What type of wood?

[Permit]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of letting my step dad make me a handle for a brush and a soap bowl, both in wood. What type of wood should I choose? I'm thinking of putting some clear, shiny lacquer (is that the word?) on the handle of the brush and maybe just some linseed oil on the bowl. Or linseed on both, so they match.

Also, the hole for the knot, how deep should it be, in millimeters? I'm thinking of placing a 22mm knot in there. Since I use soap I figured that the 22 mm best badger from the golden nib should do it, or should I go with another knot?

The reason for why I want them made in wood is that I think wood brings some warmth to the otherwise cold and sterile environment that is my bathroom.

I will try to make CAD drawings of them, so if anyone's interested I will of course share them!

 

[Lyssis]

Linseed oil is not really water resistant. It does give some protection when it has been thoroughly soaked through and takes many passes. But to get proper penetration into the wood it needs to be cut with turpentine.

I'd avoid linseed oil for stuff that's in longer contact or submersed in water like a shaving brush unless the wood type in itself is water resistant. But as for shelves etc as I have in my bathroom they can be coated with linseed oil.

Tung oil (Also called Chinese wood oil etc.) is a bit more recommended which protects a lot better and can be polished mirror smooth after many coats.
But as with any kind of oil finishes, there is quite a bit of work involved with reapplying it and so on. Same with maintenance.

There are some excellent marine quality lacquers around for old boats that get a good protective coating. The coatings are hard and can also be polished up or left matte.

 

[Jwolf24601]

Walnut would be nice, and I suggest Laquer

 

[Hreafn]

Osage orange for the win

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=86545

 

[col conk]

Walnut would be nice, and I suggest Laquer

1+ but make sure its dark walnut

 

[Permit]

Walnut would be nice, and I suggest Laquer

1+ but make sure its dark walnut

Yeah, walnut is nice! I like dark wood.

How about the hole for the knot, how deep should it be?

 

[Permit]

No one on the depth of the hole? It's really important for me to know. I don't want the knot to be showing, and I don't want it to be too deep. Also it is important to know because of design purposes. Anyone?

 

[gldnbear93]

Hello,

The depth of the hole will depend in part on the handle design and how tall you want the brush part to be (loft) taller lofts tend to be softer/floppier than shorter lofts. If yu have the knot, try drilling test holes of different diameters and depths in scrap wood to test it out befoer the final hole in the blank.

Boiled linseed oil is fine as a sealer. Try cutting it 60/40 with mineral spirits and heating the brush handle and bowl then soak (don't just wipe) the handle and bowl in a bath of the blo/mineral spirits for an hour (longer if it is a dense wood) remove wipe off the excess then let it cure FOR AT LEAST A WEEK, preferably longer. This is the process I use for fishing lures and it works well. You could also use Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer (google it) for an even better though more complicated sealer.

Adam

 

[Uncle Erik]

Linseed and tung oils aren't terribly water resistant. Most of the ones you'll find at hardware stores are mixed with polyurethane, which helps somewhat, but they're still not water resistant.

There is marine spar varnish and several plastic-like coatings for bar counters, but I don't think they're food safe.

I'd strongly recommend using one of the various salad/food bowl finishes out there. They're nontoxic and designed to get wet. Anything else could potentially leach chemicals over time.

Be careful with wood selection. Some will hold up to moisture well and others will crack with repeatedly getting wet and then drying out. I'd go with teak; it really holds up on boats and in outdoor furniture.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

1+ but make sure its dark walnut

+1....a dark walnut would be awesome!

 

[Telecaster52]

walnut in itself is a rather oily wood, as good at it would look, it is fairly hard to get a good finish to adhere. i would suggest mahogany, as it it is much easier to work with and finish

 

[zclake]

I have two guitars made from koa which look awesome, so if I were going to get a brush, I'd probably get a koa one. here's an example http://www.badgerbrush.net/catalog...._Koa_Wood_24mm_Silvertip_Badger_Brush_custom_

other cool woods can be found on this site. http://www.exoticwoodgroup.com/

 

[ajkimmins]

Dark walnut is nice. But how about a wood that is used in wet enviros, like boats, and outdoor furniture... Teak! With a tung oil finish that should look real nice!

