Shaving knots --- please recommend for custom made brush handle

[Bass301]

Hello,

A wood turning friend has graciously offered to make a custom shaving brush for me on his wood lathe. For designing the brush a good starting point would be the knot.

(a) What is the most common diameter of knot at the handle for most extensive selection of knots ?

(b) What adhesive would be best for securing the first knot into the wooden handle if wanting to place a new knot in the handle in the future ?

(c) For making lather on the face rather than in a bowl what is the best type of hair to use ? I have noticed badger hair brushes seeming too soft for me, and a stiffer/rougher hair also provides exfoliating benefits. If occasionally wanting a softer feel on the face I could just lighten up my hand pressure of surface contact. Quickly making lather is a higher priority than the feel on the face, especially since once the lather is made it touches the face more than the brush hair does.

Thanks,

Bass301

 

[GAW9576]

My personal favorite brush is a 28Mmm SHD two band badger from Maggard's Razor. It's extra density makes it firmer. Setting a knot to a lower loft also makes it firmer. I also have a 26mm standard two band badger from Maggard's set slightly higher.
Maggard's also has a badger boar blend knot. I made a friend a brush with one. It seemed like a very nice knot but I never lathered with it.
Boar is know to be stiffer and I have several but rarely use them. I just don't get as good a lather and feel as badger personally.
Synthetic knots have come a long way to. I only have one cheep one so I can't say which are good.
Knot size is very much a personal preference but 24mm is very common giving a wide selection
If you want to be able to reset the knot silicone adhesive like you would use in a bathtub is the way to go. If you have your friend drill the hole a few mm deeper you can put a few coins or plastic washers under it to get the starting loft. Then if you want to experiment with lower or higher loft simply adust the number of coins/washers.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Here are 2 very informative threads on setting not properly.

bore hole/knot diameter

Question for you brush makers (I haven't made one for ages and can't recall what my thoughts were surrounding this back then): How close do you match the knot diameter and the hole bored into the handle to get optimal splay of the knot hairs? If you have a 24mm knot, do you shoot for a 26mm...

www.badgerandblade.com

Brush Knot Depth?

So, my buddy is gonna make me a custom brush handle, but neither him or I have much experiance with building brushes. I KNOW I'm going with The Golden NIB Silvertip Grade A Badger in a 22mm. I've read that you want to go 1 or 1.5mm larger than the actual knot, but what about depth? I assume the...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[gwsmallwood]

As far as diameter, the most common knot sizes are probably 24-26mm. A good rule of thumb is the bore in the handle needs to be about 2mm larger than the knot. I would have it drilled to a depth of 15mm, then you can use spacers to play with the loft to determine how you like it best. The deeper you set the knot, the less floppy it will be.

If you want to be able to remove the knot later, use silicone adhesive, not 2-part epoxy. I know a lot of people do this, though I've never tried it. With a wood handle, I would think you would need to go really light on the adhesive.

I've grown to prefer synthetic knots. It sounds like you like a bit of scrub, so a Boss or Black Synthetic knot might fit the bill. You can get a variety of synthetic knots from Maggard, APShaveCo, and Turn N Shave.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Go 25mm. It’ll take a 24 and you can bore it out to take a 26 or 28 with a dremel sanding drum if you want to.
I like the boar and finest badger mixed knots. Seen a lot of praise for the hooked tip Manchuria 2-band knots lately. Apahaveco markets them as Gelousy.
If you might go three band, drill the shelf deeper. Three band knots can have very long hairs.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Since you mentioned liking a scrubbier brush, I’ll echo the mixed recommendation. I also hear shavemac D01 is considered scrubby by most.
If you go Manchurian 2-band, set it looooooooooow.

 

[Big Jim]

The first question from me is how much do you want to spend? The price range can be from about $12.00 to about $200.00 or even more.

 

[old_school]

During a period of exploration tried several 2-Band knots at various lofts. Using RTV allows for experimentation.

Learned 2X diameter for loft is a righteous recommendation if one likes backbone and the face feel of 2-Band hair. Particulaly liked the Elite Razor and Envy Shave set at ~50mm. Sold one and PIF'ed the other only because I prefer smaller brushes. Also astonished to learned that bulb knots make fantastic face lathering machines and have been converted from a fan - fan to a bulb - fan as a result.

This one still on the shelf is a Maggards 22mm 2-Band (NOT SHD) ~23.5x47.

