Thread: 28mm ST, Translucent Acrylic

Oh Man
That's just stunning.
One day I am going to have to get myself a custom brush & your work is just what I am going to aspire to owning when funds allow.
Cheers mate
Paul

Originally Posted by WW243

Andrew, I am a fan of your acrylic brushes. And I am a fan of your wood turning.
I am also a fan of the tree and of all wood, some much more than others.
But, I am not a fan of wood brush handles and even less a fan of wood razor scales.
Here is why: the tactile feel of wood is for me one of the components of its appeal. In a wet environment like the shaving environment, wood must be covered with, in effect, plastic, so you lose an important component, the feel and warmth of wood. Unquestionably, wood can still look cool. Of course this is just one view...and probably this will be the last time I post it. Ignore this post, please.

I totally agree with you about wood being so tactile, and the plastic coatings taking away from that. Recently I have started to do more oil finishes on my wood brush handles. Now that I'm stabilizing, an oil finish is probably the finish I will be doing more of on wooden handles. Of course, some people really like that plastic finish and I'll continue to do that when it is requested. That being said, some woods don't show their true beauty until a clear coat is applied. A lot of the woods that have that chatoyance, or grain winking appearance need that clear coat to make it come alive. Most times an oil finish will not make that chatoyance appear and it takes a high shine to make it happen. I find each individual piece of wood, even pieces of the same species, will sometimes want an oil finish with a low lustre and sometimes want a high gloss to make different aspects of the wood pop.

Recently I have really been digging oil finishes, so I've been doing more of them. Like I said, a stabilized piece of wood will have a better chance with an oil finish than one that is not stabilized. But then, that of course opens up a whole other can of worms with stabilizing oily woods which can be impossible for some species.

Some people like wood. Some people like wood finished with oil, some like it finished with a clear coat. It's really as simple as that.

I sometimes like both.

Andrew, what you are saying (with a high count of words for you) is simply, "If it works, I like it. If it doesn't, then back to the drawing board."

I have a feeling that if we lined up, in chronological order, the brushes you have made in the past five years (do photos exist of all of them?) we would see the exemplary development from that of a craftsman progressing to artisan finally reaching artist status. Making a series of videos is not only a must, but a need for the field of hopeful wood turners.

Answer me one question. How do you view failure?

Beautiful Andrew once again, looking forward to see your "how to" video.

Failure is always a learning experience. You need to learn from your failures, and apply what you've learned for the next time. That way you can always do better. I'm still failing and learning.

and yes, there are photos of all my brushes.

If you had answered differently I would have sent Mabel and Rudy back to you for a refund.

One of the most influential parts of my creative work is the accident and/or failure to do what I think it should be doing. Why else did someone invent the eraser if not to remove or adjust that that is not working. And in the process the act of erasing can create whole new paths of creativity. I knew an artist back in the mid '50's who covered a large sheet of paper in graphite and then proceeded to erase a self portrait out of it.

I knew an artist back in the mid '50's who covered a large sheet of paper in graphite and then proceeded to erase a self portrait out of it.

That would be awesome to see. Bet it was impressive!

I would guess that before long you will be casting your own blanks from burled wood imbedded in polyurethane or polyester?
I have a good supply of unique wood and hope to be casting some of my own before too long.
I have a lot of elm burl, Russian olive burl, Arizona desert iron wood and iron wood roots to work with.
I also have some buffalo bone from northeast Montana that was mineralized over the last 150 years or more.
Anyway I need to get off the planning stage and get to doing it!
Fishing trips and such seem to get in the way very frequently.
I am still waiting for you to do some videos on utube.
I hope you have a lot of fun making them.

I would guess that before long you will be casting your own blanks from burled wood imbedded in polyurethane or polyester?

I don't think you'll ever see me doing the burl cap/Alumilite blanks. I find a lot of the combinations to be ugly, but some I do like. I've seen Trimmy72 do some handles that have the sky blue with a maple burl and I really did like that. But for the most part I think a lot of them just don't go well together. The wood and color of Alumilite they use is what I mean here. Just my opinion though, I know a lot of people really love those hybrid blanks.

I am still waiting for you to do some videos on utube.

I'm still waiting on my free time. Even when I'm on here, I have 2 little bodies I'm watching out of the corner of my eye.

Yea, I do know about the free time thing.
I'm retired, kids grown, don't even have a dog anymore, just the wife and I, and I still don't seem to have the time to do all the things that I want to do.
It seems that if I don't make the time for the things I need to do they just don't get done.