 

[Axel_]

First of all, nice with one more Swedish fellow around here!

And for the topic:
For you who lives in the northern part of our country I think something like what we in Sweden call masurbjörk (a type of Silver Birch, see picture below) would be really nice!

The masurbjörk, don't know the English name for it though... (It might be curly birch, but I'm not sure).

/A

 

[Telecaster52]

The masurbjörk, don't know the English name for it though... (It might be curly birch, but I'm not sure).

/A

pretty sure you're right axel

 

[Permit]

Thanks for all great advice!

Right now it stands between boiled linseed oil (non-toxic - even edible) and paraffin oil (the same as mineral oil, right? Non-toxic). The wood type stands between curly birch (I like the environmental aspect of choosing local wood) and the beautiful teak.

Is it possible to obtain a smooth, glossy surface with any of those oils without mixing them with chemicals?

The hole depth I'll figure out myself, as an engineer I should be able to do that

 

[ajkimmins]

Soak in oil and sand with 0000 steel wool. After a few runs of oil and steel it will have an awesome shine!

 

[Permit]

Soak in oil and sand with 0000 steel wool. After a few runs of oil and steel it will have an awesome shine!

Great! All the planning is falling into place now!

I hope I can find a lathe on my own so I can make it myself.

EDIT: I just found a great tutorial at TGN and I figured maybe I should rethink the manufacturing details.

Here's my starting point. This I can print and easily design my handle, the cut it out and then I will have a useful paper model of the handle. If I print it directly from AutoCAD I get scale 1:1. All measurements in millimeters.

 

[Hreafn]

After you oil it put a couple of coats of floor wax on it and buff it it will shine even better.

 

[Fish Slayer]

I am in the process of making a brush and will give you my take on the process.

Wood selection. My first impression is that wood is not a good material for a shaving brush due to the constant contact with water. With that said, I have been using an inexpensive Tweezerman brush for over a year which looks to be made out of maple or birch and is holding up well. With that experience I decided to make one with a wood handle and a Golden Nib knot.

I am still deciding between walnut and teak. I have some scraps of both so I made a handle from both. I like the looks of the walnut, but the rot resistance of teak. The teak does not look bad either.

As for the hole, I did what a previous poster suggested, and experimented with different diameters and depths in a scrap piece of wood, especially since I do not trust that the knot will be exactly what the vendor states. Unfortunately, I did not have a drill bit that made a hole to my liking, so I ground down the sides of an inexpensive spade style bit until I got a hole to my liking. I did not have confidence that I could hit the exact center of the turned handle with the hole for the knot, so I decided to turn the blank around this hole.

After I prepared the turning blank (a rectangular block of wood with the height and the width of equal sizes and a length a bit longer than what I wanted the finished handle to be), I marked the center on each end and drilled the hole for the knot in one end.

I then took a scrap piece of wood ( a chunk of 2X4) cut a turning blank and turned a mandrel down to the diameter of the hole in the handle blank. The mandrel was slightly tapered and a tight fit in the hole. I then parted the mandrel off with the portion that I wanted to use on the tail stock. Note, make this mandrel as short as comfortably possible so you can eliminate as much wobble in the brush blank while on the lathe as possible.

I then tapped the mandrel into the brush blank hole and the drive center in the other side of the blank and mounted it in the lathe. Turn away. Don’t be too aggressive when turning the handle as it is not a solid piece of wood, you are counting on friction to keep the mandrel in the hole from slipping.

As for finishing, I will probably use a common polyurethane finish. A marine spar varnish would probably be better, but this is a prototype for myself and I already have the polyurethane.

My son has already asked me for the leftover handle, so I think I will have to order another knot pretty soon…..