-order handle with made-to-order printing into it (try calling up Rooney, giving them a handle design, and see what they'll charge you to make a brush with it), and you'd expect it to retail for more than the stock Rooneys. I'd venture it's at least as good a deal as those who order the B and B standard silvertip are getting, if not better.

Thanks for the reply!

For the record, I have only ordered the B&B Finest. However, if the SMF is a hair grade above Super - then I might need to reconsider... And the donation for the children is most admirable!

Another thing - I did post about changing the handle on the B&B Finest and inadvertently instigated a bit of a storm... I still want to try the Finest Silvertip from EJ / B&B but am starting to think I need to get a true HMW in horn soon (I have one vintage Plisson in horn but it's certainly not HMW, absorbs lots of water and feels quite springy vs. floppy so I expect even better from the HMW)

Cheers
Ivo

I'm sure you'll love the B&B when you're holding it in your hand, Ivo. It looks like a helluva nice brush.