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

[Angry__Panda]

I love it! Very nice work, that copper end cap on it really finishes it nicely. Neat idea.
A question- Was the decision to sand it all the way down just for looks or was it to stabilize the material and make it less prone to splintering off, etc? Does that make sense?
I love the brush, I really like the look of the bamboo in the first set of pics after you sanded the green off and it looked somewhat finished but still had the joints showing.

Just wondering if you think it would be a problem to make one and leave the handle at that stage of finishing. And if you are taking orders

So before the sanding I use a torch to get rid of all of the liquid and starches in the bamboo. Then after getting rid of that the bamboo is really shiny and it also looks imperfect, in the sense that you could tell where I probably held the torch too long, the sanding made it look for refined, and as a result the elbows don't stick around (sand paper hits them first heh). The sanding also exposed the fibers that make up the bamboo which gave it a kind of textural look and I think it ended up looking better with that.

Nice,nice very nice, you are having much better luck than I am right now.

What seems to be the problem, perhaps I can help?

I would also add, I have had the brush in my bathroom for 3 or 4 days now and soaked it in my lather bowl a couple of times, the first time I was careful not to let the wood soak, the second time the brush slipped while I was grabbing a cup of coffee and sat in the water for about 3-5 minutes. I am happy to say that the oil held up beautifully and the brush shows no signs of water damage or wear. I still will treat it like I do my wooden handled Semogues and just soak the tips before lathering, but it is always nice to know the product you used to seal something actually works lol.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the kind words, glad other people are enjoying this thread.

 

[Angry__Panda]

OK guys, as promised here is a post-use picture of the chubby style brush;



And then, I just finished setting the knot into the other handle. This is a TGN, 2-band, finest, 26mm knot set at around 50mm. I made this for someone who had an unfortunate mishap with one of his brushes that he enjoyed and I figured since he was kind enough to help me out when I needed it that sending him this brush might at least make up for some of it ;



And finally, brothers gotta stick together so here is the pic before the tall one takes off to his new home ;



Oh and I promise I will get a better background for some better photos soon! I know the towel I am using is kind of blah compared to the stars of the photos .

 

[noahpictures]

Well done!

 

[neo71665]

Dang, gonna make me go cut down some swamp cane and make my own.

 

[Snargle]

Both look great! (Although, given a choice, I'd probably take the chubby-style.) Looking forward to even more now that you've got the bamboo figured out!

 

[Mike H]

The magic you worked with bamboo would make Professor Roy Hinkley proud. Great work.

 

[Angry__Panda]

Both look great! (Although, given a choice, I'd probably take the chubby-style.) Looking forward to even more now that you've got the bamboo figured out!

Thanks, and you will see more .

The magic you worked with bamboo would make Professor Roy Hinkley proud. Great work.

Thank you, glad I could impress the professor . I guess I should finally make my way over to the desert island thread and claim this as my brush I would take heh .

 

[acutao]

Yup. Those are beautiful. Good work!

 

[StillShaving]

Very nice chronicle Mr. Panda. I picked up this tread from TnutsShave - Thread: BambooooooYAH!. I like these shave brushes that you have made from Bamboo.

 

[Angry__Panda]

Thanks guys. I have a couple more brushes I have made that I will post some time next week. One more oil bath and then I just need to set the knots. I got a Whipped Dog silver tip 22mm, the knot feels softer than my TGN silver tip out of the box, curious to see how it lathers . And then I recently got the package from the PIF game round 4 and inside was conveniently a 20mm pure badger knot from TGN. It is actually my first pure grade knot so I am looking forward to seeing how it compares to the other brushes I have .

 

[noahpictures]

Thanks guys. I have a couple more brushes I have made that I will post some time next week. One more oil bath and then I just need to set the knots. I got a Whipped Dog silver tip 22mm, the knot feels softer than my TGN silver tip out of the box, curious to see how it lathers . And then I recently got the package from the PIF game round 4 and inside was conveniently a 20mm pure badger knot from TGN. It is actually my first pure grade knot so I am looking forward to seeing how it compares to the other brushes I have .

