TGN High Mountain White Adventure

Since Pixelfixed mentioned the Golden Nib's 24mm High Mountain White knot, I bought two of them and decided to make one for me. I finally got back in town from work and had time to make a brush handle for it. It's expensive, so I wanted to make the best handle to suit it. I've always loved the look of eucalyptus burl, so that was the material. I personally like simple, so it wasn't going to be laminated. I stumbled across the "onion" shape while messing around with 2x4 sraps and loved the proportion of it and the performance on previous brushes...so this was going to be the handle shape for the HMW. I love the look of a hand rubbed tung oil finish, but I wanted something more waterproof. I decided to fill the voids of the eucalyptus with epoxy then turn it again to flush up the epoxy. I put three coats of Waterlox Original as the base layer. I then added a thick coat of Waterlox Hi-Gloss and wet sanded it in with the Waterlox Original after it cured for 24 hours. I repeated the last steps about 6 times before ending with a wetsanding regime at 2000 grit which produced the rubbed out finish look below. I set the knot to 17mm deep with as tight an opening as I could produce to create as much "backbone" as possible.

The knot is definitely super soft and the burl, my branding, and the finish luckily worked out very well to make a handle suited to hold the soft knot.

Attachment 134447Attachment 134448

Very nice. Well done!

Fine looking brush and I can see where that handle profile would be very comfortable in the hand. Well worth the effort I'd say.

Bob

That is fantastic,love the shape and the wood,great work:)

Those are neat. Does the wood have the typical Eucalyptus scent?

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Those are neat. Does the wood have the typical Eucalyptus scent?

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Once it's dry, you won't notice it unless someone told you it was eucalyptus and you smelled for it. I like the look of it and the idea of using a brush with a handle from the same tree as the scent of the cream I'm using.

Very handsomely done.

The shape of that handle is awesome! What a great looking brush.

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Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

The shape of that handle is awesome! What a great looking brush.

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Thank you! When I made it originally, I thought it looked like an onion...not so sure that one fits the best though.

That's a very handsome brush and it seems it would be easy to grip. Outstanding workmanship.

That brush is way nice!! Great job!

Great job! What are your thoughts about the knot? I'm thinking about trying it out in a custom handle and am trying to find more information about it.

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Originally Posted by AABCDS

Great job! What are your thoughts about the knot? I'm thinking about trying it out in a custom handle and am trying to find more information about it.

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I love the knot. I'd personally set the knot another 2mm down to add some more backbone to it. It's definitely the softest one I've gotten from them. I like his 24mm 2 band badger the best followed by this one merely because I prefer something a little stiffer.

Do you remember what loft depth you set this one at? I'm going to be putting together a brush soon with the exact same knot and would love some input from someone who has some experience with it. Right now Im thinking 48mm might be the depth I want.

Also, How do you like the waterlox as a finish on it? I can get it at my exotic wood supplier, but as you know, its not cheap. ( $45 for a quart here.) Is it any better than a danish oil or, what I'm using now, Marine teakwood oil from Deft.

I like the onion shape and the way that eucalyptus pattern come through the finish! Great job!

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Originally Posted by K37

I stumbled across the "onion" shape while messing around with 2x4 sraps and loved the proportion of it and the performance on previous brushes...so this was going to be the handle shape for the HMW. I love the look of a hand rubbed tung oil finish, but I wanted something more waterproof.
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I set the knot to 17mm deep with as tight an opening as I could produce to create as much "backbone" as possible.

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Really a GREAT job.
This is a jewel-beautiful brush.
:chapeau

Very nice! Looks like it would be comfortable to hold. I'm impressed with the amount of work you did on the finish...it certainly shows!

Great looking brush!

Interesting shape. Beautiful work. Nicely done!! You have put a great deal of effort and thought into your work !
Awesome!!

Ray

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Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

Do you remember what loft depth you set this one at? I'm going to be putting together a brush soon with the exact same knot and would love some input from someone who has some experience with it. Right now Im thinking 48mm might be the depth I want.

Also, How do you like the waterlox as a finish on it? I can get it at my exotic wood supplier, but as you know, its not cheap. ( $45 for a quart here.) Is it any better than a danish oil or, what I'm using now, Marine teakwood oil from Deft.

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I originally set it to 17mm deep. I'd go 19-20 to get a little more backbone...it works just fine for me, I just can't scrub like I do with some others I've made. The Waterlox finish works awesome; however, I already had it for other woodworking project finishing. I wouldn't buy anything special, just a good finish in itself. I don't like thick coats of polyurethane here because it looks unnatural to me when I brush it out, even good stuff I use on other woodworking projects.

That handle looks super ergonomic, and I love the wood.