Good flat top brush

[Rivguy]

I am looking for a good quality flat top brush. I predominately face lather with both soaps and creams. Presently I have 3 Simpson brushes with two band supper badger with bulb top knots that I like very much. I have other brushes in both boar and badger but the Simpson's are the best in the stable. I am in the process of rebuilding a few handles so I am considering both GN and Shavemac knots in addition to a new brush.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Doug

 

[filedog]

True flat tops are rare, I think. I have seen one by Shavemac. Perhaps you are thinking of fan shaped? I just built a custom TGN, with the 22mm Finest knot w/extra hair. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=171970&highlight=finest The knot is rather bulb-shaped, which I am still not crazy about, preferring fan shaped knots myself. TGN does offer fan-shaped knots, although not in extra stuffed. Rooney is notable for it's fan-shaped knots, also dense brushes, they're less expensive than Simpsons. I have a 3/1 in silvertip that is a nice brush. The TGN I have is LESS dense than the Rooney, but makes up for it with the springier two band hair. I'm not sure I would want a TGN knot that DIDN'T have extra hair, since the one I have is not overly dense. I have been looking for another fan-shaped badger, some Simpsons, like the Duke look like they would work. I believe the "best" hair knots are fan-shaped, the two bands are bulbs.

 

[kooshman7]

Shavemac is the only one I know of that does the extreme flat top as it is called, as funny enough as you see in my avatar. I just put that up recently. I figured the cat had enough avatar time.

Regular fan shapes can come pretty close though at times and do a good job. You have to go very low depending on the grade of the hair for this type to keep the hair from going everywhere. My avatar is a pic of my Shavemac D01 after use and dried and bloomed. And that's a 23mm knot 45mm loft brush and very densely packed. The 2-band D01 does much better at retaining its shape here.

 

[Joe Edson]

My Shavemac D01 2-band extreme flat top is the best brush I own. Period.

Haven't tried their 3-band D01 and I imagine that would be my next brush if I were to get another case of SBAD.

They aren't cheap by any means, but I wish I had tried it first before purchasing many $50-125 brushes.

I wouldn't recommend it for creams however, as it is a lather hog. Easily remedied by loading more soap, but I imagine it would eat through cream pretty fast. I have too many soaps as is, so I never skimp on loading like I used to.

 

[Rivguy]

The Shavemac knot looks like it may well be the way to go. I missed out on TGN's high end knots that I think were from Vulfix. Now that the cooler weather is upon us in my area it is time to get back in the work shop and pick up on some of the projects that I started last winter. I will post pictures in the near future. In the meantime, I missed the English knots. I see many good reports about TGN knots so I am sure they are fine.

Regards,

Doug

 

[beginish]

+1 on the Rooneys. They are a very different animal than the Simpsons.

 

[Legion]

TGN have a fan shaped finest which is a bit more flat topped than usual. Nice knot.