Please help me the information on the free loft
- Thread starter BrianHH
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EclipseRedRing
I smell like a Christmas pudding
I do not have a picture but my understanding is that free loft is the term for the length of the hair in the knot above any glue bump that may be present.
In principle everything fibre that you can see from your brush is the free loft.
As the knot is tied, glued and set into the handle it is overall a bit longer. This is interesting for people that buy single knots for restorations or diy brushes. Furthermore you can influence the characteristics of a brush by setting it higher/deeper into the handle and therefore increase/decrease the free loft. The last parameter that can influence the free loft is if the glue of the the knot is very pronounced aka glue bump. This is not visible but will reduce the free loft in use as you will feel it if you mash your brush on your hand/face.
As the knot is tied, glued and set into the handle it is overall a bit longer. This is interesting for people that buy single knots for restorations or diy brushes. Furthermore you can influence the characteristics of a brush by setting it higher/deeper into the handle and therefore increase/decrease the free loft. The last parameter that can influence the free loft is if the glue of the the knot is very pronounced aka glue bump. This is not visible but will reduce the free loft in use as you will feel it if you mash your brush on your hand/face.
I sense yet another useless term that is meaningless yet will add to confusion about brushes. There is loft, and that's all anyone needs to know. It's a dimension. Just enjoy a brush!
If you buy stock brushes I'm with you, the loft is the loft.
If you configurate a brush on a site like Shavemac then it gets a bit more tricky. Bernd gives the knotsize from the very end but the loft size (in 2mm steps) from where it would emerge from the brush.
If you buy the knot alone and set it yourself you have a pretty good picture how your brush will look like and you won't buy a knot that ist too big.
When you go for the full Shavemac package it is good to remember that a 24mm knot at the base will already be 25mm something where it exits the brush handle. Many go by the 2:1 loft ratio for their brushes and in my example you could end up with an ordered 24/48 brush that is in fact 25.5/48.
If you configurate a brush on a site like Shavemac then it gets a bit more tricky. Bernd gives the knotsize from the very end but the loft size (in 2mm steps) from where it would emerge from the brush.
If you buy the knot alone and set it yourself you have a pretty good picture how your brush will look like and you won't buy a knot that ist too big.
When you go for the full Shavemac package it is good to remember that a 24mm knot at the base will already be 25mm something where it exits the brush handle. Many go by the 2:1 loft ratio for their brushes and in my example you could end up with an ordered 24/48 brush that is in fact 25.5/48.
EclipseRedRing
I smell like a Christmas pudding
I agree but my understanding is that free loft is specifically the loft above any glue bump, which will be less than the loft might otherwise appear. I have only seen the term used with my Paladin as shown on this example knot card, as you can see there is a 5.5mm difference which is huge in loft terms:
That is one *amazing* Keyhole-style, @EclipseRedRing !
Such an ergonomic handle! ah, sure the knot's free loft is very good too.
AA
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