Thread: Just finished in to time send for Christmas: soapstone handle, 24mm high mtn badger

Just finishing off the last of the gifts I've made for Christmas, hopefully soon enough for them to get to my family in time for Christmas. I decided this year that it would be as close to a 100% non-commercial Christmas as possible. So everything I am giving to my family is either in whole or in part hand made either by me or by someone else. So there's a candle holder and some napkin rings I forged in a blacksmithing apprenticeship course for my sister, a guitar strap for one nephew, a knife and sheath for my other nephew (I may now be hooked on leather work as well as blacksmithing...), some hand made shaving soaps, bowls, and brushes for which I made the handles for my Dad and Bro-in-law, and a teapot for my Mom made by a friend who is a potter out west. It is so much more satisfying than just going out and buying crap, but man does doing it this way it ever take up a lot of time!

Anyway, here's the most interesting of the brushes I made. Hand carved from soapstone and coated with beeswax. I like the look of it, and it feels *great* in the hand. I think I may have to make another for myself now. The knot is one of the High Mountain Badger knots I bought from Mr. Chen on AliBaba. I really like those knots, but one must be prepared for quite a wait to receive them.