I can't wait until your comparison of the two knots. Great thread!

 

[KM-instructor]

This bamboo brush is probably my all time favorite in the looks department, simply superb, it just seems to work perfectly.

 

[Angry__Panda]

This bamboo brush is probably my all time favorite in the looks department, simply superb, it just seems to work perfectly.

Thanks KM. I love the silver tip, but I am thinking it looks a little better with the TGN finest knot myself. Something about the two-band makes the bamboo pop more I think. I'll have some pics of the other two I have (Whipped Dog silvertip and a TGN pure) hopefully today. I cracked myself in the eye with a spatula at work today but as long as I can see well enough to polish the handles I should be alright .

 

[KM-instructor]

Thanks KM. I love the silver tip, but I am thinking it looks a little better with the TGN finest knot myself. Something about the two-band makes the bamboo pop more I think. I'll have some pics of the other two I have (Whipped Dog silvertip and a TGN pure) hopefully today. I cracked myself in the eye with a spatula at work today but as long as I can see well enough to polish the handles I should be alright .

I would agree there, the finest does give it an edge, I think the bamboo give that oriental feel and look simplistic, my GF is from China and she said Ooooh I like that or something along those lines, she has never really commented on any other brush she has seen here.

 

[dayoldstubble]

These look fantastic.

Here's a thought--you mentioned earlier that you had a hard time getting bubbles out of epoxy. I'm guessing this is because you used something like the epoxy you find at Home Depot--the kind that is mixed 1:1. These epoxied are pre-thickened, which makes them easier to mix and easier to work with if you're using it to bond things, but it's not the best when using it as a filler or surface coating. For that you need a thinner laminating epoxy (West System is the most popular, but also expensive). The consistency of these is more like maple syrup than honey, and it's a lot easier to get bubbles out. I used this to fill the cavity of my brush, and the density is about right for a well-balanced brush. It also makes a nice surface finish, so you could use it in place of or over the tung oil, or to fill the cavity where the copper plug is (nice work on that part btw, I like the look of the bamboo and copper together).

 

[Angry__Panda]

Thanks dayold! I almost had the one I finished up last night perfect but while I walked away and let it dry a bubble formed . But on the positive side I finished 2 more brushes last night and it gave me an idea for a couple of the larger brush handles I am working on (gotta use up all this bamboo right ). I'll throw some pictures up in a while if I can find some time.

 

[dayoldstubble]

Thanks dayold! I almost had the one I finished up last night perfect but while I walked away and let it dry a bubble formed . But on the positive side I finished 2 more brushes last night and it gave me an idea for a couple of the larger brush handles I am working on (gotta use up all this bamboo right ). I'll throw some pictures up in a while if I can find some time.

So if you're using a home depot-type epoxy, particularly of the 5-minute variety, it's going to go exothermic on you when it cures. All epoxies do this, especially if they're in a thick layer, but the faster the cure, the more heat is produced during cure. Problem is, it gets so hot that it causes the bamboo to off-gas, creating bubbles. This is another advantage of using something like a West System (lots of cheap versions of this sold by companies like US Composites and AeroMarine). I once filled a bamboo brush handle with 5-minute epoxy (I was in a hurry), and it got so hot I couldn't hold it in my hand.

 

[Angry__Panda]

Which type of the West Systems epoxy do I want? None of them on their site are referred to as laminating epoxy? I'd rather get the expensive kind and have it work properly . I definitely have a brush that I want to use this with as well and see if I can get something smooth and without bubbles.

 

[dayoldstubble]

They're all laminating epoxies--that just means they're not thickened. Actually with West it's just one resin, with different hardeners. So it's the 105 resin and in your case I'd use the 207 hardener (slow, and also clear, for finish applications). But using something like the generics I mentioned would be totally fine as well. People make airplanes and boats out of both of them, so I think you'd be fine with a brush. I'm making the bike out of Poly Epoxy from Aircraft Spruce, but it's just one of many that would work fine.