Loft Question

Gentlemen,

Thank you for your attention. I'm working on finishing up my "test brush" (for the marble handle I would like to make...whether or not that will work is another story), and have a couple of quick questions about setting the knot.

1) How do you measure the "loft" of a brush? It is the height of the entire brush, or is it the height of the exposed bristles? I believe that it is the latter but I just wanted to double check.

2) What is the "optimum" loft for a face and bowl latherer? In the short time I've been shaving with a straight, I have found I prefer face lathering with soft creams and bowl lathering with hard soaps.

In a previous post, pixelfixed suggested 47-52mm for face latherers, and 56-58mm for bowl latherers. Is there a general consensus on these measurements? I know everyone has their personal preferences and those can vary greatly but I'm just looking for a ballpark. So, would I be fair in assuming 52-56mm (54mm?) would be a good height for me?

Thank you in advance

-AspiringPolymath

"Loft" is, as you wrote, the height of the exposed bristles. The easiest way to determine loft is to subtract the height of the handle from the overall height of the brush (much easier than trying to measure the bristles, themselves).

54mm sounds good, although it might end up being nisht a hen, nisht a her (neither here, nor there). Surprise yourself!

If anything it's the stiffness or lack of that more determines if a brush is best suited for soap or creams. Personally I don't buy that concept. To me a quality brush is just that and is good for everything.

length is really a personal matter more that everything else.

a dahnk! Haven't heard that phrase in a LONG time :D Had a grandmother from Poland who taught be a bit - of which I remember even less.

Think it would be better to just set it higher or lower and deal with the less than ideal conditions for the other type of lathering (ie if i set it lower have it be great for face, so-so for bowl, or vise-versa)?

Thanks, thebigspendur. Doesn't loft correlate to stiffness/floppiness?

Is the lenth of the exposed knot from the handle.
48mm is the norm for a face latering brush,54mm for bowl lathering.
with any knot,the deeper you set it (lower the loft) the stiffer the knot will be.

Loft is also deterimed by the knot itself,,,

There are different style of knots that change the Loft also besides a "Low Loft" knot, you want to set the knot deep enough to cover the plug, any deeper and you will be adjusting the "Loft" downward only...


Brushes are different in "stuffing" too an overstuffed knot is much stiffer then a standard knot given all things equal..

I also agree with TBS loft has little to do with Face or Bowl lathering, a good, well designed and proper knot will lather anything well...

So am I to understand that if I just sink the knot deep enough to cover the knot's polymer base I don't need to worry about the loft?

Or is it that I shouldn't worry if it's anywhere between 48-56mm?

What Knot are you getting, let's make this much easier

Loft is everything in a properly constructed,well designed brush,if you sink it just to the level to cover the epoxy base you will have a high loft floppy brush,may work for some, but IMO not an optimal choich for others.
all good quality Knots are the same,silver tip badger is silver tip badger,comes from the same animal, from the same area, the neck,your call, good luck.

Thanks, gssixgun. I got the 22mm super silvertip from thegoldennib.

Although the website has it listed as 65mm in height, my digital calipers tell me its 68mm. The glue/polymer at the base of the knot is 8mm on one side and slopes up to 9mm on the other.

I currently have a 10mm-deep hole bored in my handle, but was planning on taking it down another 4mm to make a loft of 54 (68-14=54). Not dead set on this depth though...

-Dave

Perfect..

I usually come out at around 52 with those knots, and like you just found out, the plugs are not always exact so double check with the fit to make sure it isn't showing up above the edge of the brush (IMHO that looks BAD)... That is a nice dense high quality knot which you can do anything with...

There is no rule about sinking them deeper, some do as read above, some don't, if you do, you better be very careful that you smooth up the inside edge of the hole or you will start losing bristles from them cutting away on the side of the brush :(

Interesting, I didn't think about the friction severing the bristles along the perimeter...then again, there are a lot of things I don't think of - hey I'm a noob so it's ok, right? :rofl2:

Do you think a good sanding with ~180-220 grit followed by a decent number of CA coats would protect exterior bristles?

I would think so, but I don't use CA on brushes so I can't say for sure, the sanding should do just fine..

Put a slight bevel on the upper edge,simple.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Put a slight bevel on the upper edge,simple.

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Will a 1K-grit be good enough to set the bevel? What about using 4K and 8K to polish it, afterward? How do I strop it?

Thank you for all of your suggestions about setting the loft on this brush. Here is my first (read feeble) attempt at making a brush. The final loft came out at 51mm, and I can't wait for the marine epoxy to cure so I can use it!!

Attachment 110834

It's far from perfect, but I didn't have a lathe - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it :chapeau

Oh, and if anyone knows how to get the photo to orient correctly (and cares to explain it to me) please shoot me a PM. All my attached photos end up uploading the wrong way...

Should serve you well, looks great.