I finally finished my first attempt at a DIY horse hair brush. I opted for a tiny Ever-Ready 200c travel handle, mostly because I had a limited hair supply from the local humane society. A full album can be found here on imgur: http://imgur.com/a/kIXQO.
I didn't take as many pictures as I could have - I was really less interested in documenting it, more in the process itself.
Cleaning/Sterilization
I asked for (and received) a 50/50 mix of mane and tail hair in a variety of colors (chestnut, dark brown, black, etc). The hair was quite "fresh", so I first donned vinyl gloves and shampooed with my wife's clarifying 2-in-1 (Rinsed, and repeated x3). For sterilizing, I used my veggie steamer and steamed the hair for 30 minutes. One final shampoo/rinse, and the hair air dried.
Knot Prep
For this step I purchased some hair rubber bands (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Spartan-Super-Stretch-Black-Rubber-Bands-250-ct/10319239) and a plastic comb. I cut the hair into roughly 4 inch lengths, and did my best to gather the hair in 2-3mm bundles. I then secured each bundle with a single rubber band at the base of the bundle, trimming to a uniform length of 3mm from base of hair to rubber band. I repeated for the remainder of the hair (about 8 bundles). I test fit the hair in the handle, and was reasonably happy with how it fit. Realistically, I probably should have made a few more bundles, but at this point the only hair that was left was either horribly tangled, or significantly shorter than 4 inches.
Setting the Knot
I took one final rubber band and used it to secure all the bundles together, then I filled the handle half way with 5-minute clear-drying epoxy. I pushed the raw knot into the handle and wiped the excess epoxy off with a damp paper towel. Unfortunately, I was quite correct about needing more hair. I noticed there was a gap at some parts of the handle, so in an effort to push the hair to the edges, I inserted a sharpie into the middle of the brush and wiggled it around in an attempt to push the hair to the inside edge of the handle. Some epoxy started to wick up into the side of the brush - something else I'm not really pleased with - and I attempted to wipe as much away as I could with the paper towel.
Trimming/Shaping
After the knot had set for a few hours, I began to trim the knot with scissors. I test lathered after a 24 hour cure and realized the loft was way to high. Further trimming brought it down to approximately 45mm, and I switched to an electric hair trimmer to finish the bulb shape.
Final Thoughts
I'm somewhat happy with the final result. I haven't had a chance to shave with it yet (I woke up too late this morning), but it seems to be a lathering machine from the test batches. I'm noticing quite a bit of hair loss, although it's lessening as I'm using it/combing it. Next time I'll probably take a slightly different approach to the knot by epoxying each bundle individually, then sanding/shaping the cured epoxy before bundling it together. This should help with hair loss and also give me a better idea on how much hair is required.
One thing I'm really happy with is the blend of colors - specifically the one white stripe. The less uniform look is pretty appealing and I will probably attempt to do something similar with my next brush.
Now for the pictures!
Size comparison with Omega Pro 48
Higher contrast picture for better color
Slight epoxy creep on the lower left
I didn't take as many pictures as I could have - I was really less interested in documenting it, more in the process itself.
Cleaning/Sterilization
I asked for (and received) a 50/50 mix of mane and tail hair in a variety of colors (chestnut, dark brown, black, etc). The hair was quite "fresh", so I first donned vinyl gloves and shampooed with my wife's clarifying 2-in-1 (Rinsed, and repeated x3). For sterilizing, I used my veggie steamer and steamed the hair for 30 minutes. One final shampoo/rinse, and the hair air dried.
Knot Prep
For this step I purchased some hair rubber bands (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Spartan-Super-Stretch-Black-Rubber-Bands-250-ct/10319239) and a plastic comb. I cut the hair into roughly 4 inch lengths, and did my best to gather the hair in 2-3mm bundles. I then secured each bundle with a single rubber band at the base of the bundle, trimming to a uniform length of 3mm from base of hair to rubber band. I repeated for the remainder of the hair (about 8 bundles). I test fit the hair in the handle, and was reasonably happy with how it fit. Realistically, I probably should have made a few more bundles, but at this point the only hair that was left was either horribly tangled, or significantly shorter than 4 inches.
Setting the Knot
I took one final rubber band and used it to secure all the bundles together, then I filled the handle half way with 5-minute clear-drying epoxy. I pushed the raw knot into the handle and wiped the excess epoxy off with a damp paper towel. Unfortunately, I was quite correct about needing more hair. I noticed there was a gap at some parts of the handle, so in an effort to push the hair to the edges, I inserted a sharpie into the middle of the brush and wiggled it around in an attempt to push the hair to the inside edge of the handle. Some epoxy started to wick up into the side of the brush - something else I'm not really pleased with - and I attempted to wipe as much away as I could with the paper towel.
Trimming/Shaping
After the knot had set for a few hours, I began to trim the knot with scissors. I test lathered after a 24 hour cure and realized the loft was way to high. Further trimming brought it down to approximately 45mm, and I switched to an electric hair trimmer to finish the bulb shape.
Final Thoughts
I'm somewhat happy with the final result. I haven't had a chance to shave with it yet (I woke up too late this morning), but it seems to be a lathering machine from the test batches. I'm noticing quite a bit of hair loss, although it's lessening as I'm using it/combing it. Next time I'll probably take a slightly different approach to the knot by epoxying each bundle individually, then sanding/shaping the cured epoxy before bundling it together. This should help with hair loss and also give me a better idea on how much hair is required.
One thing I'm really happy with is the blend of colors - specifically the one white stripe. The less uniform look is pretty appealing and I will probably attempt to do something similar with my next brush.
Now for the pictures!
Size comparison with Omega Pro 48
Higher contrast picture for better color
Slight epoxy creep on the lower left
