We have all seen a chopped up vehicle that has been lowered and custom built rolling down the street and said, Wow! Well some of us do the same thing in the area of Traditional Shaving products. For this posting, I will concentrate on a product that seems to have a large amount controversy on the forums. The H.I.S. brush as equipped is a very large synthetic brush. The handle is large at a whopping 64 mm in length! It has a 28 mm knot size with a total loft of 60 mm! The maximum bloom is around 55 mm which is smaller than an equivalent sized badger knot. The overall length is 124 mm! A very big brush indeed. It does limit closer up work such as face lathering. It does not make it impossible to face lather, just more difficult than with other smaller and more maneuverable brushes. Many potential users have not purchased this brush because of overall size. They seek a much small overall brush profile. This has led to a missing opportunity for many Traditional Shavers for one reason, the fibers.
This knot is different from any other that I have come across, natural or synthetic. The fibers have a strong backbone but a velvet soft layer of tips that feel wonderful to the skin. Sadly, the manufacturer FM Brush and distributor Artist Brushstrokes has not yet taken this knot and coupled it to a brush handle with a more traditional size and shape based on the preferences of the majority of Traditional Shavers. I explained to both parties that there would be people who would like to try the knot alone for custom applications, and that some users might even dismantle an existing H.I.S. brush to get to that knot. Well, this is the dismantling of a H.I.S. brush to get to that knot.
The first photo is the beginning of the process. This is the preparation of the brush in the vise. This vise has soft sides to protect finishes, but since this brush handle will be completely destroyed in the process, that protection is not relevant.
With the handle now securely in place. A protective sheet of foam is placed over the knot to prevent particles from entering in, or to protect it from a accidental cutting action.
Now the knot itself ends at around 20 mm inside the handle so cutting would have to take place below that point. With the Dremel cutting tool and a reinforced cutting wheel, a groove channel was cut to begin the main cutting process.
The brush is much too thick to cut through with the Dremel, so a hack saw was used to perform the majority of the cutting until the base of the knot was free. This took a large amount of careful work to make sure that the job was done safely to preserve the knot. At this point we can see that the knot has a protective metal ring around it that made cutting more difficult, but obviously not impossible.
At this point the Dremel tool can again be used to remove the outer remains of the handle to reveal the knot itself. At this point a slight level of cutting was required at the base to level the knot and to reduce the "plug" size.
Now the knot is exposed and it is now measured in the open and is truly 28 mm! This knot can now be placed in a more traditional sized and shaped handle that should make it much more user friendly. At this point it is time to select a new handle for this knot and to change it characteristics forever. Not so fast, that will take a little time and so we shall see that effort in another thread sometime in approximately a week or so. Thank you for viewing and see you around on the forums.
This knot is different from any other that I have come across, natural or synthetic. The fibers have a strong backbone but a velvet soft layer of tips that feel wonderful to the skin. Sadly, the manufacturer FM Brush and distributor Artist Brushstrokes has not yet taken this knot and coupled it to a brush handle with a more traditional size and shape based on the preferences of the majority of Traditional Shavers. I explained to both parties that there would be people who would like to try the knot alone for custom applications, and that some users might even dismantle an existing H.I.S. brush to get to that knot. Well, this is the dismantling of a H.I.S. brush to get to that knot.
The first photo is the beginning of the process. This is the preparation of the brush in the vise. This vise has soft sides to protect finishes, but since this brush handle will be completely destroyed in the process, that protection is not relevant.
With the handle now securely in place. A protective sheet of foam is placed over the knot to prevent particles from entering in, or to protect it from a accidental cutting action.
Now the knot itself ends at around 20 mm inside the handle so cutting would have to take place below that point. With the Dremel cutting tool and a reinforced cutting wheel, a groove channel was cut to begin the main cutting process.
The brush is much too thick to cut through with the Dremel, so a hack saw was used to perform the majority of the cutting until the base of the knot was free. This took a large amount of careful work to make sure that the job was done safely to preserve the knot. At this point we can see that the knot has a protective metal ring around it that made cutting more difficult, but obviously not impossible.
At this point the Dremel tool can again be used to remove the outer remains of the handle to reveal the knot itself. At this point a slight level of cutting was required at the base to level the knot and to reduce the "plug" size.
Now the knot is exposed and it is now measured in the open and is truly 28 mm! This knot can now be placed in a more traditional sized and shaped handle that should make it much more user friendly. At this point it is time to select a new handle for this knot and to change it characteristics forever. Not so fast, that will take a little time and so we shall see that effort in another thread sometime in approximately a week or so. Thank you for viewing and see you around on the forums.
