The path to my very own custom bamboo shaving brush (super-mega-pic-heavy).

[Angry__Panda]

Alright, let me start out by mentioning that this is ALLLLLLLLL thanks to dayoldstubble. You can find his original bamboo brush here. After I had talked to Rudy Vey about having one made (unfortunately Rudy was unable to find quality bamboo to use...So of course I just ordered some of his awesome brushes anyways ), I found that it was time to attempt making one myself. I figured it couldn't hurt to send a PM dayoldstubble's way and thankfully he not only replied but handed me detailed instructions on crafting such a brush, he also was kind enough to let me know where he got all of his supplies.

Equipped with that information (and a little chat with my wallet that we were gonna have to put him in the game, no more warming the bench) I went to ordering the necessary tools, materials, etc. as well as attempting to figure out what knot I wanted to use.

My bamboo finally arrived in the mail a few days ago (my god shipping was more than the wood itself lol);


So, first things first I got out my calipers and began measuring the inside width of all of the poles to try and find a couple with good brush sized holes. I found ones in 18mm, 20mm, 22mm and 26mm. The poles are not perfectly round and the inside diameter ranges on all of them, but I chose one that also had rather thick walls so that I could take some sort of circular grinder to it and widen where the knot will sit (this is the one that I claim is 22mm which is actually not quite that wide). Then I cut 12 inch long sections of each pole (this would make it easier for me to heat treat using both a hand held torch and my oven);


In the picture above you can see on the left side is what the "raw" bamboo looks like and on the right side I had begun using my torch. The first step was really to heat it up (start killing the sugars and starch) and get the grime off the poles, they were quite dirty but once the sugar started leeching out it was easy to just use a rag to wipe both the stuff coming out of the bamboo and the grime off. In the next picture you can see the left side hasn't been touched and the right side has all of the grime off and the flame is starting to work it's magic and get rid of moisture, sugar, starch, oils, etc. The little spot that looks lighter is getting more towards being complete and the next step from there is turning it the brown color you want as well as some little burns (which gave the piece I have finished some very nice contrasts);


So it took me a while to go from that to this next picture, but mostly it involved slow, even, burning of the bamboo and wiping it off in between each "pass." Basically wiping off the stuff that comes out makes it easier to sand (thank you again dayoldstubble ). This particular foot long segment was a little more burned than I would have liked it to be, but we'll see how it turns out once I sand it all down ;


You can also see how in that particular piece of bamboo there is like a little indent that runs along it, I thought it would be kind of cool and give the final brush some texture, but as you can see it ended up getting pretty burnt during my passes with the torch. I went even lighter on it and it still ended up like that so like I said, I am gonna have to see how it turns out .

So the next step is sanding which I will post in a new reply to this thread just to keep things organized.

Just in case the mods see this I am gonna post a couple replies to my own thread here so I can kind of keep all the information on this in the first three or four posts in the thread to keep it a little organized and what not. If you need me to change it please just shoot me a PM and I will edit it all into this first post and then delete my replies .

 

[Angry__Panda]

OK, so onward to the tedious process of sanding. I basically went from 100 grit up to 600 grit (100, 150, 220, 320, 400 and 600) and then I will be applying the finish with 1500-2000 grit paper (which dayoldstubble told me was probably not necessary, but his brush turned out so well, why fix what isn't broken ? ).

The beginning started off much the same as the last pic in my first post. The elbows of the bamboo were sticking out, and it gave the brush a nice look, but was maybe a little rough for a shaving brush . So I got out the sandpaper and started work. I took A LOT of material off with the first 100 grit pass and felt like it was the pass I spent the longest on to get the brush nice and round;


And finally we come to the last grit before sanding is complete, 600. If I spent most of my time with the 100 grit, I spent the second most time with this. I really wanted to get it to look like a finished product (even before the finish went on it ). At this point the brush has a nice
This is basically when the 100 grit sanding was done. In the close ups you can see that it is pretty rough, I didn't use one uniform direction of sanding (mainly because my hands and arms were tired lol) so in some areas the grit looks like I went circular and in other is looks straight. I basically rolled the sandpaper around the pole and then just went to town. I really like how the elbows of the bamboo turned out, it is clear that is what was there, but the brush handle will be uniform and smooth.

I am gonna skip the 150 grit since it looks pretty much the same just a little bit better and I didn't honestly spend much time with the 150 grit. I didn't really want to take off a whole lot more of the bamboo and wanted to start getting it ready for the finish application. So here is the 220 grit sanding done;


It is still pretty rough here, but I wiped off the bamboo with a wet cloth and you can really see it starting to shape up nicely. The places where the pole was a little more burned than roasted turned out to be really nice contrasts. This particular piece also has a nice, non-symmetrical dark line running the course of it, as I go up in grits it just comes out much nicer and really gives it a cool look IMHO.

