Peeling Paint

[k1200ltc]

I received a Semogue Special Edition boar brush in Italian stripe livery for Christmas from my daughter from a reputable Canadian vendor. Today the painted handle started chipping by the chrome ring. I emailed the vendor and this is his response.

"If you get water under the ring on a painted brush... The paint will mostlikely get damaged. We recommend never soaking the bristles more than half
way up the loft on any brush in order to prolong the life span".

Does this seem reasonable? I've not had this problem previously, but my other brushes have acrylic handles.
Maybe I need to invest in a better brush!

K1200ltc

 

[merkur59]

Don't know about yours, but part of the handles of my badger and boar brushes get soak in hot water - without any ill effect. Most have been with me for 6-15 months.

 

[Foyle]

Yep, that's the drawback of painted handles. They look great, but they are more delicate.

 

[Rudy Vey]

Painted handles are just pieces of wood that are painted, eventually, the water will do damage.

 

[smalltank]

I read sometime ago that some SOC brushes have some QC issues...members on some other sites have also commented about this

 

[k1200ltc]

Thanks for the input everyone. This brush has less than 10 shaves before the paint started flaking.
I guess that I'll look for an acrylic or other non-porous handle. So many choices...

 

[bythbook]

...happened to mine, too - I emailed Joseph at IB and got quite the same response. If I remember correctly, there were reports that the painted handles of Semogue 1305s from a particular batch had the bubbling paint problem - but others do not. (I have a 1305 in long service with nary a bubble or blister or chip.)

I "painted" the chipped areas on my IB LE with clear fingernail polish. Seems OK. Helluva brush, if kinda ugly with those chips & all.

I have had no trouble with the finish on my SOC.

 

[Joejitsu]

I have had the Semogue 1460 with a painted wood handle for about 4 months and drop the entire brush in hot water in the sink while I shower and have not had a problem with the paint.

 

[OldSaw]

I never understood the draw of a painted wood handle. I had always suspected that there would eventually be problems.

 

[Sir_Eider]

I received a Semogue Special Edition boar brush in Italian stripe livery for Christmas from my daughter from a reputable Canadian vendor. Today the painted handle started chipping by the chrome ring. I emailed the vendor and this is his response.

"If you get water under the ring on a painted brush... The paint will mostlikely get damaged. We recommend never soaking the bristles more than half
way up the loft on any brush in order to prolong the life span".

Does this seem reasonable? I've not had this problem previously, but my other brushes have acrylic handles.
Maybe I need to invest in a better brush!

K1200ltc

I find that vendor response simply unacceptable. Chipping is a common issue with Semogue painted brushes which use bad quality varnish, and Semogue recognized it as a problem and in consenquence good shops take care of it. There are many people around with painted Semogue brushes who use them without problems for months/years and people who have those problems like you with only a few uses.

And in this case, the vendor should offered you a solution: a replace brush or if that is not possible because of the rarity of the brush, a full refund.

Knowing that customer support service, I'll never buy any item from that shop, that's sure for me.

Cheers and good luck!

 

[k1200ltc]

If boats and fishing lures can be painted with a waterproof finishes our brushes should be waterproof too.

i've attached a couple of photos illustrating the problem.

thanks for your input everyone.

 

[Pebcak]

If boats and fishing lures can be painted with a waterproof finishes our brushes should be waterproof too.

i've attached a couple of photos illustrating the problem.

thanks for your input everyone.

Mines doing the exact same thing. The green paint on mine is even further chipped off, it's like they didn't prep and prime the wood before painting. In any case as nice as it looks all painted it's going to look even nicer when it all comes off and I've sealed, sanded and stained the wood.

But I agree, not having a waterproof finish makes no sense considering what it is.

 

[Kamamuri]

The same old story with the painted Semogue brushes.

 

[bythbook]

If boats and fishing lures can be painted with a waterproof finishes our brushes should be waterproof too.

...<snipper>

...oh. oh, yeah!

good point....

 

[Sir_Eider]

If this helps, recently some spanish people suffered from "peeling" new 1305 brushes which they bought in G&C spanish shop.

The shop responded offering an exchange or full refund and at the same time they returned all the remaining stock of 1305 brushes they still have to Semogue factory to exchange them for a new batch.

So yes, there are defective painted Semogues (their handle should resist warm water contact without problems, as some other satisffied customers of these brushes can testify) and the shop should offer a support/exchange service because of them like it happened in the case above, so I repeat that I found really regrettable the response of that "reputable Canadian shop" (not very difficult to know who are) with your issue, mate.

My recommendation will be that you should insist in your reclamation about this issue providing with this new information to the shop if needed, as it has been demonstrated that their explanations are unaceptable.

Cheers

 

[Sfbagger]

Weird. I have 4 painted Semogues, including one IB limited edition. No problems; I notice if I look carefully that there seems to be an extra coat of clear varnish just below the metal ring. I have had that problem with the Omega 1005 - I just refinished it and called it good.

 

[theretroshave]

I think the cause is a combination of soaking the handle, and hitting the side of a shaving bowl. Here is my solution to the soaking handle. I dangle the bristles of my 1520, and time will tell, but it's a cheap trade-off for a good, inexpensive brush. But, I do agree that waterproof/watersealed paint should be used.

 

[TheVez2]

My IB LE brush is suffering the same fate. Never been dropped or abused and only been in use for about a month. Just discovered a chip in it. Not as bad as some others, but I fear it'll just get worse.

 

[brooks_bro]

Just ordered the IB Special Edition Semogue from the new batch that is instock. I was thinking I would probably mask off the knot and apply a spray on clear coat over the handle. Does anybody have any experience with this type of preventitive maintenance on semogue handles? I would hate to ruin such a beautiul brush right out of the gate.

 

[ceego]

As much as its obviously poor that the paint is chipping it could be quite a fun job to restore, make note of the paint dimensions and try and get the same colors and then some sort of clear coat protection.