Latest brush - Rhodendron and 22mm horse knot

After a while away from the lathe, I have been dabbling with turning again.

I read about the horse knots that some folks are using, and I ordered some from Virgina Sheng.

Attachment 227643 I can't figure how to rotate the image.


Attachment 227644

here it is next to a Semogue 1800 for size comparison.

The wood has some history: I live in a place called Steveston - and I live across the street from the old Steves family farm, after whom the 'town' is named.

About 8 years ago we had a bad windstorm and it blew over a bunch of trees in the neighbourhood - including a 100 year old rhododendron from the Steves front yard. I ran over and scrounged some of the wood (wood tuners disease). A section of the main trunk was probably 12" across. I grabbed a lot of main branches - all around 3 to 4 inches wide.


Rhodendron is relatively hard, turns well and is very similar to boxwood - but not as heavy.

I finished this with 4 coats of Tru-oil.

The knot seems pretty dense - i REALLY stinks - very mothballs - I lathered it up three times with Proraso and then soaked it in dish liquid and borax. seems to be de-stinkifying....

I really like the shape of that. that is probably my favorite style of brush. how does horse hair feel? seems like it would be very scratchy.

Nice work! I wonder about that Rhodendron. Seems that is of the shrub family? Should it be stabilized or not?
Either way, looks great! I like the shape. Horsey brushes take a stink like no other.
After the first stanky try, I dunked my Vie Long in a coffee cup with 2 tablespoons of oxyclean for a few hours. (3 times!)
Fixed that! I love the brush, though. Horse seems to fall right between some boars and softer badgers, to me.
(after it is de-stunk!, that is):rofl2:

dry it feels smoother than the Semogue boar - but with the soap its still pretty scratchy. Nice but scratchy.

Shaptonn - yep -its a shrub. I have never stabilized wood - so I will just leave it to the shaving gods. It has been drying for years now, so I think its stable. I turned a small bowl when it was green - and it split, twisted and warped really badly.

I washed it again after I used it....it was pretty funky. After washing it again (with shampoo) its a bit better. I think it will be gone in a few days.

* I should have made the hanlde a bit larger....the knot is a bit out of scale... but it works well.. I was channelling my inner Richard Raffan (aussie god of turning) and was working to 'refine the curve....' above the foot. Took a bit too much wood away.

Its a live and learn moment - free wood, $3 brush knot and half hour of time... no loss either way. I like the shape too. I also should have drilled the body out a bit and tossed in some bb's for some extra weight.

Thanks for the comments folks.