First turns

[ChiefBroom]

That looks great for a first attempt Ken. Good luck with your new hobby/obsession.

Let me know when you're ready to take orders, I'm always looking for a new brush.

I appreciate the kind and encouraging comments. At things presently stand, I'm no more than a rank novice, and I don't know where or how far this pursuit will go. But I'm definitely committed to it.

I'm also mindful of the Forum rules. I've thought about making a Hobbyist donation. But that would seem a little like posing, as I haven't yet made anything worth offering to sell. If and when the time comes, I will. In any case, a goal is to having something worthy made in time to donate for the 2014 Sue Moore Memorial auction.

For now and some while to come, I'm just a learner. And I thought it might be interesting to share some steps along the way.

When you get really good at this and start making your own resin blanks, I have a little project in red amber for you.....

I remember and won't forget.

I once wrote on this forum that I wished you made brushes. And now you make handles!
Should I organize a B&B badger hunt?

I remember that too. It struck me at the time, ... and it stuck.

Very, very nice Ken. I have a hunch you are going to be turning some gems eventually. .

Thanks Peter. But someone needs to get back to work on his soap.

 

[ChiefBroom]

Long story short, this has turned out to be much more challenging than I expected. But I'm hacking my way through it. Lot's of do-overs.

The plot below is based on a drawing I did in Adobe Illustrator last September, when the M&G Group Buy was mostly behind and I started thinking about maybe trying to turn a handle myself.

The second photo below is of the work-piece that became the handle at bottom. I fabricated the mandrel myself, also from acrylic rod. I need to make one out of aluminum.

Turning this handle required five different tools: a Forstner bit for the socket; neutral, left-hand, and right-hand bits (blue, green, and orange, respectively in the plot); and another bit for parting off the bottom.

I still need to learn how polish these things. A polishing wheel is on it's way and hopefully will show up sometime next week.

The knot (not glued) is one I extracted from a Chief that had an issue.

 

[brucered]

Good looking brush Ken.

Very curvy and with a Chief knot no less.

 

[ChiefBroom]

Good looking brush Ken.

Very curvy and with a Chief knot no less.

Thanks. Definitely related to the Chief. It's shorter. About 52mm and has slightly more girth (38mm). The Chief is 60mm x 36.8mm.

 

[brucered]

Thanks. Definitely related to the Chief. It's shorter. About 52mm and has slightly more girth (38mm). The Chief is 60mm x 36.8mm.

Stubby Chief aka SC1

I love the dark blue material...we don't see many of those.

 

[Big Jim]

I call on a lot of machine shops and something I have long wanted to see is someone turning shaving brush handles on a CNC lathe. Congratulations.

With some help from the lathe owner, I did make a handle on a MANUAL lathe. You can do much of the polishing on the lathe itself. I used 2000 wet sandpaper to get it most of the way there, some course rubbing compound, and finished with auto wax.

A couple of sources for turning blanks is first, Exotic Blanks, and second, Penn State Industries. I still have a blank of "snowball" that I would like to make a handle out of.

 

[JaxJim]

I don't know how I managed to overlook this thread until now. Wow! Nice work, Ken. Your first effort looks great, and I can hardly wait to see what you come up with once you've gotten everything dialed in.

 

[Scritchnscrub]

Keep hacking Ken. I think you have great design instincts. Seriously.

 

[jazzguy]

That looks like a comfortable handle. It's sort of like an Eagle mixed with a Rooney style 1. Good color too.

 

[ChiefBroom]

Thanks y'all.

Here's one after hand-polishing on a 6" wheel.

 

[brucered]

Looking good there Ken....the brush too. It's so polished and shiney we can see the whole room.

Glad you kept your pants on.

I love it.

 

[igasho]

Yea, not sure if polished enough, we cant quite make out the words on all the books on the shelf behind you

 

[ChiefBroom]

Looking good there Ken....the brush too. It's so polished and shiney we can see the whole room.

Glad you kept your pants on.

I love it.

It's funny; that wasn't a pose. I didn't even know I'd show up in the thing. I had the camera set with a 2-second delay so I could get my hand off it and stand back before it took the shot. I guess I instinctively hold my hand up while watching the display to make sure wait long enough. When I opened the image in Photoshop, I thought "crap, I can see a bunch of junk on the floor in the reflection." That's from clearing off my desk for an HP tech support guy who came to change out a display.

 

[Dirk-Lerxst-Pratt]

Wow, Ken. You have fallen down a very deep rabbit hole. Enjoy the ride.

BTW it looks great.

 

[ChiefBroom]

Wow, Ken. You have fallen down a very deep rabbit hole.

Enjoy the ride.

Indeed. And thanks.

 

[plywood99]

Beautiful brush mate! Just wow. Who is that ugly mug in the reflection though?

 

[Big Jim]

Beautiful!

 

[PatrickA51]

Thanks y'all.

Here's one after hand-polishing on a 6" wheel.

That is awesome. Great looking handle. What size knot are you going to put in it?

 

[ChiefBroom]

That is awesome. Great looking handle. What size knot are you going to put in it?

Thanks. The socket is 25mm. That's the diameter of the single madrel I've turned from an aluminum cylinder so far. So I'm boring to exactly 25mm.

That's the Goldilocks knot diameter for me.

 

[igasho]

ahhh you're holding out on us, I must see more handle porn!