Best brushes on the market today

[Pat Puma]

I do not think the rules here allow us to link to other forums, so I am going to quote Ken from a conversation on The Shave Nook. These quotes are from November 2018 (one year ago). The title of the thread is "Do the older Paladin KC-London brushes have hand tied knots by Sabini?" if anyone wants to view it. It is an excellent discussion.

"I was told by Lee that the knots that went into the M&F Group Buy Chiefs came from Rooney. I was repeatedly assured by Lee that he set all the knots that went into our Kansas City - London handles. He never claimed to have tied any of those knots, and I have never believed or represented to anyone that he tied any knot that went into a Paladin handle.

Lee often referred to two women, both of whom were middle-aged or older, as responsible for making knots for the brushes we produced in collaboration with him. I believe those two women were also involved in making knots for Rooney." That quote is from Ken in reply #4.

"I am highly confident that all of the knots we source from China are hand-tied. There are many who place higher value on knots that they at least presume to have been made somewhere other than in China (e.g., in England). I've wondered what the perceived difference in value might be between two knots tied by the same person with the same materials and in the same way, but one having been made in China and the other in London or Overland Park, KS." That quote is from Ken in reply #7.

 

[Pat Puma]

Today I have a brush being delivered with a knot from Lee.

I have three M&F's produced since Lee started collaborating with Brad Sears. They are some of my favorite brushes with dense knots, beautifully shaped using very high quality hair. I've also had a couple of older brushes with his knots. A Rooney and an M&F, both with Heritage 3-band. They were also nice and I still have and use the M&F, but I actually prefer a couple of the newer knots. It is also worth noting that the new handles that Brad Sears is making are finished and polished far nicer than the older brushes. I am confident that you will love your new brush. FWIW Brad is a really nice guy to deal with, too.

 

[Pat Puma]

Aldo from Varlet and Scott from Declaration Grooming are US artisans who make handles and assemble their own knots from loose badger hair.

My Everset (made my Aldo) might be my favorite brush ever.

 

[shadowman12]

I have three M&F's produced since Lee started collaborating with Brad Sears. They are some of my favorite brushes with dense knots, beautifully shaped using very high quality hair. I've also had a couple of older brushes with his knots. A Rooney and an M&F, both with Heritage 3-band. They were also nice and I still have and use the M&F, but I actually prefer a couple of the newer knots. It is also worth noting that the new handles that Brad Sears is making are finished and polished far nicer than the older brushes. I am confident that you will love your new brush. FWIW Brad is a really nice guy to deal with, too.

Wow that's nice. I have a style 3 26mm finest badger with ocean mist acrylic handle upcoming. Will post a picture later today when I have it

 

[Pat Puma]

Wow that's nice. I have a style 3 26mm finest badger with ocean mist acrylic handle upcoming. Will post a picture later today when I have it

You're going to love it. Ocean mist is sweet. I have a Brad Sears brush (not an M&F) in that resin.

 

[shadowman12]

You're going to love it. Ocean mist is sweet. I have a Brad Sears brush (not an M&F) in that resin.

Just arrived

 

[VilPut]

Wow, it seems that there are a vast amount of brush makers on the market today! It’ll be very difficult to choose just one. At this point I’m very interest in artisanal makers in the US who ship to EU. For example Grizzly Bay. Does anyone know if they or propably him tie knots as well or are the knots made some where else and he just makes handles and assembles the parts tohether?

I’m very pleased to see that this subject has became very popular and many have something to say about brushes.

 

[shadowman12]

Wow, it seems that there are a vast amount of brush makers on the market today! It’ll be very difficult to choose just one. At this point I’m very interest in artisanal makers in the US who ship to EU. For example Grizzly Bay. Does anyone know if they or propably him tie knots as well or are the knots made some where else and he just makes handles and assembles the parts tohether?

I’m very pleased to see that this subject has became very popular and many have something to say about brushes.

If I look at the knots on his website it looks like they are not hand tied, but plugin knots. But with custom brush makers there is always an option to only buy the handle and then send the handle to someone who does hand tie your knot(Lee Sabini for example, I have his contact details). Scott from Declaration Grooming is the only one in the US who hand-ties knots, I believe he also ships to Europe.

Lots of people do that with Wolf and Whiskers handles and knots from Declaration Grooming

Another option is to check the BST groups if you can find a brush there to your liking. I saw some Grizzly Bay brushes being sold there.

 

[pork]

My Everset (made my Aldo) might be my favorite brush ever.

I have the beehive Varlet that was released around the time of those Eversets and it is definitely my favorite brush ever.

