Thread: Making a Shaving Brush

Hi Group,

I just received a silver tip badger knot from Golden Nib and am getting ready to make my first brush.

Has anyone here made their own brush, and if so, can you tell me how to determine the diameter and depth of hole to drill in the handle?

Thanks in advance.

David

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.

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.

I've made a few... what knot did you get (usually have to drill out 1 or 2mm plus or minus the knot size as they are not exact), and what do you have in mind for the handle, and how firm do you want your brush to be (this will affect your knot hole and depth).

Originally Posted by Alembic

Hi Group,

I just received a silver tip badger knot from Golden Nib and am getting ready to make my first brush.

Has anyone here made their own brush, and if so, can you tell me how to determine the diameter and depth of hole to drill in the handle?

Thanks in advance.

David

Nice.
Whats the websites, where you buy knots without handles?

Originally Posted by The_Pastor

Nice.
Whats the websites, where you buy knots without handles?

Fountain Pen parts - NIBS, - Wholesale Fountain Pen Ink - Golden Nib AZ

I use one of these.
http://www.choicediy.co.uk/images/481937.jpg

I just hold up knot to drill bit and see if its same size. It will make it slightly larger due to me not holding up handle 100% straight. To test depth I stop drilling and put knot in.

This is probably the wrong way, but its what I did.

Originally Posted by C23

I use one of these.
http://www.choicediy.co.uk/images/481937.jpg

I just hold up knot to drill bit and see if its same size. It will make it slightly larger due to me not holding up handle 100% straight. To test depth I stop drilling and put knot in.

This is probably the wrong way, but its what I did.

Yeah pretty much what I did too, I went way high tech though, and attempted to measure the knot first then held up the drill bit behind the knot and said "Hmmmm yeah that should work"

I have restored three so far using the Nib Knots and have and old DD brush going next...Wanna get a few restores under my belt first before I try making one from scratch..

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?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Yeah pretty much what I did too, I went way high tech though, and attempted to measure the knot first then held up the drill bit behind the knot and said "Hmmmm yeah that should work"

I have restored three so far using the Nib Knots and have and old DD brush going next...Wanna get a few restores under my belt first before I try making one from scratch..

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.