Lee Sabini Brush

[ChiefBroom]

Is anyone else enjoying the shaving brush history in this thread? I'll never tire reading it.

I have a LOT of Rooney history. I tracked down (in Australia) a direct descendant of the last family-member owner/president, and I dug as deep as I could into M&F history, but kept dead-ending (no pun intended) at obituaries. I posted some of it on another board that no longer exists. I hate to see the history get lost.

I don't want to take this thread off-topic, but I'll share the content of an email reply I received today as a result of finally replying to one from two years ago that I'd missed catching. I came across it while trying to find the emails the OP of this thread had sent without receiving a reply.

Hello, Dear Sir!

Yes I am still here and it's really amazing to hear from you! No problems at all, because it happens to every one of us.

At that moment I was really interested in this topic, and in fact I am still interested, because as you already know shaving is not that kind of a hobby that you can forget about in 2-3 years It's a hobby for life I'd say!

Actually after this message I dig deep into badgerandblade and found some of your posts, I found some other posts on different forums, I checked Lee Sabini's documents in England's department of commerce and trade sites, tried to contact Basil Oswald Rooney's grandchilds etc.

I am glad that I put that much effort because it is the one and only detailed R. A. Rooney & Sons history topic in Turkish. And that wouldn't be possible without your interviews with Rooney descendants, interact with Lee Sabini
And I think that a lot of Turkish people that is related to shaving finally understood that Lee Sabini is not some mystic master that sits in England and masters his craft. He's a good merchant.

If you want to look at what I've written, then here is the album that I've created: Rooney - https://ibb.co/album/X2bHvb

In my post on the forum I gave tons of credits to you. My post, or some kind of review, I don't know what to call it, wouldn't be possible without you. If you want to read I can make and send a copy to you. It is all in Turkish but I believe that today AI based translators such as DeepL and ChatGPT work really well in these type of documents.

That was heart warming! But I should add that Lee was also a clever, gutsy, scrappy, and effective entrepreneur. He truly had a very significant impact on the world of wet-shaving and the surfeit of products that we enjoy today. And he also had clay feet, as do we all.

 

[brucered]

How I feel after reading all this historic and first hand info on Rooney, M&F etc.

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Thanks again Ken @ChiefBroom . I knew you had an interest in Rooney but didn't know it went this deep.

 

[ChiefBroom]

How I feel after reading all this historic and first hand info on Rooney, M&F etc.

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Thanks again Ken @ChiefBroom . I knew you had an interest in Rooney but didn't know it went this deep.

I have a problem. If I get into something, I want to get to the bottom of it.

 

[Pat Puma]

I've had a few M&Fs from before the Brad Sears collaboration years and a bunch from that era, and I've never owned one that I didn't like. I also had an old Rooney with a horn handle that I had to sell because I couldn't resist how much people were willing to pay. None were shedders, hair has always been excellent without too much processing (no gel tips) and nice backbone. I am probably in the minority in that I prefer the newer ones. They feel stronger with a bit more backbone. It is an added benefit that they have been much easier to get. I do not advise holding out for a pre-collaboration brush. I also agree with Ken about Lee's reputation. There is a great deal of fakelore about Lee that I don't think he planted, but he also did nothing to clear (and why would he?). Get a brush because it is a good brush, not because Lee was the supplier of the knot. My experience has been that he does provide excellent knots, but they do not provide some transcendent experience.

 

[Cino]

Hello,
Has anyone recently acquired a Lee Sabini brush? Please do share contact details / channel to obtain one.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to the naysayers; I have 4 Lee Sabini blonde badgers from Brad Sears, and they are my favorite brushes. If you can manage to find one, jump on it. You won't be sorry.

It's true that there is no such thing as a "Blonde Badger". Nor is there a silvertip, best, finest, or super badger. These are all terms that individual brush makers use to describe the characteristics of different knots that they sell. They mean nothing across vendors. One maker's "finest" is another's "silvertip". Even though Lee may not personally tie his knots, they are very high quality and very consistent.

 

[Raz0rboy]

I wouldn't pay too much attention to the naysayers; I have 4 Lee Sabini blonde badgers from Brad Sears, and they are my favorite brushes. If you can manage to find one, jump on it. You won't be sorry.

There are not naysayers .
For sure also the last one are excellent brushes but just because they are your favorite doesn't mean anything.
Your opinion is as good as anyone else's.

Thanks Mr @ChiefBroom He explained things that many certainly didn't know . I think he's one of the few who knows what we're talking about

 

[bebo8]

I know of three brands of shaving brushes Lee Sabini had some role in producing: Rooney, Morris & Forndran, and Paladin. And for his key contributions in connection with the production of those brushes, I'd happily nominate Lee for installment in the Shaving Brush Hall of Fame. But Lee's skills and craft were not applied in the actual making of either shaving-brush handles or knots. He was neither a machinist nor a knot-maker. I do believe he had a hand in setting knots from time to time, but they weren't knots that he formed and tied. He certainly knew what a good brush was, though. And his impact was profound.

Lee acquired an interest in Rooney in 2003. At that time there were still a couple of women in that company's employment who continued working for Lee in the same capacity for some time, but I don't know exactly how long. For handle production, Lee engaged FrankLynn Technology, which was owned and solely operated by Frank McInroy and his wife Lynn in Worthing, West Sussex. Frank and Lynn made and sold to Lee all of the Rooney Heritage handles until Frank's retirement in 2013. To the best of my knowledge and belief, they also made all of the M&F-labeled, shaving-brush handles with the exception of 1) some that were manufactured in India on a trial basis either in anticipation of or following Frank's retirement, 2) a few that I turned, which were intended to be labeled as Paladin, and 3) those produced by Brad Sears after Paladin Shaving discontinued collaboration with Lee in August of 2015.

I believe some of the Rooney and M&F brushes that were produced using handles designed and turned by Frank and Lynn McInroy were and remain among the best ever made by anyone. I give Lee full credit for his role in bringing about the creation of those brushes. That said, knot quality was highly inconsistent. If you want one of the best examples, you need to know what you're looking for and be prepared to navigate mountains of BS.

There are in fact some NOS M&Fs still out there. I know because I have a few. But they're not for sale.

very informative post! thank you very much.

for the OP, i have owned a few of his M&F brushes from years ago. yes, they were excellent but do yourself a favor and don't chase and overpay for them! you can still get fantastic knots these days without having to go through the trouble. this is merely my opinion. to each their own.