Thread: 30mm Manchurian Knot has Arrived!

SO, I actually found a supplier of badger knots that is in China... His prices are insanely cheap and I was nervous about the purchase at first... then the knot arrived. The 30mm wide knot has a loft of 80mm and is absolutely massive. I've taken some pictures beside my Rooney Heritage size 3 "Super Badger" whose knot is 26mm to compare the size of this monster.

The tips of the brush are slightly darker than the Rooney's. The tips on the no name knot are also slightly longer while the black band seems fairly comparable in length. The Rooney is nicely broken in and feels slightly softer right now but it's still a tad damp from my shave this morning.


All this arrived in about a month for..... $18 Canadian. If it turns out it's good, I can't see a better price!!

Looks nice. Can't beat the price. What will the loft be after it is placed in a handle ? Personally 50 to 52 is about maximum for me. Of course that is a very YMMV thing.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Looks nice. Can't beat the price. What will the loft be after it is placed in a handle ? Personally 50 to 52 is about maximum for me. Of course that is a very YMMV thing.

Jimmy, I'm hoping it turns out great! I've contacted someone on here to give me a price as I love his work so we'll see. Also, I don't really know much about the loft but maybe you can explain why 50/52 is the max you like to go?

Originally Posted by brooksie967

Jimmy, I'm hoping it turns out great! I've contacted someone on here to give me a price as I love his work so we'll see. Also, I don't really know much about the loft but maybe you can explain why 50/52 is the max you like to go?

I like a lot of backbone and if possible, a scritchy feel. I find that is more easily gotten with shorter lofts than longer. There are probably plenty of exceptions but most of the longer loft brushes I've been able to try are softer and have less backbone than the shorter lofts. I wasn't suggesting you have that one finished with a short loft BTW, just asking what the 80mm starting point would dictate the finished product to be. I have been an end user on quite a few brushes but never built one.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I like a lot of backbone and if possible, a scritchy feel. I find that is more easily gotten with shorter lofts than longer. There are probably plenty of exceptions but most of the longer loft brushes I've been able to try are softer and have less backbone than the shorter lofts. I wasn't suggesting you have that one finished with a short loft BTW, just asking what the 80mm starting point would dictate the finished product to be. I have been an end user on quite a few brushes but never built one.

I guess it all depends, as pixel mentioned, how deep you drill your hole. I think I'm going to go with the 25mm deep hole which will give a 55mm loft.

My Rooney has no scritch whatsoever but is a lather monster with great backbone (nooo flop at all).

It's hard to tell but I'd say it's a little less dense than the Rooney. This might not be a bad thing as the flow through on the Rooney sometimes makes it want to hold onto the lather rather than apply it to my face.

Just a couple more pics to give you the idea of the size.


Also, how it's bonded at the bottom.

Looking good so far. I can't imagine what a 30mm knot with an 80 mm loft would be like to use. That seems big enough to lather the hind end of a horse! Don't get lost in all that fur. Are you going to put a longish handle on it?

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Looking good so far. I can't imagine what a 30mm knot with an 80 mm loft would be like to use. That seems big enough to lather the hind end of a horse! Don't get lost in all that fur. Are you going to put a longish handle on it?

Bob

Bob, I'm was thinking something along the lines of the Simpson Chubby styled handle. I absolutely love the feel of the Rooney in my hands and don't think I want to go much taller than that. Unless someone can show me something that might change my mind!

Also, if anyone is interested, PM me and I'll send you the link to the supplier, he's got a wide range of products at crazy cheap rates! If you're interested in a 'beginner' brush knot or you turn your own handles, they might be worth a shot!

I guess the length of the handle would depend on whether you predominantly bowl or face lather. For bowl lathering I do appreciate a slightly longer handle than for face lathering. Then again with a knot that generates lotsa lather a longer handle keeps you away from getting lather on your fingers too.

If you have a brush with similar type of badger hair (the Rooney?) check the knot diameter to loft ratio. If you like the feel of what that brush is giving you you might be able to use that as a ballpark base for setting the knot depth. You go with a shorter loft you likely get less bloom, more backbone and more scrubbiness and vise versa. That is just guessing on my part though. Shavemac made their Variable Loft Brush (VLB) at on time and an handle like that would be interesting to help determine what loft you really like for a particular knot. Sorta like a Try-Gun used to custom fit a shotgun to an individual.

Bob