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Dark Holler Design Works preview

bosseb

bosseb

Crag said:
... The PK-47 Proto is the best overall brush in my den, and I'm very thankful to have found something that works so well for me, overjoyed actually! I have tried a LOT of custom designs and have sold off most of them since they didn't work for me. As soon as I return from my family vacation I'll get my camera in order and take pictures and post a proper review...
Click to expand...

Very nice to hear. I completely agree that the PK-47 is a remarkable brush, even in very distinguished company.

I will be posting a review of this brush as soon as I get my thoughts sorted out and the knot loosened up. To make sure I do not draw any overly fast conclusions I want to try out this brush with all my soaps in my den.

To give you a hint of where this is going you might read this post of mine: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...de-my-badger-experience?p=7003884#post7003884
 
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ajc347

ajc347

My Paladin Chief arrived today and I had a very pleasant shave with it this evening.

My first impressions are that it has a very ergonomic handle, very soft gel-like tips and plenty of backbone. It was a joy to use and I really think that you, Lee and Cody have hit the ball out of the park with this brush Ken.

It is a truly awesome brush. :)

I'll take some photos of it in action tomorrow and will review it against the original Chief, a M&F L7, a Simpson Emperor 3 and a Simpson M6 TSN LE Manchurian in order to see if my first thoughts remain the same in the cold light of day. :)
 
Nick Danger

Nick Danger

Ken,

Your work on the handles is masterful. I'm very excited to get a PK-47 when they are available. It looks like the perfect complement to my beloved M&F Chief. I've sent you an email to get my name on your list.

Nick
 
Dipesh

Dipesh

ajc347 said:
My Paladin Chief arrived today and I had a very pleasant shave with it this evening.

My first impressions are that it has a very ergonomic handle, very soft gel-like tips and plenty of backbone. It was a joy to use and I really think that you, Lee and Cody have hit the ball out of the park with this brush Ken.

It is a truly awesome brush. :)

I'll take some photos of it in action tomorrow and will review it against the original Chief, a M&F L7, a Simpson Emperor 3 and a Simpson M6 TSN LE Manchurian in order to see if my first thoughts remain the same in the cold light of day. :)
Click to expand...

I'm glad your enjoying the brush Andy :)
 
bosseb

bosseb

Snapshot of brushes for the coming comparative write up. You have no idea of how much people in the cold north enjoy looking at the sun after the dark snowless months now behind us.

Of course this view doesn't make it any less appealing.




Rudy Vey B&B LE 2014 in Shavemac D01, Rudy Vey Holiday LE 2014 in Shavemac 2 band silvertip, Paladin PK-47 and M&F Chief​
 
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refles

refles

wow the PK-47 is beautiful and that's against a serious lineup of brushes.. I'm really taken with the rod stock Ken has the color/mix is amazing. Great job Bosse
 
ajc347

ajc347

bosseb said:




Rudy Vey B&B LE 2014 in Shavemac D01, Rudy Vey Holiday LE 2014 in Shavemac 2 band silvertip, Paladin PK-47 and M&F Chief​
Click to expand...

That is a totally awesome and excellent picture which shows each brush to the full.

They look amazing. :smile:
 
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ajc347

ajc347

As indicated in my last post I received a Chief yesterday and have, as planned, undertaken a comparative review of it along side a number of other brushes.


The brushes I initially chose all share stylistic similarities to the Paladin Chief. They are the original M&F Chief, M&F L7 2-band, Simpson Emperor 3 2-band, and the Simpson M6 TSN LE Manchurian.


I also included a wildcard brush, a Semogue Barbear Classico Texugo LE, as I promised members of other forums that I would review this some months ago but never got around to doing so.




From L to R: M6, E3, B&B Chief, Paladin Chief, L7, Barbear Classico


The knot sizes of each brush are as follows:


Paladin Chief 26.75 x 49.25mm
M&F Chief 26.5 x 51.25mm
L7 26 x 50mm
E3 21.5 x 48.5mm
M6 22 x 48mm
Barbear Classico 21 x 50mm


Each brush has a glue bump, some of which are more noticeable than others.


I used the Chief for the first time last night. I noticed today that it had dried with a number of its tips clumped together and they had the characteristic ‘crispy tip’ feel of previously produced M&F brushes. As I am sure you are already aware, this is not necessarily a bad thing in a brush.


I noticed last night that the knot holds a lot of water. This was confirmed today with it holding significantly more water than any other brush on test.


I bowl lathered each of the brushes with some Tabac soap and here are the results:




















In terms of the softness of the tips, the Paladin and the Semogue were the clear winners here, with no hint of scritch being noticed at all. The Paladin tips had that gorgeous gel-like feeling which has been associated with Lee Sabini’s finest knots in days gone by.


The L7, E3 and the original M&F Chief had a very slight hint of scritchiness whilst the M6 had a noticeable (but by no means unpleasant) level of scritch present.


The Paladin, Semogue and M6 had the greatest amount of backbone of the 6 brushes tested, with the L7, E3 and the M&F Chief all having marginally less (but still very good) levels of backbone.


The Paladin Chief has had some slight changes made to the handle design over the original Chief. These are noticeable when holding the brush but I couldn’t notice any major differences between the Paladin, L7 and the original Chief when using them.


The Semogue and the E3 also very comfortable to use but felt (somewhat unsurprisingly given the differences in size) somewhat smaller in my hand.


The M6 has the least comfortable handle (due to sharpness of band around the centre of the handle) but was still very useable.



Here’s some post use comparison shots of the brushes in full bloom:











Conclusion:


All of these brushes are really nice brushes to use and give excellent results when bowl lathering.


The Paladin Chief stood out as being the brush that ticked every box for me and in a side-by-side comparison stood out as being a superlative brush. The ergonomic handle combination with the sublime knot makes it stand out amongst the 2-band brushes I own and it is one of the best brushes I have ever used.


As you can see from the side-by-side pictures below, the characteristics of the knot are quite different from the original M&F Chief (which is the knot on the left).





Another picture of the clumping characteristics of the Paladin knot:


 
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brucered

brucered

Very nice comparisons and pics. That Paladin knot looks like it's a winner. I have a couple clumping M&F knots and they are ultra soft.

Congrats on acquiring such a wonderful brush.
 
bosseb

bosseb

proxy.php


This is a very revealing picture! Those knots are very different indeed. Thanks for this info! :thumbup1:
 
J

Jamesoncj

Excellent review! I'm even more excited about the Paladins! I've been on the hunt for M&F gel-like tips. It sounds like your Paladin Chief might have that wonderful knot! Can't wait for that email from Ken.
 
brucered

brucered

I just started a Paladin Brush thread in the General forum, so people can show off their brushes.

It may be easier for us to follow the new brushes people are buying if they aren't in the vendor section and will probably be easier for Ken to post updates etc.

Hope that's OK
 
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