Thread: Decisions

Backstory, until recently, I've always used a VDH boars hair brush. It was ok but very scratchy. So I found tha VDH made a badger brush so I picked one of those up. I've been using it for about 3 months and I'm spoiled to badger now. The only problem is the VDH brush is shedding alot of its bristles.

The other day I went in to Woodcraft and they had some smaller square blocks marked as bottle stopper blanks. They looked about the right size to turn a handle from. One problem, I don't have a lathe. There were some really nice pieces of burl woods for around $10-15. I didn't pick one up yet, but I've been tossing the idea around of having a custom brush made, or making it myself. I just don't know what to do here. Any suggestions?

id say go for it, if you wanted to get one made i believe if you look in the classifieds here there are people who do custom work. if you wanted to do it yourself it is very possible, i would be making them all the time but dont have my lathe here in TN. finding knots is quite simple to and you can have your choice of what ever style/grade you want. so go for it, worst thing that happens is you end up with an extra brush.

-Dan-

Can it be done decently without a lathe? I figure without it just means I'll have a hell of alot more sanding to do.

You can make a mandrel for a drill press and turn it in the drill chuck. I made my first brush that way.

Heck, if you have a sharp knife you could even whittle a brush handle. (I would at least drill the bore for the knot first)

Where there's a will, there's a way!

im sure it can be done without a lathe, though i haven't tried it. i suppose with a sharp knife you could carve one (i might try that at some point). maybe a dremmel with sanding drums or something similar?

If I didn't have a belt sander I'd be tempted to make square or even octagonal brush. A chisel or sharp knife would help for the latter.

That might not be a bad idea. An octagonal brush with rounded edges wouldnt be hard to make. Then I could always use a dremel and kind of round off the top portion and make it as cylindrical as possible around the knot. That may not be a bad idea. I know thats a p*ss poor description, but in my head it makes sense. haha

Take a look at furniture made back in the 1800s and 1700s and you'll see the most intricate of totally hand made pieces. No power tools used.

another option would be to simply re knot one of the VDH handles. I did that to my VDH badger and it turned out very well. Just be prepared to loose the little silver-colored ring at the top. Or if you do want to make the handle check out the threads in this section of the wiki Categoryo It Yourself - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Ill have a look at the wiki but I do also have a VDH boars hair handle sitting here that I pulled the knot out of.