Thread: Making a Shaving Brush

Originally Posted by Del1r1um

You wouldn't have any trouble Glen, can't wait to see what you do.

One thing that I learned from Tony Turchetta is to take a scrap block of wood and drill a bunch of holes (all different sizes) with spade or forstner bits and mark each hole with the drill bit size... then you just take your brush knot and do test fits until you find the best size... takes all the guesswork out.

HA !!! now that is almost cheating hehehehe

Originally Posted by thewatermark

How do you guys remove knots i have these two really crappy brushes with good handles but cant seem to get the knot out , should i just reverse drill it out?

First trim the knot up using a knife or scissors. I would then drill it out using a bit smaller the the knot, start from the center and then work out. Can also use a dremel for clean up work on the knot.

Originally Posted by timmy

Just curious which knot you went with from TGN, I just received an old brush handle in the mail I plan on drilling out and replacing the knot.

Hi timmy,

I bought a 26mm silvertip badger knot.

David

Originally Posted by claytor

The diameter to use is the diameter of the knot itself. You want that to be as tight a fit as possible. Use marine grade epoxy to secure since you don't have air or UV to cure it. The depth depends on how much loft you want; The deeper the more dense the brush will be.

I used a 24mm knot here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...ned-brush.html
I set the knot within half a centimeter of the edge and got a more relaxed loft on it.

claytor,

When you say the diameter of the knot itself, do you mean the base, or somewhere up the tapered part?

So in the pic below, my terminology is the base is the brown/tan part holding the bristles together. That for my knot is a 26mm.

Thanks for the information.

David

I have drilled undersize and with a little whittling and a bit of filing on the base created a very tight friction fit with two brushes I made. This way there is no glue squeezing out which looks just awful imho.

I determined the size bit by direct comparison eyeballing

Originally Posted by kevint

I have drilled undersize and with a little whittling and a bit of filing on the base created a very tight friction fit with two brushes I made. This way there is no glue squeezing out which looks just awful imho.

I determined the size bit by direct comparison eyeballing

Ok, I'm with you so far, but how far up the knot beyond the base do you sink it into the handle. Some of the pics I saw on The Golden Nib website show a handle hole diameter that looks quite a bit bigger than the knot base being sunk into it.

What we're saying is you don't actually measure that part, you fit it in...
Drill, fit, drill, fit, until you get it where you want it, is is actually an adjustment for the brush stiffness... The depth is variable just so long as you sink the base completely otherwise it looks like crapola...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

What we're saying is you don't actually measure that part, you fit it in...
Drill, fit, drill, fit, until you get it where you want it, is is actually an adjustment for the brush stiffness... The depth is variable just so long as you sink the base completely otherwise it looks like crapola...

Glen,

Ah, thanks. So now I have to figure out how deep I want it based on performance and asthetics.

I would imagine that the smaller the hole and the deeper you sink the knot, the stiffer the brush will be. And of course, that is why the suggestion for a pre-drilled test board as seen below.

And the e-poxy will just fill the hole out up to the top of the handle but below the knot.

And of course, there is always the requirement to avoid the result looking like crapola!

BTW, Golden Nib sells a mandrel for turning the handle. It is about $5.00 and so I bought one. I don't know you would turn the whole handle without it. You can see it installed in a handle in the second and third pics below. It is just the mandrel, not the chucks or tap.

David

It can be done a few other ways... but I like the mandrel for turning... but then again, not all brushes need be turned there are many roads to a sweet brush!

Rosewood Brugandy [DYM-1-ROSEWOODBURG] - $13.95 : Fountain Pen parts - NIBS, - Wholesale Fountain Pen Ink - Golden Nib AZ

Is this just a solid piece of wood, or an actual handle?