Custom Brushes?

[Ed13]

I am curious why more people don't purchase custom made brushes? I know with custom brushes any handle style is available along with countless material types.

Is the problem the badger bristles?

Do people buy from large manufacturers and distributors because of their supply of better bristles? Is it their standard of quality from one brush to another?

I ask because I don't see reviews on the custom brushes and their makers.

 

[moses]

Well, it depends. Shavemac does semi custom brushes, which I think are actually pretty popular. He might also be talked into a truly custom brush (ie, different handle design than his standards), but I have no idea - would love to know if that was possible.

Otherwise, I would also like to hear more. I know I have see at least one person express great satisfaction with Thomas Anthony & Co. I have also read good things about Superior brushes, which I think are often custom.

I imagine it probably mostly comes down the the price advantage of standards.

 

[fuerein]

Another reason is the same for just about any product that can be purchased in either a stock style or custom style... the stock style is invariably cheaper than the same item purchased as a custom item. Thus if you can get something that meets your requirements from a stock model you are likely going to get it cheaper than if you start customizing a brush that has the same basic qualities.

 

[Tony Miller]

In my experience as a retailer custom has pros and cons. One can get some beautiful handle shapes and woods with customs and I carried a few early this year from a very skilled art woodturner. The con though is, not being a "known brand" one really does not know what he is buying and can only rely on what the seller is telling you. It's nice to have a history like Shavemac, Plison, etc to fall back on. Even when buying lots of badger knots a consumer can't be sure of the quality he gets.

I have examined quite a few really nice custom brushes but unsure if I would even take a gamble on an unknown unless I saw it first.

I do hear very nice things about Mr. Anthony's fine brushes and I think he is mentioned here quite often.

Tony

 

[guenron]

In my experience as a retailer custom has pros and cons. One can get some beautiful handle shapes and woods with customs and I carried a few early this year from a very skilled art woodturner. The con though is, not being a "known brand" one really does not know what he is buying and can only rely on what the seller is telling you. It's nice to have a history like Shavemac, Plison, etc to fall back on. Even when buying lots of badger knots a consumer can't be sure of the quality he gets.

I have examined quite a few really nice custom brushes but unsure if I would even take a gamble on an unknown unless I saw it first.

I do hear very nice things about Mr. Anthony's fine brushes and I think he is mentioned here quite often.

Tony

Tony,
Not to detract from your fine endorsement, but Mr. Anthony's brushes, whether fine or not, are not a frequent topic of conversation here. As an interesting sidelight, I decided sometime ago to avoid these products after reading the unique approach to badger hair grades. It seemed to be just the opposite of the rest of the world's approach. While that certainly doesn't make it wrong (Remember the old saw, 50 Million Frenchmen can be wrong?), it is just a bit too different to be appealing.

 

[Shavethebadger]

Ron,

After re-reading my brush knot descriptions, I realize that the idea could be taken either of two ways. The idea that all quality bristles are tapered is not at question here. The statement is not about the bristle, but how the actual knot is put together.The tapered knots in question are of a "Tapered Contruction". That is, much shorter bristles are used around the outside of the brush, with gradually longer bristles used towards the centre, making the loft of the brush.

A quality brush knot will have the bristles aligned so that the black bands closer to the tip are uniform, forming a (more or less) straight black band around the knot. This means the brush has been aligned and trimmed from the bottom, preserving the natual tips.

A TAPERED KNOT will use the shorter bristles that are unsuitable for use in premium knots. The black bands on the hairs are not aligned, due to the large difference in lengths. This type of knot will limit the number of hairs that come into contact with the soap and the skin, limiting lather production.

I'm not saying that Tapered Knots are bad. I'm saying they are much cheaper than a premium knot and should be priced accordingly. These knots can literally be purchased for less than half price, simply because they are made from bristle that would otherwise be discarded due to length. Tapered knots are generally only available in sizes under 24mm. I have only ever seen one vendor selling properly advertised and priced Tapered brushes. Em's Place clearly has a number of brushes identified as "Tapered", and these are much cheaper than the standard version of the same brush. Gold Star for Em's Place, I say.

I've linked to a photo of two brush knots. Both are the same size knot and the same grade. The knot on the right is of a Tapered Construction and you can see that the black bands do not line up due to the odd sized bristles used. The knot on the left is standard. The arrows indicate the minimum bristle length used in the knot.

http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/london276/album?.dir=5d23re2&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

I hope this helps to clear up any confusion in regards to tapered bristles vs. Tapered Knots.

Thanks,

Matt

 

[pitbulls20]

The only brush I own is a custom made brush that I bought on ebay and honestly I love it. So far I can't complain about the quality or price of it. I also soon enough plan to buy another custom made brush and possibly stand to match.

I like the idea of being able to pick and choose what I want in a brush and how it will look. And so far I have found price to be very comparable to the higher end SR and Simpsons that I priced.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=78651279
In this link you will see some pics of the brush.

 

[Tony Miller]

Tony,
Not to detract from your fine endorsement, but Mr. Anthony's brushes, whether fine or not, are not a frequent topic of conversation here.

Not an endorsment just an opinion. I appreciate fine craftmanship and wooden products in particular and have seen some photos of them on a few shaving sites.

My original point was that there are quite a few custom brush makers out there that are making nice brushes but many buyers still stick with the well known brands. It is tough breaking into a market already filled with long standing brands with name recognition. Many buyers are unwilling to take the plunge and could be missing out on equally noce products.

Tony