Thread: Wood handled shave brushes

That oak handle I fabulous. What you've done with it, is far better than t original. Well done.

Originally Posted by MikeT

Thank you for the continued tips! I'm liking this thread.
Seeing these old barber style brushes restored.. well I'm kicking myself in the rear for not buying up all those trashed brushes in antique stores over the years..
I was always just looking for blades, and stones.. but all those brushes! Waiting to be brought back to life!
That look with the wood grain, as the shape of the handle creates, that is something I'm planning on creating in my brush handles. It's a great effect.
Looking professional!

My pleasure fellow fan.

I think it is still over looked. I've had great luck recently finding 3 to 10 dollar brushes. It's way too easy to accumulate but not a major loss if things don't go right. Some have been gray in color, like drift wood, but if the wood and ferrule are not checked/cracked I've had good luck restoring so far.

Originally Posted by MikeT

That looks fantastic! Really like that effect. At a loss as to the terminology. Perhaps Mike B52 knows, he has quite a wealth of information that he keeps tucked away in grey folds within that cranium!

Quarter sawn wood especially Oak is very beautiful.

3 Reasons to Use Quarter Sawn Wood

Originally Posted by 32t

Quarter sawn wood especially Oak is very beautiful.

3 Reasons to Use Quarter Sawn Wood

Thanks 32t!
I have a better understanding of cuts now.. read about them here and there a little but it never clicked.
I made some bog oak scales that were quarter sawn, the "rays" made this amazing tiger like stripe to them, very cool.
Also good to know about then warping... I have some african blackwood, in my experience never warped much, until I had a piece cut down into slabs, with slight warp as the result. Looking again at them just now I realized that they were plain sawn... hence the warping.
very interesting. good to know!
Do you think this also applies to horn???

Sanding is done. Like so many things here I used a progression from 150, 320, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000, 5000 and finally leather. A little over kill for sure but I enjoy watching the transformation as the grain and sheen pop. I use a hand drill on chopstick to turn slowly till I'm happy.

For this one I tried staining the pores with residue from metal polishing rag going for an older/vintage look. I might have to redo some of my other brushes after this one.

There is no finish applied yet. That's natural oak gleaming back at you.

unsanded stripped only vs. sanded and stained

Late as usual in updating. Har!

Ended up with a drip I had to cure solid before sanding off.

Finish is complete and ready to knot.

My photos don't come close in displaying the Chatoyancy that popped.

Wow, that oak looks amazing. So you stained that with dirty metal Polish? Looks fantastic. Great work!

Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

Wow, that oak looks amazing. So you stained that with dirty metal Polish? Looks fantastic. Great work!

Yes, rag was black from lots of polishing. The oak wood is polish so the stain only goes into the pores and not in the grain. The highly polished surface is what gets the Chatoyancy to pop.

Hope yo don't mind but my pictures have a few that aren't wood, but here they are, and I do love wood and Ivory" my latest wood is the barber style brush, I,m really liking the tall ones to. Tc



Almost forgot this one, I at least didn't post the metal brushes!


And to be clear none are for sale, it's a curse I never sell , only buy.

Somebody is showing off his William Barber collection,,,