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My first boar brush - what am I doing wrong?

OK, now you've peaked my curiosity!! As a guy that sold hand and power tools for about 30yrs, what drill do you have that you can chuck up a shave brush into? I think to this day the largest diameter I've ever seen listed is a Jacobs Chuck that will accept a 1" diameter shank and I've never seen a shave brush with that small of a handle to fit that!!
I think I've worked out how to do this. You need a couple of scrap pieces of lumber (2x4), two woodworking clamps, a carriage bolt, matching nut & washer.

Clamp the brush handle between the two pieces of wood. Drill a hole, insert carriage bolt, secure with washer & bolt. Chuck the carriage bolt securely in the drill.

Now, keeping the unbalanced rotating assembly spinning below 500 RPM, let the brush make contact with a concrete floor, brick wall, etc. Your brush should be broken in very quickly.

🤣
 
OK, now you've peaked my curiosity!! As a guy that sold hand and power tools for about 30yrs, what drill do you have that you can chuck up a shave brush into? I think to this day the largest diameter I've ever seen listed is a Jacobs Chuck that will accept a 1" diameter shank and I've never seen a shave brush with that small of a handle to fit that!!
Goggle or YouTube drill mini lathe chuck. Used for woodworking turning pen blanks and other smalls without a lathe by converting a drill. Yeah you can fit up to a 2” handle in mine.
 
I think I've worked out how to do this. You need a couple of scrap pieces of lumber (2x4), two woodworking clamps, a carriage bolt, matching nut & washer.

Clamp the brush handle between the two pieces of wood. Drill a hole, insert carriage bolt, secure with washer & bolt. Chuck the carriage bolt securely in the drill.

Now, keeping the unbalanced rotating assembly spinning below 500 RPM, let the brush make contact with a concrete floor, brick wall, etc. Your brush should be broken in very quickly.

🤣
Or buy a drill mini lathe chuck. Used for pen blanks.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
Goggle or YouTube drill mini lathe chuck. Used for woodworking turning pen blanks and other smalls without a lathe by converting a drill. Yeah you can fit up to a 2” handle in mine.
I'm not the brightest boy on here, but I figured this was what you meant.

I thought of walking over to my son's shop, sticking a brush on the chuck of his lathe, and holding an old brick up against the bristles!

I could sell them things by the bushel basket, put a picture of my incredibly handsome face on the package, tout the fact that they were individually broken in by hand by Dave the Tanned Farmer, and "Poof!" - instant millionaire doggone!

Who wants in on the ground floor?!?
 
I'm not the brightest boy on here, but I figured this was what you meant.

I thought of walking over to my son's shop, sticking a brush on the chuck of his lathe, and holding an old brick up against the bristles!

I could sell them things by the bushel basket, put a picture of my incredibly handsome face on the package, tout the fact that they were individually broken in by hand by Dave the Tanned Farmer, and "Poof!" - instant millionaire doggone!

Who wants in on the ground floor?!?
Keep me in mind going forward as a silent partner. This college educated, world traveled, Appalachian kid has plenty more tricks up his sleeve. 🤑
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
I'm not the brightest boy on here, but I figured this was what you meant.

I thought of walking over to my son's shop, sticking a brush on the chuck of his lathe, and holding an old brick up against the bristles!

I could sell them things by the bushel basket, put a picture of my incredibly handsome face on the package, tout the fact that they were individually broken in by hand by Dave the Tanned Farmer, and "Poof!" - instant millionaire doggone!

Who wants in on the ground floor?!?
where do I send the check or are you already set up on Kick Starter?
 
Goggle or YouTube drill mini lathe chuck. Used for woodworking turning pen blanks and other smalls without a lathe by converting a drill. Yeah you can fit up to a 2” handle in mine.
Now that is possible but is not the same as a drill chuck though, just FYI... When you said drill chuck I took it as you literally was using a drill chuck!! Same concept but different animal for sure!!
 
Now that is possible but is not the same as a drill chuck though, just FYI... When you said drill chuck I took it as you literally was using a drill chuck!! Same concept but different animal for sure!!
Same, same when you work with tools all the time. Can’t give up all my tips without making people think 🤔 about it?
 