Alright, so where were we? Up to the 320 grit we go. It really started to take form here, started getting nice and smooth and really started to almost look like dayoldstubble's brush, in the sense of a finished piece;


Like I said, that black line that kind of runs the course of the handle really, really makes it nice IMHO. And it really started coming out once I hit some of these finer grits of sandpaper. I would also say that some of the darker spots where I may have held the torch on the pole too long started really coming out and looking a little more refined at this point as well.

So from there I moved on to 400 grit paper. Really this is where it was almost ready for finishing and I started really taking my time. I wanted to make sure all the scuffs from earlier grits (the ones that went sideways for sure) were gone and it was a nice uniform finish;


Finally we come to where the brush handle is at now. A BBS finish thanks to some 600 grit sandpaper and some elbow grease. If I spent the most time with 100 grit I spent the second most time here. Polishing it up and really getting it all ready for the finish;


And a close up just to see how nice and smooth the grain got as well as the detail on the bamboo, this is really why I wanted a brush made from this;


I mean you can see the layers of the wood. It almost has a texture to the look while not having texture heh.

Anyways I will end this post with one final picture of the bottom of the brush, both what it looked like before starting sanding and then after. This is another place that was really amazing on dayoldstubble's brush, the bottom just has this really cool pattern once sanded;

 

[Angry__Panda]

Alright, above is where I am at this point in time. My finishing oil has finally shipped, but I didn't realize it had to go ground (stupid liquids ). I am keeping a good thought it is here by this week, but if it isn't I may end up having to post replies (I totally forgot there is a time limit on editing posts heh). Anyways feel free to check back in about a week or so for at least the start of finishing the brush handle .

 

[Angry__Panda]

I noticed a question about having a drill press and so I thought I would turn this post from about mounting the knot to the tools that I have and am using to do this project (especially since by the time all is said and done, I don't think I will be able to edit this post).

So when I originally talked to dayoldstubble he mentioned not a whole lot of tools, he did say that he used a belt sander to sand the bottom of the brush so it stayed flat and could be set on the bottom for storage. Unfortunately I am unlucky in the sense that right now I have no workshop and I basically get to work on a small table on my backyard patio. This limits me to what I can and can't have.

I started fresh with this project just so I could have a set of tools that was basically specifically for my shaving experiments I bought;

-A small coping saw with bigger gaps between the teeth (the smaller teeth gaps tend to get clogged on wood).
-Caliper, I went with a digital one cause it seemed like it would be more exact, even to .xx mm)
-Sandpaper, lots of it. I bought the ACE Hardware brand cause they happened to have all the grits I needed and they sold them for reasonable prices. I got 100, 150, 220, 320, 400 and 600 grit paper and still need to buy some 1500-2000 grit to apply the finish. Per 12 inch section of bamboo I basically went through one full sheet in each grain. I tore each sheet in half so that it basically fit my palm and was easier to work with.
-A torch, any of them will do, but I bought a generic ACE brand one to start and it worked for about 3 minutes before it stopped working, so I returned it for the one linked here. This one has been working perfectly.
-A drill (I owned one already heh). I used this to drill a hole in the elbows, like get a bit and get on the inside, that way when the bamboo was heated I wouldn't risk explosions lol. I was more concerned about when I put it in my oven than when I was using the torch.
-A dremel (I also already owned this). I used this for about four seconds to just make the drill holes a little bigger and perfectly symmetrical. I might use it again to make the hole for the knot perfectly round, haven't really thought about how I am gonna make that happen .

Now for the stuff I have ordered and bought but haven't used as of yet;
-Epoxy, I grabbed the 5 minute stuff but I know in my other thread people mentioned longer set stuff as well as some marine grade silicone as something to stick the knot in. I will be using the epoxy for filling the hole as well to make a platform where my knot will sit.
-Tung Oil. This is the finishing stuff. dayoldstubble told me this is what worked the best, it is non-toxic and important that you get it fresh (it hardens as it dries). You also need to get 100% pure Tung Oil...Most of the hardware stores only stock Tung Oil that is mixed with chemicals (I assume to make it more of a finish or dry faster???) really important for the pure stuff.
-A knot, duh! For this first one I am still debating what to use, but I think I am going to end up with a TGN knot because Blankity Blanks has some rather expensive knots and I don't know anything about them. Larry over a Whipped Dog has knots I want to try as well, but his were a little small for this first brush. I also have a plan with this first one so I will be getting a TGN in finest for someone .

That is really all you need to make this work. Some stuff I am going to be purchasing once I get my garage situated (I have been saying that for like 5 years now) are things like a drill press, a bench sander, and some other power tools. These are obviously unnecessary but they would definitely help speeding up some of the processes.

 

[Mike H]

Dr. Roy Hinkley, that looks awesome!

