Brushology: Badger-Hair Knot-Density Experiment

[refles]

For the advancement of science! This is incredible stuff here Ken, I applaud you for this work..your really attempting to rationalize a generic term everyone who looks at brushes has come to take for granted and has become subjective to essentially using already assumed understood brush models 'chubby', '2xl' and 'other' This is still some complex stuff but your rationalization of the knot density is higher than most of us given that you've worked so hard with the group buy brush that you can come to those hard assumptions and proposed calculations.... working itself down to a simple end resulted number could even change the way manufacturers simply describe density down the road (just playing out what can result of this works and makes sense, as this is not a simple read I've read this in pieces to digest it)

But this thread has got me curious and interested!
kudos Ken for taking the step in really outlining this stuff out... maybe should take the moniker "Prof. ChiefBroom" haha..

 

[Icebear]

...
But this thread has got me curious and interested!
kudos Ken for taking the step in really outlining this stuff out... maybe should take the moniker "Prof. ChiefBroom" haha..

I was thinking about Dr. Ken Ph.D meles meles .

Just my $0.02 for the science of brush density :
In regards to density I would consider the number of hairs packed into the knot, i.e. n per area. This would depend on the force that was used to tie the knot together. The tighter the string is pulled, the more hair you have in a given circle. The density also would depend on the diameter of each individual hair. The finer the hair, the more you can pack into the same circle.
Of course this is a different understanding of density than the volume based approach of Prof. ChiefBroom.

Just tying a string loosely around the knot (length A) and then tightening it a far as possible (length B) will give two circumference values. The smaller the difference between these two values, the higher the hair density of the knot. This has the advantage that it doesn't depend on additional geometrical calculation based on loft shape and height.

In regards to the volume / density approach: I think there might be a significant factor in the dipping procedure and water displacement measurement that hasn't been taken into consideration : The remaining air in the knot. This will contribute to water displacement but is just the opposite of density.

 

[ailevin]

Yeah, it is somewhat crazy, but I appreciate your kind of crazy. On a more qualitative note, I am not sure that what we, or at least what I experience as "density" when face lathering with the knot is strictly the same as grams of hair per unit volume of the knot. It may be something more like the number of hairs per unit area in contact with the face. The more a brush splays or blooms, the less dense it is on the face.

 

[Icebear]

Yeah, it is somewhat crazy, but I appreciate your kind of crazy. On a more qualitative note, I am not sure that what we, or at least what I experience as "density" when face lathering with the knot is strictly the same as grams of hair per unit volume of the knot. It may be something more like the number of hairs per unit area in contact with the face. The more a brush splays or blooms, the less dense it is on the face.

This is more along side my own thinking. The most dense brush I have is a CH2 best and I can't press the knot togther any tighter when I grip around it with thumb and index finger. It is just so packed, it's maxed out with hair.