With regard to lathering a hard soap, you can try lathering a bar of hand soap as these are often cheaper than shaving soaps. The action of lathering and the wet/dry cycle should be the same. The lather will probably be muck though. If you're only looking to break in the brush and not necessarily shave with the lather, that should be fine.
 
Soaking for 72 hours in the refrigerator didn't do much for me. Lathering every day with hand soap before shaving with another brush did make some headway though. Also, no need to soak the whole knot. About 1/3 to 1/2 of the knot works best for me as soaking the whole knot removes most of the desirable backbone. All you really need to soften is the tip.
 
I had/have a similar experience with my Omega Proraso. It is in its second week I must add, but with little soaking I get better results compared to longer periods of soaking. It is already softer than I originally got out at this point (with little scent I must say - no what I expected based on B&B comments on boar brushes in general) - but I really need to work at it to get 3 decent passes. It indeed takes time as mentioned and in my case less water upfront and more adding drops during bowl lathering.
 
...He spent a few days lathering a hard soap in his hand as an initial break in. I think I did this once or twice at most before just deciding to use the thing and see what happens.

I am really loving the "scrubbyness" though and don't doubt that with time and patience yours will get there.
I have come to learn that my face prefers the scritch of a "premium" pure badger or best over most silvertips I own. Naturally it was only a matter of time that boar folded into my mix.

Came here to say this!

I also lather up and leave the brush with lather overnight which seems to help with both break-in and the smell (some new boars can smell a bit funky).

It can still take a few shaves for your boar to stop eating excessive lather, so just load up more than usual for a few shaves!
The Jade, Proraso Pro, and Mighty Midget are, once broken in, knots with a delicious scrub. Excellent knots!
I have been working in my Jade and Pro the past couple days. My home office has a bathroom just off the loft. Makes for an easy morning soak while I check emails. Lather a bit wetter than normal and let it rest for most of the day followed by a rinse and air dry on the sill. I've already used my Jade which is a remarkable brush. The Pro is no slouch itself...

I like to use S/W with a heavier aroma to ease with the de-funking; Proraso Green is a good option

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Now that I look at it, them boars are a little too close to be alone in the dark without supervision @dmshaver
 
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I acquired my first boar brush from west coast shaving last week. It is an omega boar brush that I used for the first time today.

I wanted to see how it would perform against my trusty silver Badger. Boars are supposed to feel more agressive on your face compared to the silver Badger. I did not have any issues with taking the boar to my face with it's bit more aggressiveness.

My experience with it is that the shaving cream I used (tobs ceadareood - first time use) it did not lather up well on my first use. The lather lasted no more than 1-1/2 shaves. On the second lather, it was no better.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to gather a better lather with a boar as I would with a silver Badger?

Thanks.
If you part with $4 USD, buy this cheap Chinese boar brush sold under the Van Der Hagen brand name. I was going to make a video prepping this one on concrete but after a quick three minute soak, it performed great right out of the box. Used it for a shave today, excellent body, great face feel, and whipped up lather with zero issues. Yeah, I was surprised 😯 only downside I read the knot isn’t super solid in the handle but who cares I’ll hot glue it if any issues develop.
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Speed up the BREAKING IN of your brush by conditioning your new brush. Also- boar is thicker so it’ll take time to break in- but once it does, it’s a gem. Anything made from animal hide / hair / whatever- is going to take time to loosen and stretch etc. Brushes are no exception.
 
If you part with $4 USD, buy this cheap Chinese boar brush sold under the Van Der Hagen brand name. I was going to make a video prepping this one on concrete but after a quick three minute soak, it performed great right out of the box. Used it for a shave today, excellent body, great face feel, and whipped up lather with zero issues. Yeah, I was surprised 😯 only downside I read the knot isn’t super solid in the handle but who cares I’ll hot glue it if any issues develop. View attachment 1438537
I’ve got a VFH boat from CVS I’ve been using since 2008. STILL a solid work horse. It’s literally the brush I’m trying to kill so I can buy a yaqi. It’s still going strong! The one previous began deteriorating knot wise- had that hole in the center- eventually threw it away- but the one I have now must’ve been built by a supervisor- lol- because I still have it 🤣
 
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