 

[VilPut]

If I look at the knots on his website it looks like they are not hand tied, but plugin knots. But with custom brush makers there is always an option to only buy the handle and then send the handle to someone who does hand tie your knot(Lee Sabini for example, I have his contact details). Scott from Declaration Grooming is the only one in the US who hand-ties knots, I believe he also ships to Europe.

Lots of people do that with Wolf and Whiskers handles and knots from Declaration Grooming

Another option is to check the BST groups if you can find a brush there to your liking. I saw some Grizzly Bay brushes being sold there.

It seems that either Lee Sabini (M&F) or Shavemac would the best options in the EU. I think i’ll have closer look into their products as well.

 

[VilPut]

Just arrived

Very nice! How do you like your new brush?

 

[Rudy Vey]

It seems that either Lee Sabini (M&F) or Shavemac would the best options in the EU. I think i’ll have closer look into their products as well.

Yes, Shavemac is the best option, not sure if you can get a hold of Sabini. Shavemac has a very nice website where you can configure your own personal brush: options are the grade of hair, shape of the knot, loft and size, handle style and material. No other company does offer this.
In my shaving brush business I use Shavemac knots for about 10 years now, and have only excellent experiences with all my orders. Even made several B&B LE's with the knots from Shavemac, and they were very well received. The D01 versions are the densest they offer, the two-band is not for the faint hearted, though. It is a thick stemmed stiff hair, excellent scrub, but some might find it too stiff and too much backbone - its an acquired taste.
My recommendation would be their 2-band silvertip, this is the "bees knees" knot and I have used hundreds of them and only happy customers.
Just yesterday I got the following email from one of my customers (got a 26/52 two-band silvertip fan):
"Dear Rudy, recieved brush today at 4:30 pm I just happened to not shave this morning knowing brush would come in today. Wonderful so happy with it, just wonderful, thank you so much, (Wife) said Christmas on Halloween, I said yes ! Again Thank You So Much !! Ray"

I have visited Shavemac a few years ago and have personally seen their facility, knot making, handle turning assembly etc.; here is the link:

Shavemac Visit.... Lots of photos!

Shavemac was founded by Bernd’s father and initially started out to make handles for companies making shaving brushes located in the area (center of brush making in Germany). After Bernd joined the family company, he expanded their business by starting making their own brush knots. There...

www.badgerandblade.com

They are not as secretive as some other companies might be, I have seen it all at Shavemac.
You even could call them up and discuss what you like have made.
As far as I know, none of us US brush makers will send out of the USA due to the Fish and Game limitations.

 

[leatherdog99]

Just arrived

Very nice.

 

[Vlad]

The D01 versions are the densest they offer, the two-band is not for the faint hearted, though. It is a thick stemmed stiff hair, excellent scrub, but some might find it too stiff and too much backbone - its an acquired taste.
My recommendation would be their 2-band silvertip, this is the "bees knees" knot and I have used hundreds of them and only happy customers.

I had no idea they tied their own knots!

Rudy, I did find the D01 too scritchy for my face, but I don't remember if I had the two or three band version. How would you compare the 2-band silvertip to the D01 three band?

 

[Pat Puma]

I had no idea they tied their own knots!

Rudy, I did find the D01 too scritchy for my face, but I don't remember if I had the two or three band version. How would you compare the 2-band silvertip to the D01 three band?

The D01 Silvertip (three band) is outstanding. I've had two. I also had a D01 (two band) that I sold. I also had another 2 band knot that the original owner said was a "Unique" knot. It was indistinguishable from a D01 two band. I very much prefer the D01 Silvertip three band when it comes to Shavemacs. Their knots are definitely hand-tied and they are as well-made as any knots in the world.

 

[Pat Puma]

Just arrived

Kickass.

 

[Pat Puma]

I have the beehive Varlet that was released around the time of those Eversets and it is definitely my favorite brush ever.

Those Beehives are awesome. I have the Everset K2, which uses the same knots as the Varlet Mega.

 

[pork]

I had a K2 in addition to the mega beehive. Same knot, both great. I didn’t need both, so I kept the beehive from the mega drop. I have a Gaslamp too. Totally different brush, but also good.

 

[Pat Puma]

Scott from Declaration Grooming is the only one in the US who hand-ties knots, I believe he also ships to Europe.

Aldo at The Varlet also hand-ties his knots, but he only sells complete brushes.

 

[Pat Puma]

I had a K2 in addition to the mega beehive. Same knot, both great. I didn’t need both, so I kept the beehive from the mega drop. I have a Gaslamp too. Totally different brush, but also good.

Gaslamp is a very pretty handle. My K2 is an older one when they were a little shorter. I love that brush.