My New Brush Set

[branford]

Until recently, I had only used a couple of cheap badgers, an omega boar and a new Whipped Dog silvertip. I wanted to try and compare horse, synthetic and other grades of badger hair. If possible, I wanted similar brushes at a reasonable cost in order to determine my true hair preferences (size and loft would need to wait for later experimentation). After searching for while, I realized that only the Chinese vendors would fit my expectations, and more importantly, my budget. I located a brush and knot wholesaler from Alibaba.com, and conversed with him for some time. Since he was interested in marketing his brushes and knots to individual consumers, he ultimately agreed to produce a "set" of brushes for me, limited to the same handle and loft, at a VERY reasonable cost, as a kind of trial run.

I'm still trying them out, but so far I am impressed.

All brushes have a 22mm knot, 52mm loft and a Kent-like handle.



From Left to Right: (Descriptions As Given By Vendor)
Top Row: 1. High Mountain Badger, 2. Super Silvertip, 3. Silvetip
Bottom Row: 4. Best Badger, 5. Black Pure, 6. Gray Pure, 7. Synthetic, 8. Boar and 9. Horse

Comments, opinions and criticism welcome . .

Edit: Post-Bloom Photo (the Synthetic and Horse brushes are switched from the prior photo)

 

[Danricgro]

Wow, that is really cool. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the various hair types.

 

[branford]

I am definitely appreciating the very noticeable differences in quality, texture and feel among the boar, synthetic, horse and different grades of badger, even produced by the same manufacturer with the same specs.

My first thoughts are as follows:

The horse is VERY soft, almost too soft, and I like a floppy brush. If I recall correctly, others made similar comments about the Vie-Long dyed horse brushes. I'm curious about the feel of a natural horse knot.

The synthetic is also surprisingly soft and springy, yet provides a very good lather. With the right technique, it is quite enjoyable. Since it dries almost instantly, I've already decided that it will be my travel brush.

The different badger grades require more experimentation. The "Super Silverstip" is a pleasure to use, but might be too soft for those that like a firmer brush. The plain silvertip and best are quite comfortable. Both the black and gray pure, however, are a little disappointing. Fully serviceable, but nowhere near as plush as the other badgers, and no matter how much I try, I cannot generate enough lather for three passes with the black and gray.

The High Mountain is soft yet very scrubby. I had never tried a two-band brush, and the sensation is a little odd. Given that I generally like a "soft cloud" feeling brush, I definitely need to give the High Mountain more time to break-in and for me to acclimate.

The boar is similar to my well-liked Omega, but also needs time to be break-in.

I will continue to experiment many, many times with each brush. One has to make sacrifices for science.

 

[klundtasaur]

That is fantastic! A great way to feel the difference of each type. If the vendor wants to do more than just one of these kits, I would be interested!

 

[Cyanshine]

I am envious!

 

[branford]

That is fantastic! A great way to feel the difference of each type. If the vendor wants to do more than just one of these kits, I would be interested!

The vendor mainly deals with animal hair products such as violin bows and paint brushes. Although he hasn't confirmed it, I also strongly suspect that he supplies wholesale, large quantity hair and handles to other well-known brush-makers to their custom specifications. It is also my impression that he currently wants to market the knots more that the brushes, and for both brushes and knots, focus on the silvertips and high mountain. I believe his thoughts run more towards the ACE Shaving model than Frank Shaving or Lijun.

Nevertheless, I'll keep in contact with him and encourage the expanding of the direct to consumer shave brush and knot business. I will also inquire if he would do more of the sets. If a lot of people were interested, I assume he would be more amenable.

More importantly, I have to devise a strategem for him to make me comparable brushes in different sizes and varying lofts, without a minimum order of 200!

 

[tezza]

That's a terrific way to do an actual comparison. From there you can get into more specifics of type and loft etc, with a good cross reference. Say, what's a ballpark figure for a set like that?

 

[branford]

That's a terrific way to do an actual comparison. From there you can get into more specifics of type and loft etc, with a good cross reference. Say, what's a ballpark figure for a set like that?

My set might be a one-off trial run. The brushes were not advertised, but rather the result of my reaching out repeatedly to a wholesaler who is considering the retail market. The vendor is determining how he wants to proceed, i.e., Ebay, Aliexpress, only knots, only brushes, only silvertip and high mountain, only wholesale, etc. I will inquire if he would be willing to produce similar sets and at what cost.

 

[branford]

Great News! My vendor has agreed to produce full or partial brush sets similar to my own and consider custom brush requests. As he is not a registered vendor, I can only provide his contact information for serious inquiries via PM request. If enough people are interested, I hope he would consider becoming a vendor at B&B.


I also feel obligated to offer a disclaimer: I have no financial or other interest in the vendor's business, have no idea on his current prices and cannot guaranty his products or services.


Administrators: If this offer inadvertently violates any site rules, please accept my apologies and delete. Thanks.