Pen Works

I have 20 mm Silvertip Grade A, Faux Ivory Handle 47, Loft 45, 3 Band Fan Shape Knot
Great price, lower than all big brands. After a few uses, becomed a little lather machine. All over lathering, even handle I'm using face lather, bowl lather, soaps, sticks, creams....

Price: $69.00 An excellent value! I have paid much more for brushes that, in my opinion, cannot compete with the value of a Penworks brush.

Quality: Excellent!

Density: ST- 24 with an Alternative Ivory Base. Very nice!

Stiffness: Not too stiff. Just right!

Softness: Perfect. I was between choosing a Finest or Silvertip, and I chose correctly with the Silvertip knot.

Ergonomic: Awesome! More or less, what might be considered a Chubby. I live close enough to Carefree, AZ, that I was able to go to the shop and spend time finding a brush that is a perfect in my hands. This one is the right size, shape, weight, and had the best feel in my hands.

Latherability: Excellent. I prefer soaps, yet I am able to produce a lather that is the consistency of what I have achieved using a cream, using this brush.

Overall: Extremely happy with this selection! Again, having the ability to handle any of the brushes that Tony had in the display cabinet that caught my eye, gave me tremendous advantage over ordering online, as I had done in the past. There were two very large display cabinets, with 4 shelves each, plus a smaller cabinet with 2 shelves. Great presentation, combined with extremely friendly service!

I have found my "Shave Oasis" in the Sonoran Desert, and I will be making regular trips to visit Tony!

The penworks brush I have is the ST1R-22.


Price: About $50 shipped after the B&B discount. Can't be beat.

Quality: In the first lathering, it lost a total of 1 hair. None since. Such a beautiful, densely stuffed knot. Looks like a brush that should be at least 2x the cost.

Density: Very dense. One of only 2 brushes I have tried, but much more dense than that.

Stiffness: Great backbone. Bristles stand up as you face lather and only splay out when pressed and you want them to.

Softness: Mine is slightly scritchy right now, but has been getting softer with each use. I think it's the perfect blend of softness and "exfoliating scritchiness"

Ergonomic: Not exactly the right fit for my hand, but Tony makes a million differnt handles, so I'm sure you could find one that suits you.

Latherability: Excellent. Only used with soaps so far, but fantastic. Will try with creams tonight!

Overall: I absolutely love it! It is a great looking brush, and the knot is SO dense! Has a lot more back bone than the other brush I tried (Semogue 2030) which I really like since I'm planning on mostly using soaps. From everything I've read about Rooney's, I would imagine this brush is very similar. Very dense, great backbone, slightly scritchy...although getting softer with each use.

Truly a beautiful brush that I would recommend to anyone!

I just got my 24mm Silvertip yesterday and I've tried it out this morning for a proper shave (I used it last night for a touch-up before I went out for the evening). It lathers fairly well and holds a nice amount of water with a very nice density of brush, I think (but I can only compare to my Vulfix travel brush and my boar bristle brushes from Kent, Van der Hagen, and Wilkinson). The brush was not too stiff and not as floppy as my travel Vulfix (the metal plated travel tube one). I used my Eton College TOBS cream today as I don't think it works well with my soap (though that might just be technique). I was not able to get the best lather with soap but it performed very well with my TOBS cream.

It's quite big, possibly the biggest brush I own. It's also a fairly soft brush, I think on par with my Vulfix.

The price was good, I paid $59.00 for a brush with the Tru-Stone White Turquoise handle (very nice weight too it, not too heavy and it's quite satisfying to hold).

I'll definitely keep Penworks in mind as a future brush supplier and he's a pleasant chap to deal with as well.

I know my brush isn't identical to the first one of this review, but I figured I'd lump it all together.

Mine is a 24mm knot silvertip with a redwood burl handle.

Price: $55 shipped. Excellent price for this brush - shipping was fast as well - I ordered it Saturday, had it in my hands on Monday.

Quality: In the first lathering, it lost a total of 4 hairs - none since. There are some stragglers that jut out further than the rest of the knot. Otherwise, a good quality brush with a beautiful handle.

Density: I would say it is on par with a Shavemac. Not as dense as the Chubby 1 I owned, but more dense than the C&E BBB, and about the same as my Shavemac.

Stiffness: These have some backbone, but can be a little floppy - nothing like my Vulfix 660. You have to push a little to get the tips to splay out.

Softness: Again, comparable to the softness of my Shavemac silvertip. Nice and soft, not scratchy, in my opinion.

Ergonomic: My handle is smaller - about the size of the C&E BBB handle in length, but maybe a bit thinner. It fits in my hand well and feels comfortable and easy to manage.

Latherability: Excellent. I got equally good lathers with both some TOBS lavender shave cream and my Vintage Yardley soap.

Great, handmade brush with a beautiful handle at an excellent price.

Price: The cost of this brush was $65 and worth every penny

Quality: This is a top notch brush. The handle is simply amazing the picture does not do it justice. Fits well in my hand and very comfortable.

Density: The knot is huge and pre-bloom was quite soft and was a little worried this would be as soft as my Vulfix 2233. This was not the case when I swirled it in my Tabac soap. The knot is 24mm Silver Tip and is like a sponge, it holds a ton of water.

Stiffness & Softness: I'd say the stiffness is in the middle of the road not too soft but not stiff. To me this is just right and perfect for my liking. This brush is stiff enough to hold it's shape quite well, weather wet or dry. I can only compare it the the Vulfix but it was very soft on the face but stiff enough to easily create lather on the face.

Ergonomics: The handle is long and slender and fits nicely in the hand which makes it easy to handle with making lather and applying to the face. The brush holds a ton of lather one squeeze and I easily have a few more passes.

Latherability: OMG is all I can say when it comes to lathering. At about the 2 minute point I had more than enough lather to do 6 passes, thick and creamy. The picture below is at the 2 minute point.