YupSo the same way I get my steaks! Except they're local.
YupSo the same way I get my steaks! Except they're local.
A statement of fact I think - not a judgement call. The badger hair used in almost all shaving knots comes from China or Russia.
They are raised on special farms where they have a whale of a time - pampered with the finest badger food money can buy, they get to watch TV, have piped music in all the rooms and as many glasses of milk as they wish. They even have heated "badger beds" to sleep in. When it come to the time for them to "go" and be made into badger hair shaving brushes they are slowly tickled to death by unicorns after being sedated with a mixture of whisky and laudanum...
GaylyClassic!
However, you forgot the reason for the farms... It's so they can RUN and PLAYYYY!!!
I definitely learn something new everyday on B&B!A statement of fact I think - not a judgement call. The badger hair used in almost all shaving knots comes from China or Russia.
They are raised on special farms where they have a whale of a time - pampered with the finest badger food money can buy, they get to watch TV, have piped music in all the rooms and as many glasses of milk as they wish. They even have heated "badger beds" to sleep in. When it come to the time for them to "go" and be made into badger hair shaving brushes they are slowly tickled to death by unicorns after being sedated with a mixture of whisky and laudanum...
After some longterm use of many brushes I’ve made, I’m going with the standard formula of twice the diameter. I’ve set many 24mm at 50mm and 52mm loft and after a year or two of use (which might only be a few months for somebody using the same brush daily) I’ve found that my finest badgers have lost much of the backbone I like so much and splay far more than I’d like, especially the fans which splay on par with my silvertips. Those at 48mm still have mucho backbone and are much better for face lathering with Speick, which has become my favorite soap. You would think 2-4mm would matter much, but after some time the difference is huge.
I mean fully lofted at 67mm.
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I enjoy good scrubby, exfoliating brushes. Through some experimenting I've come to the conclusion that 2:1 or 2.25:1 is my ideal ratio for brushes - regardless of the type of bristle.
This morning I unboxed my first Zenith boar, the 24/48 "Short and Scubby." No pics yet, today's a busy day. So far I've done my normal Dawn cleaning and initial test lather, took my wife to a doctor's appointment, then came back home to shave. After cleaning and 2 lathers it's thrown 10 bristles, not altogether terrible provided it sheds less in the future.
My initial overall impression is favorable but I'll have to see how it breaks in. Lathering performance is good, face feel is nice and I'd say it feels closer to the bristle quality of my SOC boar than my Omega '98. The closest brush I have to it is a 15 year old, well broken in and well loved boar from The Body Shop measuring 20/50. Have to give a note of thanks to @Chan Eil Whiskers for his recommendation of both this and the Mondial Pro style boars, I'm enjoying the satin finished Mondial so much I'm currently waiting on my order for the same brush in ivory colored plastic. It's so nice I wanted a spare!
Personally I like a lofty brush. I know this is a YMMV issue, but I don't care for the short brushes. My favorite brush is probably my 30mm X 70mm Silvertip. I went out of my way to set it that high.
It's good to read that some people prefer more loft. I definitely like the looks of the higher loft.
I guess I'll have to make myself another brush with less loft and figure out what I prefer the feel and performance of.
And the more I read about boar brushes the more I want to try them.
I like @dfoulk and @BigJim s suggestion of drilling a bit deep and setting the knot with silicone, so you can easily remove reset the loft and adjust a few times to find the best loft for that knot.
I may have to give this a try with a badger hair and a boar hair brush. And just leave the final set with silicone that way as it ages and wears in it would be easy to readjust if you wanted to.
That's a nice looking brush. Good work.That's just what I did when I replaced the shedding boar knot in my Stirling with a Timberwolf from Maggard. I used way less than I thought it would take for a secure bond but so far it's holding:
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