New Synthetic Knots at TGN

[GDCarrington]

Good news for those who restore or build custom brushes. The Golden Nib has a new line of synthetic knots available. The available sizes are 20 mm, 22 mm, and 24 mm. These new knots are softer than the original TGN 23 mm knot (which is still available). These new knots are softer at the tip than the original 23 mm nylon knot but still provide plenty of backbone.

The images below displays from left to right 24 mm, 22 mm, and 20 mm.

I measured these knots and the following data was obtained.

24 mm knot measured at 23.8 mm

22 mm knot measured at 21.5 mm

20 mm knot measured at 19.6 mm

The 20 mm will work well for those who are restoring Ever Ready and Rubberset brushes that are around 20 mm without having to do a large amount of cutting to widen the hole to accommodate the original 23 mm synthetic.

So if you are into restoring or custom making brushes and wanted a little more variety and softness in a synthetic, these knots may just be what you are looking for.

 

[Wcoppage]

+1

 

[catherix]

Thanks for sharing this! I still have yet to try a synthetic. It interests me for a travel brush. One of these days I'll have to do a restore with one of these knots I think. How's the density compared to the other TGN knots? I guess I've only tried their Finest XH knot which is fairly dense. (And I freaking love that knot!!)

 

[GDCarrington]

Thanks for sharing this! I still have yet to try a synthetic. It interests me for a travel brush. One of these days I'll have to do a restore with one of these knots I think. How's the density compared to the other TGN knots? I guess I've only tried their Finest XH knot which is fairly dense. (And I freaking love that knot!!)

Since the since fibers are thicker than naturals it is slightly less dense. Note that it is packed (reference the top shot in posted the image). However, from my limited feel of an bare knot, it feels better at the tip than the fibers like the original TGN 23 nylon which is the same fiber as FS and some other earlier brushes but a little less soft than Muhle V1 at the tip.

 

[oakeshott]

Gary,
How recent are these new synth knots from TGN? I have two that were delivered this past summer and, I'm sad to say, neither were useable for me. I set one in a vintage handle (quite high loft) and sent to a friend who has other synth knots and asked for his opinion without telling him of my experience. We both had the same thing. Neither knot would give up the lather.

Are these latest knots different? Mine do have very soft tips and lots of backbone and can whip up a lather, but they wouldn't release all that lather and I found the complete lack of splay difficult to adjust to.

oake

 

[GDCarrington]

Gary,
How recent are these new synth knots from TGN? I have two that were delivered this past summer and, I'm sad to say, neither were useable for me. I set one in a vintage handle (quite high loft) and sent to a friend who has other synth knots and asked for his opinion without telling him of my experience. We both had the same thing. Neither knot would give up the lather.

Are these latest knots different? Mine do have very soft tips and lots of backbone and can whip up a lather, but they wouldn't release all that lather and I found the complete lack of splay difficult to adjust to.

oake

These are very recent because I look at the site frequently. I saw them a week ago.

Here is the new knot at 24 mm (left) vs the old knot which was only available at 23 mm (right).

I have had no major issues with splay from most of the synthetics. They handle to me like a much softer version of a boar brush. If anything, since I use them a lot, I have to remember to take it more easy on the badgers in terms of the fact that I will use circular motion with abandon on my synthetics. On the badgers, I am much more judicious with the use of circular motion and use more paintbrush strokes.

When you see the image magnified with the zoom on the camera it is apparent that fibers are slightly thinner on the newer knot versus the older knot. However, the new one do flex a little more, but that is not an order of magnitude change.

I will hopefully get to test the new 20 mm tomorrow.

 

[NexlevMM]

oh hey those look great! and so soft!

 

[Balj86]

That knot looks very similar to Muhle's Synthetic Silvertip Fibre. Have you tried it out yet or how does it compare?