Introducing my custom Shavemac brushes

[SirWhiskers]

My 2 custom Shavemac brushes finally arrived.

I would like to start by thanking Andy (andrew98) for patiently answering all my PM's and sharing his knowledge about custom Shavemac brushes. He is a wonderful member of our community.

I already had a Rooney 1/1 Super that I like very much. I am not sure what made me look for a custom Shavemac, let's just call it bad SBAD, in particular that I ended up with 2 of them. So I started thinking about it and then fired my first email to Bernd @ Shavemac.

Bernd is also a wonderful gentleman to deal with. But if you do not have patience, you will either learn it or you will not have a custom Shavemac. I am sure he is busy building wonderful brushes, so the replies are sometimes slow and only partial, which can be frustrating for someone hit by SBAD. The time difference if you are in the US doesn't help either. If you know exactly what you are looking for, then you should have your custom brush quickly, but if you have questions and you change your mind a few times during the process, then it could take a while from when you send the first email to when you take ownership of the final product.

But the bottom line is that these custom Shavemac brushes are well worth the wait and the price. My advice is to do something somewhat unique, off the beaten path, given it is a custom brush. Browse around the site, look at all the handle styles and colors and pick and choose whichever combination you like. Chances are very high Bernd can make it for you. You can customize the engraving too.

Time to introduce my brushes:

Shavemac Silvertip D01
Knot: 21mm
Loft: 43mm
Handle Style: 142
Handle Color: Black/Brown (think black coffee with cream swirls, my photo skills don't do it justice)
Handle Diameter: 34mm
Handle Height: 44mm

Shavemac Finest Silvertip
Knot: 18mm
Loft: 43mm
Handle Style: 142
Handle Color: Dark Faux Horn
Handle Diameter: 29mm
Handle Height: 39mm

More Photos...

 

[SirWhiskers]

I will continue posting my thoughts on these brushes as I get to know them better.

For now I can say that the D01 is very soft, very dense and very stiff. I hope it loosens up somewhat as I start using it. I face lather exclusively, that is why I like small brushes with short lofts.

The Finest Silvertip is also very soft. I have owned a Shavemac #177 Silvertip and a Savile Row 3122 Silvertip before and I cannot really tell the difference between Finest and Silvertip in terms of looks and more importantly feel when dry.

If you have not yet read Andy's thread that compares Finest and D01, you should.

 

[RCC]

very very nice.
I think you may be in for some extended fun.
That D01 is a beauty.

 

[SirWhiskers]

Last night I got the D01 brush ready for today's shave. The brush didn't smell at all out of the box, when dry but as soon as I got it wet it stunk. I gave it a shampoo and it still smelled. It also lost 4 hairs, but that's normal, probably just loose hairs from the knot. Made 3 batches of lather with some soaps and creams that have a strong scent and it produced yellowish lather. The 4th batch of lather looked just fine, white and creamy. Also, no shedding at all after the shampoo. So it looks really good.

This morning I used it with some GFT Limes soap, it made great lather. The brush is a little stiff, I hope it loosens up with use. So far I'm impressed, the size is right for me, the weight and balance are right, it just feels right in my hand and on my face. If it only gets better from here, well, that's just bonus.

As for the smaller Finest 18/43 brush, I decided to not get it wet but instead list it on B/S/T and try and recover some of the expenses I incurred in a moment of weakness when I let the bad SBAD get the better of me.

 

[JPM]

Beautiful, congrats.

 

[ang_81]

WOW! ...

those 2 are awesome ... love the handle on the right one

did i mention ... WOW!

 

[SirWhiskers]

those 2 are awesome ... love the handle on the right one

Thanks, but easy now. I like that handle too, don't make me pull it from B/S/T!! The story is that I wanted the bigger brush to have that handle color/pattern but there wasn't enough raw material left to make a bigger handle than the one for the 18/43 brush. So that will make it pretty unique.

 

[xriley]

I will continue posting my thoughts on these brushes as I get to know them better.

For now I can say that the D01 is very soft, very dense and very stiff. I hope it loosens up somewhat as I start using it. I face lather exclusively, that is why I like small brushes with short lofts.

The Finest Silvertip is also very soft. I have owned a Shavemac #177 Silvertip and a Savile Row 3122 Silvertip before and I cannot really tell the difference between Finest and Silvertip in terms of looks and more importantly feel when dry.

If you have not yet read Andy's thread that compares Finest and D01, you should.

Why do you like shorter lofts for face lathering? I can see a shorter loft picking up the soap from a puck better, but it seems like a little longer loft helps build lather on the face.

 

[SirWhiskers]

Why do you like shorter lofts for face lathering? I can see a shorter loft picking up the soap from a puck better, but it seems like a little longer loft helps build lather on the face.

Better control and for the scrubbing action, to lift up my whiskers. But for that I need to have a brush with very soft tips as I have sensitive skin. I tried various knot sizes and loft length and determined that 22-22mm knot with a 42-45mm loft in some soft tips hair grade works best for me.

 

[djh]

What a lovely pair. Congratulations.

 

[thunderball]

Those are great looking brushes my friend.

 

[beginish]

Nice brushes, indeed. When I first saw the D01 next to the finest, I thought "That's huge!" Then when I saw the dimensions, I realized that the 18 mm finest knot is really just that small.

 

[SirWhiskers]

One thing I noticed looking at the D01 21mm knot next to my Rooney 1/1 which is supposed to be a 22mm knot: the D01 knot looks larger than the 1/1, I'm not talking about the bloom, but the base of the knot. Could be just an optical effect due to the handle colors/styles or the different hair shafts.

 

[mkevenson]

Hello, brushes, oh I mean missures shavemac. Welcome to the states I hope that you enjoy your new home and give much pleasure to your new owner, I mean friend and benefactor.

 

[SirWhiskers]

Nice brushes, indeed. When I first saw the D01 next to the finest, I thought "That's huge!" Then when I saw the dimensions, I realized that the 18 mm finest knot is really just that small.

The D01 looks bigger in the photo than it is. Here's a photo next to a Rooney 1/1. The D01 looks a little bit taller but it's because its handle is 2mm longer than the Rooney 1/1, the loft is about the same. And keep in mind the Shavemacs here are before bloom. The D01 bloomed nicely and I'll post a pic when I have a chance.

 

[bladeruner]

I picked up the smaller brush from Sir Whiskers yesterday. My SBAD was acting up and the handle sold me. I should receive it next week sometime and I'll post my results after my first shave with it. Now I have to decide what soap/cream to use with it when I take it's innocence lol. Any suggestions?

 

[SirWhiskers]

I picked up the smaller brush from Sir Whiskers yesterday. My SBAD was acting up and the handle sold me. I should receive it next week sometime and I'll post my results after my first shave with it. Now I have to decide what soap/cream to use with it when I take it's innocence lol. Any suggestions?

First, follow the advice in this thread to break it in:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=139297

Make a couple of test batches of lather and then I'd use it with a soap first for a real shave.

 

[bladeruner]

First, follow the advice in this thread to break it in:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=139297

Make a couple of test batches of lather and then I'd use it with a soap first for a real shave.

Great thread. Thank you Sir

 

[huntmol]

GREAT looking brushes! The 43mm loft on that D01 looks really great, hope you enjoy those nice brushes!

 

[andrew98]

Indeed, Hunter. I also really like the D01 brush, and I like the color Tim chose for the handle. He also lucked out with a 1/1 that has an unusually short loft.

-Andy

p.s. - Thanks for the compliment, Tim. Glad I could help, especially since choosing your first custom Shavemac can be an agonizing process. Too many choices to make.