 

[Snargle]

Excellent posts and great pictures. I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished products. That bamboo looks great...very organic and natural, compared to all the Bakelite/Catalin/Acrylic etc. we normally see for brush handles.

 

[spindlecone]

very cool,geturdone.

 

[beeranon]

Subscribed. Do you have a drill press for drilling the knot holes, or are you going at it a different way?

 

[Angry__Panda]

Subscribed. Do you have a drill press for drilling the knot holes, or are you going at it a different way?

I don't. I am seriously lacking in tools but this is due to a lack of space in the garage heh. Also the gentleman at Home Depot was kind enough to inform me as to how he was a REAL American and didn't know about the metric system . So I need to find some drill bits in millimeters heh. Right now I was probably going to rig something up to keep the brush handle at a 90 degree angle to my regular hand drill (this should be interesting lol). Luckily I talked with Anthony up at TGN and discussed the knot stuff, basically what diameter to get and if I could exchange an unused knot. Also luckily this first pole I have ready for finishing won't need to be drilled. When I fill the handle up with some epoxy and maybe a cork or whatever to get the knot where I need it to sit (for the proper loft) I was just gonna rub a thin layer of epoxy along the sides and then sand it to 26mm (I figured it will be so little to take off I should be able to do this one by hand).

Thanks everyone for the compliments, I really appreciate them, sorry it took me a few to edit the sanding post like a dozen times to finish it heh. I figured I would post this at the very least to help someone else who might want their own bamboo brush and don't necessarily know how or where to start.

 

[dayoldstubble]

Nice work! Really looking good. As for the holes, I just reamed the inside of the undersized bamboo with a Dremel sanding drum. Took maybe 5 minutes. I don't know how you're going to ream a piece of bamboo with a drill without tearing it up. Also, the hole doesn't have to be perfect--epoxy fills gaps well, and when you sink the knot, the flare of the bristles conform to the shape of the hole at the end. As long as it's reasonably close, you'd never notice that it's not a perfect fit. Just dremel out the hole enough to get the knot to fit (I also dremeled on the plug of the knot too--just a little!), and then test-fit it. You might be surprised as how much easier it is to get this part to look good than you expect.

 

[dayoldstubble]

One more thing--to get that cool pattern on the bottom of the brush, you'll have to sand all the way to the bottom of the little pool on the node. There's a layer of a light-colored material that covers up the fibers that have that pretty pattern to it. Definitely easier with a stationary sander, but you could use your dremel to rough it out and then finish it with a sanding block by hand. Of course it looks good that way as well; whatever you prefer. I just offer that tip because you mentioned it in your post.

 

[Masterkova]

AP - that looks great! Looking forward to pics of the finished product(s).

 

[QuarkVI]

Thank you very much for posting this.

I was also inspired by dayoldstubble's brush but haven't managed to track down any bamboo that would be suitable yet. The use of a torch was an eyeopener - I was just planning on letting it dry but this will work better and love the colour it gives.

 

[Angry__Panda]

Thank you very much for posting this.

I was also inspired by dayoldstubble's brush but haven't managed to track down any bamboo that would be suitable yet. The use of a torch was an eyeopener - I was just planning on letting it dry but this will work better and love the colour it gives.

Letting it dry might take like 4 years heh. I first torched it till it looked good then I put it in my over at 300 degrees for as long as I could (the first one was like 3 or 4 hours and the second set of poles was maybe 7 hours). Drying it is basically getting rid of ALL of the sugar, starch, and basically stuff that might cause it to rot.

 

[Hex]

Thanks so much for showing this. I have a TGN 30mm whose handle is falling apart and this would be ideal as my next project.
Would you mind telling me where you got the bamboo ?

 

[acutao]

Do you know which species of bamboo you have?

Can't wait to see this project progress!

 

[Angry__Panda]

I do, it is called Blue Hennon. And yeah, basically now I am waiting for more stuff to come in the mail before I can continue . I will probably do a couple more poles in terms of sanding today just cause I have a day off finally heh. but that is as far as I can get. I also want to find a piece in my stock that is 30ish mm to recreate the Chubby 3 but not sure if I will have time to dry another piece today.

 

[tchudson]

Nice to see this thread. I have a bunch of pecan that I got for smoking meat and happened to find a piece that would be the perfect size for a handle. I'm thinking of ordering a TGN silvertip knot and giving it a try.

 

[Angry__Panda]

Nice to see this thread. I have a bunch of pecan that I got for smoking meat and happened to find a piece that would be the perfect size for a handle. I'm thinking of ordering a TGN silvertip knot and giving it a try.

I love my short loft, super dense, TGN silver tip, great knot . Of course YMMV as someone else just posted a thread about not liking his short loft one . Provided this whole brush goes well I will be making a few more of them to put different knots in them. If I like them, great, if not...PIF time .

 

[KM-instructor]

Looks good so far.