I'm planning to purchase a 22-23m bulb knot for bowl lathering and was looking for a good recommendation on loft size. Would 48 be too short?
Loft for a bulb
- Thread starter shevek
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- #3
The bowl will be relatively shallow. Probably less than 3''
Use your current Brush as a baseline for what you're looking to purchase, is the Backbone too stiff, just right or too floppy/ forgiving, and work from there.
A shorter loft for bowls < 50mm, can work fine on a handle longer than ~50mm, that would keep your fingers away from the bowl, but cause clanging by the Handle. Personally you should consider something around 52-54mm with a 23mm knot, and ~51-53mm for the 22mm knot.
It should have a decent amount of backbone regardless of Hair Grade (Badger), not floppy, unless the knot is moderate to sparsely packed, if it's a Boar Type you could add a mm or two for the loft setting.
A shorter loft for bowls < 50mm, can work fine on a handle longer than ~50mm, that would keep your fingers away from the bowl, but cause clanging by the Handle. Personally you should consider something around 52-54mm with a 23mm knot, and ~51-53mm for the 22mm knot.
It should have a decent amount of backbone regardless of Hair Grade (Badger), not floppy, unless the knot is moderate to sparsely packed, if it's a Boar Type you could add a mm or two for the loft setting.
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I'm targeting a Shavemac Finest with a 410 handle. The hair is 60% silvertip/40% pure so a nice balance of softness with backbone. The handle for 22mm and 23mm knots will be 48mm, so just short of the 50mm you recommend. I definitely want to avoid clanging, but also don't want the brush to be too floppy. A tad floppy isn't the end of the world...i have a 1305 that is a little bit floppy and I love that brush. My other brush is a Simpson Colonel X2L with no flop..22mm/46mm and i love that one as well. I'm looking to add variety but I still want the brush to be versatile. I'm not at the stage where i want a brush specifically for creams, soaps etc
I own a few Shavmac Finest & standard Silver-Tip, not DO1 or DO2 (?) brushes, of the two Grades I reach for the Finest more often. My Finest Bulb is set @50mm/ 23mm, caliper measured, to me it has good backbone, pliable but not floppy, and the handle is 2" from the base to the bottom of the knot. I've loaned it out twice, and both recipients wanted more backbone but didn't say it was floppy. It's a good bowl lathering brush, builds lather quickly, I've used it for bowl & face lathering with very good results.
I have two Silver-Tips, one Fan @45/21mm, and my Bulb is 50/21mm and they both have handles below 2", strictly face lathering because they will clank and bruise fingers. I find the Bulb to have a softer backbone than the Finest with negligibly more softness, The Fan has a Beast of a Backbone and I like its scrub, though they all exfoliate well. All three Brushes give up lather willingly, but the Fan took ~7-9 shaves to achieve that status.
I have two Silver-Tips, one Fan @45/21mm, and my Bulb is 50/21mm and they both have handles below 2", strictly face lathering because they will clank and bruise fingers. I find the Bulb to have a softer backbone than the Finest with negligibly more softness, The Fan has a Beast of a Backbone and I like its scrub, though they all exfoliate well. All three Brushes give up lather willingly, but the Fan took ~7-9 shaves to achieve that status.
