My first home-made brush

[Laurens]

This is my first attempt at making a brush and I'm very happy with the result! I received the knot from China yesterday and already had a handle turned and ready. The hole in the handle is rather sloppy, which shows in the lopsided knot, but then again, my drill is broken and I'm waiting for a replacement part. As a result, the loft is set (too) high, which I will fix when I get a drill press next week.

The wood is walnut (I think) and the knot is a 24/68 silver tip badger from Aliexpress. It is a huge step up from my pure badger Mühle that cost me 1.5 times as much. My, do I love buying Chinese goods! It lost maybe 8 hairs, but the diameter is really closer to 21 mm than 24, so that was a bit of a disappointment. Still, can't beat the price and the superbly soft feeling.

Now, enough rambling, get me some pics!





Is mineral oil enough to protect the wood?

[HARRYWALLY]

Wow that thing looks like it's already in full bloom!!! IMO that sucker is way to floppy. I'm not sure how you like your brushes, but if that was mine I'd set it down in the handle so the loft is somewhere around 48-50mm. Draw those hairs closer together to create some backbone on that knot. Play around with the depth when you get your drill back up and running until you find something you like.

As for the handle, it looks great! I love the shape of it. It looks super comfortable to hang onto. But I don't think it's walnut, at least no walnut I've ever seen. Looks closer to maple, but it's hard to tell from the pics.

IME, I've only ever used mineral oil on cutting boards and salad bowls, because it's food safe. I would think mineral oil would not last as a finish on a shaving brush. The constant wetting and drying would eventually out do mineral oil, unless you constantly apply it over time. If you want something that would stand up better, and easy to apply and acquire, I'd use a good quality oil finish like Deft marine teakwood finish. You can order it from leevalley at a very reasonable price.

[BobH]

Looks good, have you tried face lathering with it yet? It just might be soft enough for you do that.

Bob

[Laurens]

I feared the floppiness, but was pleasantly surprised, it lathered Mitchell's Wool Fat with considerable ease! The only problem is, most of the lather decided to stay in the brush. I'll set it down to reduce it a bit, see what's what, but I'm certainly not disappointed with how it works

You could be right about the wood, it doens't look like walnut when I search for it. I can't remember what the guy told me it was, but I really like how it catches the light under different angles. Also made some scales from it. Come to think of it, I probably have made myself a matching brush and razor! I'll check when the cat gets off my lap.

I'll look into oils that can resist soap and water, thanks. I prefer the look of oiled wood to a CA finish.

[Laurens]

Looks good, have you tried face lathering with it yet? It just might be soft enough for you do that.

Bob

Ah, you remembered I tried but was unsuccessful in terms of getting enough lather on my face. Perhaps a lower loft will help me here. At least the soft tips kept my face irritation-free, so that is a good sign. More experimentation is coming up!

[walleyeman]

Laurens, beautiful job. That profile does give me some ideas for handles also. Hope you don,t mind if I imitate your handle?
You might look into "Linseed Oil". I had finished many of my gun stocks with a hand rubbed linseed oil finish. These were not production stocks but custom stocks, so there was a sizable investment to be lost.
Once I tried it I never looked back. One thing though, you might want to rub the finish before installing the knot. Also the process takes a good week or two to get a desired finish. " PM me if you would like to know the process used"
Lastly be careful with the binding at the base of the knot. You will find in most cases that if you squeeze the knot hair just above the base you will feel where it flares out. That flare needs to fit in the hole for the knot. It also needs to set below the end of the handle. But most of all that flare will be somewhat larger than the base of knot diameter. Just be aware of it and set your knot to desired length.
You have made a very nice handle, keep up the good work!!

Ray

[BobH]

Ah, you remembered I tried but was unsuccessful in terms of getting enough lather on my face. Perhaps a lower loft will help me here. At least the soft tips kept my face irritation-free, so that is a good sign. More experimentation is coming up!

At least your attempt was irritation free, that is a bonus. As you lower the loft the brush should gain backbone/stiffness and it might not be as comfortable on your face as before. You could try putting an elastic band around the base of the knot at about where yo want to reset it to and try lathering again. That would give you some idea of how the brush would work and feel on the face if you reset it. By placing the band at different points and trying each time it would also give you a good idea of about where exactly you do want to reset it too for the best performance for your needs. Good luck, hope you get it all worked out. Keep us posted on your progress.

Bob

[Laurens]

Laurens, beautiful job. That profile does give me some ideas for handles also. Hope you don,t mind if I imitate your handle?
You might look into "Linseed Oil". I had finished many of my gun stocks with a hand rubbed linseed oil finish. These were not production stocks but custom stocks, so there was a sizable investment to be lost.
Once I tried it I never looked back. One thing though, you might want to rub the finish before installing the knot. Also the process takes a good week or two to get a desired finish. " PM me if you would like to know the process used"
Lastly be careful with the binding at the base of the knot. You will find in most cases that if you squeeze the knot hair just above the base you will feel where it flares out. That flare needs to fit in the hole for the knot. It also needs to set below the end of the handle. But most of all that flare will be somewhat larger than the base of knot diameter. Just be aware of it and set your knot to desired length.
You have made a very nice handle, keep up the good work!!

Ray

Thank you, Ray! I would be honoured if you copied my idea And I'll send you a PM, I want to know more about oiling.

At least your attempt was irritation free, that is a bonus. As you lower the loft the brush should gain backbone/stiffness and it might not be as comfortable on your face as before. You could try putting an elastic band around the base of the knot at about where yo want to reset it to and try lathering again. That would give you some idea of how the brush would work and feel on the face if you reset it. By placing the band at different points and trying each time it would also give you a good idea of about where exactly you do want to reset it too for the best performance for your needs. Good luck, hope you get it all worked out. Keep us posted on your progress.

Bob

Thanks Bob! I was thinking the same thing: elastic band. Shame I can't find any in my house... but I have until Thursday, because that's when I get my drill press I shaved again this morning and was still very pleased with the lather it creates. I could live with this loft (and the looks, I like the full bloom) if I had to.

[walleyeman]

Hey Laurens, I sent you a pm. Could you let me know if you got it. Our dog jumped into my lap when I hit the submit button. She skidded across the keyboard and I dropped the laptop, spilled my morning coffee, and scared the dog to death!
Finally got the laptop back up and running but can,t find any history that it did send!
Lastly we forgot to set the clocks back also.
Going to be a long winter for me I think!!

Ray