My second non-lathe made brush

[vferdman]

I am not a wood turner, unfortunately, but I like making brush handles. So I do what I can with what I have. I made a brush before, which you can read about here.

This one was roughed out on a table saw and shaped on a hand sander clamped in the workbench vise. I was inspired by the Semogue wooden handles like on SOC, 1305, 1250, 1800, 200, etc. I simply love the way these handles work and feel. My take on this design takes liberties, for sure, but the main elements of good grip and good length for bowls and such remain. I went a little crazy with the "waist", but the ergonomics work very well. It's a very comfortable brush to use.

The knot is 22mm TGN two band Finest and is set at 24mm X 49mm. I usually add 2mm to the size of the glue puck. These are +/- 0.5mm from TGN.

I still have not finished it to the end. I thought 3 layers of Danish Oil and some spray can polyurethane would do the trick, but the poly did not take and came off in sticky mess when I shaved with it. So I am going to sand it down and do more Danish Oil. I am thinking I just didn't do enough. Maybe I need more like 10 coats of DO and let it cure for a week or so. Then beeswax. I really have hard time getting these finishes right. Any help would be appreciated.

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[Big Jim]

Craftsmanship comes in many forms. The brush is beautiful.

 

[Harry Snider]

Craftsmanship comes in many forms. The brush is beautiful.

I concur! Well done!

 

[GDCarrington]

You should call that the "Mae West" brush!

Vavavoom what a looker!

Great work!

 

[Hineas]

I've been thinking of making my first brush, this is inspiring!

 

[tomcj2]

Perhaps a "super glue" finish would work. A beautiful and unique brush.

 

[Mick]

That is a nice looking handle. Very..... em.... sexy... yea, that is about the only word I can come up with to describe it

 

[Craig9802]

Hourglass figures are always nice - even on brushes.

I've used Danish Oil on a few different things - chess sets, hammer handles - but they're not exposed to water on a regular basis. I would think several coats would be OK as long as you let it cure for at least a couple weeks and refreshed it periodically. However, I'd be concerned about the interior section - is it completely covered by epoxy? Are there any gaps at all where water can reach raw wood?.

Since you've started with Oil, I don't think you're going to get many kinds of other finishes to adhere over the top. I'd stick with extra coats of what you've already done and extend curing time. I know pure Tung Oil can take 4 to 6 weeks to fully cure.

The good news is, if the finish fails completely on you, you're not out a tremendous amount of money and you'll have some valuable experience. I hope you'll continue to post updates here so we can learn along with you. And keep experimenting with shapes! This is an excellent start.

 

[skipnord]

I just went through the oil/poly problem, and found a solution. After you have used oil, or when you are working with any oily tropical would like cocobolo or bocate, you have to wipe the surface thoroughly with lacquer thinner or acetone to remore oil from the surface. Then you can safely use poly - it may take a bit longer to dry, but it will dry, and then subsequent coats will dry normally. Even with a CA finish, you should wipe with an alcohol based liquid before finishing. Also, it is a good idea to seal the brush hole with epoxy, and let it cure, before setting your knot. Good luck.

 

[bridger berdel]

danish oil is a blend of a slow drying oil like linseed or tung, a resin and a solvent to thin it enough to penetrate.
the high oil content makes it not ideal for wet service woodware
i use spar varnish, which is a resin with a little oil in it.
i thin it with turpentine to a consistency for applying with a bit of rag.
rub out between coats with steel wool.
1 coat per 24 hours.
handle the rags properly as they can auto-combust.

 

[alpster]

I like the brush. I am particulayly fond of longer handles. Good work!

Ronnie

 

[vferdman]

I have not posted here in a while, but I have been working on the finish of the brush. I've bought some wipe-on poly by Minwax. Basically, thinned down poly you apply by rubbing with a cloth. I have sanded down the old sticky stuff (ACE hardware brand spray can poly - yuck!). Then applied many coats of this wipe-on stuff. I bought the high gloss version. I used steel wool in between some coats, but not all. I felt I needed to build up the thickness first before getting the steel wool involved. It came out pretty good. I think I have at least 6 coats, maybe more. I lost count. This was in my garage and I would just pop in and put a coat on and go about my other business for the next several hours or more. I then let the final coat cure for almost a week before washing the knot and this morning I shaved with the brush. I feel like the finish is very stable. It feels like there is a hard shell around the wood.

To answer a question in one of the previous posts, I did coat the knot hole in epoxy completely. I was very much aware of the raw wood being exposed and made sure to the best of my ability to coat everything in there and use plenty of epoxy to make sure the knot will not rob any nooks and crannies in the wood inside of the epoxy. So, I am pretty sure that the inside of the knot hole has no wood exposed. In fact, this is unusual for me, but some of the epoxy came oozing out when I set the knot. I usually try to measure out the resin so it does not come up to the edge of the knot hole. It makes it look so much better. Here, however, I knew it was important to seal the wood, so I did not spare the epoxy.

Here are the pictures of the re-finished brush. I also carved my initials in the butt of the handle.

Next to my 1922 Big Fellow for scale


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[mattdenicola]

Gorgeous finish!

 

[breitlingman]

Looks great!!! Love the new gloss finish.

 

[M_bisco]

The shine on the wood is amazing! Great job!

 

[mattdenicola]

Excellent work. I like that shape you created a lot as well. Looks stunning.

 

[GDCarrington]

Excellent reworking! Enjoy!

 

[Big Jim]

Although the original handle was a little unusual, it still looked good. With your modifications it looks totally amazing. It makes me want to reach into the computer screen and pull it our for use. I can see why it has become a favorite.

 

[Fidem Scit]

I love your second one. That is stunning.

 

[shep12]

Wow! That brush is really something! Great workmanship for not turning the handle. Excellent Job. Enjoy your beautiful brush!