Rudy, the pot bellied shave brush.

I'd like to start this thread by apologizing to Richard (Razorfeld) because he's been waiting for this brush for quite some time. He was very, very patient with me and I'd like to thank him for that. He's a super guy!

This brush was a design that Richard created, I believe to be a sibling to a brush I did for him a while back. When I first received his sketch for the brush I knew right away that I wouldn't be able to find Buffalo large enough to wrap the mid section of Rudy. So my plan was to produce a 16 sided polygon from a flat piece of buffalo horn. Getting the proper angles took a few trial runs with some scrap, but I nailed it down after a few tries.

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Low contrasting woods were chosen for the main body of the handle. A checker board effect was a look both Richard and I didn't want. The woods I chose were Wenge, African Ebony, Black Walnut, and African Blackwood.

That was turned round, and then I added a contrasting maple girdle, followed by the Buffalo horn girdle. The head of the brush was also made from Wenge, blackwood, ebony, walnut and buffalo horn. Also, a cap of buffalo horn was added to the base of the handle as well.

This was a difficult project and I've never spent so much time in the prepping stage of a brush build. This one took many hours of prep before it was actually put on the lathe.

The finish is Marine teak oil, sucked in with a vac chamber. Then a few coats of Ren wax. The badger knot is TGNs smallest knot, a 16mm 2 band finest.



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DANG! DANG! er...DANG! You can lather and knock out an intruder with that!
Richard, you are going to have to stand back from the mirror to lather-up! :rofl2:
Neat brush-club. :D Beautiful work, Harrywally! How many pieces of wood are in it?

That looks like an old German hand grenade...a potato masher! Nice job!

Nice work & the step by step pictorial was great,,,, thank you for taking the time to share it.

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Originally Posted by Phrank

That looks like an old German hand grenade...a potato masher! Nice job!

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HAR! I can see that, but not likely. Razorfeld has a connection to it. Perhaps he will share?

5 different woods, and black Buffalo horn Tom.

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Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

5 different woods, and black Buffalo horn Tom.

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6 different kinds, but how many pieces? :confused:

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

6 different kinds, but how many pieces? :confused:

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Ah! Sorry Tom. 27 including all the polygon sides.

Beautiful craftsmanship and a great walk thru of how it was done . Thanks so much for sharing

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Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

Ah! Sorry Tom. 27 including all the polygon sides.

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Twenty- SEVEN!

My saving grace.

G1, G2 Epoxy - Lee Valley Tools

The G2 is what I used and is great stuff for exotic woods.

Andrew already knows my level of appreciation via email. I may have designed the brush, but Andrews abilities, tho put to the test, are what made it reality. After having received and enjoyed his "mistake" brush that I named Mabel (don't ask me why, I'm not prone to naming inanimate objects) and enjoying it, it occurred to me that Mabel needed a relative. The design is not based on anything other than I wanted a smaller knot, a long handle and a block to keep the lather from climbing the handle. And of course, not being a KISS type all the time, I decided that Rudy needed to be distinctive and noteworthy. It was an aha! moment on the decision to see four woods and a non wood combined in the brush. I don't think I would have asked Andrew to pursue it's construction if I felt that he didn't have the technical capabilities to do so. I did give him an out if it was not feasible, just do the shape in one wood. I am more than glad he took the challenge, ran with it and crossed the finish line with an outstanding result. Poor little Rudy is going to get quite the workout over the next several months. I may have to keep him and Mabel isolated from my other brushes to avoid domestic violence in the shaving family.

very nice work
makes the Str8 restos loos easy LOL
I love the photo with the wet look that shows all the grain in the wood & horn the best like a highly polished glass coat JMO

I thought it looked as an armature of an electric motor! No brush has as many parts! Neat, hard work!

Amazing!
:tu

Not my cup of tea, but the workmanship is the best of the best,fantastic:)

That certainly was a lot of effort. Your craftsmanship really shines!

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Originally Posted by Razorfeld

Andrew already knows my level of appreciation via email. I may have designed the brush, but Andrews abilities, tho put to the test, are what made it reality. After having received and enjoyed his "mistake" brush that I named Mabel (don't ask me why, I'm not prone to naming inanimate objects) and enjoying it, it occurred to me that Mabel needed a relative. The design is not based on anything other than I wanted a smaller knot, a long handle and a block to keep the lather from climbing the handle. And of course, not being a KISS type all the time, I decided that Rudy needed to be distinctive and noteworthy. It was an aha! moment on the decision to see four woods and a non wood combined in the brush. I don't think I would have asked Andrew to pursue it's construction if I felt that he didn't have the technical capabilities to do so. I did give him an out if it was not feasible, just do the shape in one wood. I am more than glad he took the challenge, ran with it and crossed the finish line with an outstanding result. Poor little Rudy is going to get quite the workout over the next several months. I may have to keep him and Mabel isolated from my other brushes to avoid domestic violence in the shaving family.

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I wondered where the idea for the profile came from.

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Originally Posted by irish19

I wondered where the idea for the profile came from.

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Out of the dark corners of my mind. As an artist I play with shapes and color constantly and it slowly emerges into a recognizable shape (or what ever the focus of the work is at that time, a drawing, a fabric wall hanging or sometimes dinner).

It arrived today and with the first holding of it I knew, for me, that I had designed correctly. I love the length. That, and the horn bulge add just the right weight that will result in less exertion of force to whip up a good lather. Tomorrow's shave will prove my theory.

Andrew that is an amazing piece of work! If I had done this it would have grenaded on the lathe, all 27 pieces would have had to have been surgically removed LOL -

That was on my mind the whole time I was turning it.

I was praying to the lathe gods quite a bit. They must have listened, cause Rudy held together.

Spot on brush Andrew! Love the long handle length and number of pieces used,,incredible.
Need to buy some of that G2 glue next time at lee valley. Nice chuck on your lathe too.

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Originally Posted by MikeB52

Spot on brush Andrew! Love the long handle length and number of pieces used,,incredible.
Need to buy some of that G2 glue next time at lee valley. Nice chuck on your lathe too.

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Best thing I ever did was buy that Oneway Talon chuck. It was expensive, but well worth it. Same with the accessories I've got for it, smaller jaws (like in the first page pic) and the big wings to grab the outside rim of a bowl. Here it is on my big lathe. Very handy for finish the bottom of a bowl.

Attachment 182142

That G2 epoxy is great stuff too. You can get it in 3 different sizes, if you are only doing small projects you can get the small size. I also recommend getting the little disposable measuring cups with it too. Makes the 2:1 ratio easier to deal with.

Only down side of the epoxy is the cure time. Takes waaaaaaaay to long, but the bond it produces is worth it IMO.

Looking at the brush my first thought was a Boutique line of Baby Rattles......Big Money! Don't even have to change your Avatar name: HARRYWALLY'S RIPPIN RATTLES.....SHAKE IT BABY!