 

[JoWolf]

Hello,

A wood turning friend has graciously offered to make a custom shaving brush for me on his wood lathe. For designing the brush a good starting point would be the knot.

(a) What is the most common diameter of knot at the handle for most extensive selection of knots ?

(b) What adhesive would be best for securing the first knot into the wooden handle if wanting to place a new knot in the handle in the future ?

(c) For making lather on the face rather than in a bowl what is the best type of hair to use ? I have noticed badger hair brushes seeming too soft for me, and a stiffer/rougher hair also provides exfoliating benefits. If occasionally wanting a softer feel on the face I could just lighten up my hand pressure of surface contact. Quickly making lather is a higher priority than the feel on the face, especially since once the lather is made it touches the face more than the brush hair does.

Thanks,

Bass301

This is my experience with knot setting. GC.68OC, GOLD GRANDE, YAQI CHROME MELLON - A JOURNEY - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/gc-68oc-gold-grande-yaqi-chrome-mellon-a-journey.585819/post-10669731 If you are setting a knot that you may choose to pull at a latter date. Silicone is the preferred adhesive. I love all my knots. I’m an exclusive face latherer. I always use the same soap now. I always load all brushes the same. I always get perfect lather for my face and head shave. I like the differences and variations between brushes. I don’t have a favourite. I purchased my knots and handles from AliExpress. There are two excellent Zenith brushes in the herd. The horse on the aluminum handle and the Chubby Zenith boar. Of the commercial brushes I’ve used. I prefer Zeniths. Four knots are 26mm, three knots are 28mm. Knot size and lofts are a preference.

 

[SgtCrppls]

If regular Badger is to soft then go 2 band Manchurian, if you were looking to get a ready made brush and spend about $100.00 I would get the Zenith 505AK Manchurian

 

[Owen Bawn]

During a period of exploration tried several 2-Band knots at various lofts. Using RTV allows for experimentation.

Learned 2X diameter for loft is a righteous recommendation if one likes backbone and the face feel of 2-Band hair. Particulaly liked the Elite Razor and Envy Shave set at ~50mm. Sold one and PIF'ed the other only because I prefer smaller brushes. Also astonished to learned that bulb knots make fantastic face lathering machines and have been converted from a fan - fan to a bulb - fan as a result.

This one still on the shelf is a Maggards 22mm 2-Band (NOT SHD) ~23.5x47.

Your Eagle G3 Pure has been vandalized? Iconoclast!

 

[old_school]

LOL! That's funny. It wasn't intentional.

Acquired (via PIF actually) the brush a few years ago from a fine gentleman, journeyman, fully informed as a shedder. Gorgeous perfect Pure bulb. Intended to respectfully use until it's useful life ceased and then re-knot. Butter fingers invited the brush to visit the tiles on the floor. The brush responded by coughing up the knot with handle remarkably intact. The follow up was posted in an odd quiet shaving 'nook about the anatomy of a Eagle G3.

Weekend project is to start rolling up an Iconoglass 7'6" 4wt for SWMBO, BTW.

 

[Owen Bawn]

So you still have a G3 Pure? I know you have the two G2's. You make fishing rods? @old_school

Just the other day I dug out and finally used a G2 that was NOS when I purchased it 5 or more years ago. It had been sitting in a box in the cellar. I shaved with it Thursday. Scratchy and pokey as hell on its maiden run.

 

[old_school]

Yup still have a G3 in service. That G2 is lovely! What a find. I agree with you Pure will slowly break in over time. Seems loading the brush full of lather allows a bit of tuning and regulation of prickle vs pressure vs splay. Weird thing I've notice in the last month or so. Might help while breaking in.

Started rolling my own rods from the seconds and discontinued rack while in college, on the cheap. Still have a couple of those around too.

 

[Owen Bawn]

A Simpsons Pure used as a paintbrush is virtually indistinguishable from a 2 band SiLVERTiP, but everyone wants to mash the knot, and that's where the difference comes out.

 

[BigJ]

So you still have a G3 Pure? I know you have the two G2's. You make fishing rods? @old_school

Just the other day I dug out and finally used a G2 that was NOS when I purchased it 5 or more years ago. It had been sitting in a box in the cellar. I shaved with it Thursday. Scratchy and pokey as hell on its maiden run.

View attachment 1194022

Great looking!

However, Simpson’s pure is just too scratchy for this old guy.

 

[oldskool76]

Thinking about making a brush, if I can convince my father to dig his lathe out, I do wonder about using buffalo bone for the handle anyone have any experience using bone for a brush handle