Which TGN grade of badger to buy?

[redrako]

I've been impressed by some of the great brushes that I've seen restored on this board. I'll be picking up some everready, fuller old brushes soon on ebay and hope to work on them this spring.

I've noticed that most of the knot choices are TGN finest and I've seen a few posts saying that the finest grade is actually better than the TGN silvertip. My question is is it a fair statement to say that most members who have restored brushes feel that the finest grade is the way to go?

I alternate between bowl lathering soaps, face lathering or using primarily bowl lathered cremes. I have found that I prefer soaps in the winter and Proraso/Bigelow in the warm weather.

 

[wimbouman]

We have found the Finest a real great knot in all sizes (we worked with 19 and 22), real value for money. Works equally good with soaps and creams.
Excellent all rounder.

I like the silvertips also. They are soft, though.
But not floppy, so as a face latherer you'll like them.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I've found the finest are by far the best deal TGN has. My favorite size is the 24mm. It seems noticeably denser than the other sizes.

I've also been impressed by the 22mm SuperSilvertip. It reminds me a lot of the Kent 08 and 09 LE knots. A bit small and requires a rather low loft, so size of the brush is very limited tho. I've got the 24mm SuperSilvertip as well, but haven't had a chance to use it yet since it's waiting on its handle.

Grade A is very soft, but I find them a bit loosely packed. The exception being the 30mm knot, which is very dense, but very softball shaped, which I am finding a little suboptimal (though it's being compared to $200 brushes at that size, density and hair grade, so how picky do you want to be).

Super is slightly more dense than the <30mm Grade A's, but not as nice a hair, imho.

Silvertip is a step down from those two.

I haven't used the Best in so long, but I tried it and recall that I found it was outshone by the Finest.

Pure, same story. It was a decent knot if you wanted pure.

Short loft Silvertip are basically the silvertip designed like the 30mm Grade A. Very softball shaped and denser than the standard silvertip, but the prickliness of the Silvertip grade becomes VERY noticeable. It feels a lot like a pure.


So in other words. If you're undecided or want two band, I'd say go finest. If you definitely want a soft, plush, squishy knot, go SuperSilvertip. They're the two I have not found a problem with yet.

 

[fidjit]

Agree with Ian above

Finest is the bang for buck knot. Backbone, soft tips but if you want more luxurious look at Silvertip A or Super.

See my wiki in my sig for more information that may be of assistance

 

[Loric]

The finest extra stuffed is a great knot, plenty of backbone and dense enough to please someone as picky as myself. They are as stated above very cheep for the quality of the knot. I have a 24mm set at 50mm loft and its fantastic. The 26mm I had however was not really that dense, and even set at 50mm loft felt a bit floppy IMO.

I also love the Super Silvertip, but they are slightly more expensive, though still a fantastic value IMO. They are as soft as anything, but not crazy dense so as Ian said setting them low is a good thing. I face lather with soap, and my 22 is set at 44mm loft, and my 24mm is set at 48mm loft. Given a sample size of two, the 24mm is noticeably denser, but still not an uber dense knot. It's just sense enough to get away with a similar face feel with a 4mm increase in loft.

Silvertip Grade A is ok, easily denser than the Super Silvertip, but still not ultra dense. The softness is good, with no skritch but a noticeable step down from the Super. It's a fine knot, but I let mine go as I found nothing extraordinary about it.

The vanilla Silvertip is dense enough, but has some skritch to it, especially when new. Mine did break in noticeably, but it was never really soft. Again I sold mine off as they were just nothing that I reached for.

IMO if you want backbone get the Finest Extra Stuffed, if you want to baby yourself or just like a low loft brush, go with the Super Silvertip.

 

[redrako]

Excellent, I feel like I've been to a good seminar on TGN knots. I plan to try to pick up a couple of handles and will go with a TGN fine and TGN Silver A or Super. I think that I have a pretty good idea about sanding the handle with increasingly finer sandpaper and them polishing before epoxying the brush at the appropriate loft.

I appreciate your explanations about loft. I wasn't sure why brushes were set so deep in the handle. Now I understand that it's to help obtain sufficient density.

Sounds like the silvers would be good creme bowl lathers. I love the idea of the 30mm brush, but that sounds almost too big. I wear a goatee, the remnant of my pre wet shaving days, but can't imagine how much area a 30mm brush would cover.

This will be fun projects. I currently am using a Tweezerman (my first brush), Frank's shaving silvertip, Omega 49 and Semogue 1305. Of all of them, the Omega is the softest and works well with all kinds of cremes and soaps lathered in bowl of on my face. The Semogue was a Valentines day gift from SWMBO and is mostly broken in, but I can tell it will continue to get softer. The Frank's is great with creme's, but is not particularly dense and although great for cremes, is too floppy for loading soap and is a bit on the scratchy side. The tweezerman, does it all well, but it a bit on the scratchy side.

I've been lurking on the brush restoration board for awhile to resource myself and will be sure to keep you posted with photos of course.

 

[Blue58]

I recently replaced the boar bristle in a VDH handle with a 24mm two band finest from TGN and it is very soft on the face but has a lot of backbone so it works well even on MWF soap. its like a sensual wet kiss on your face when you use it even on the first time and it just gets better from there. I have been debating on getting a new simpsons PJ2, PJ3 or maybe even an Eagle G3 brush but as nice as this TGN brush has been I don't know if I need to now.

 

[Brownbear]

Ok, I'm odd man out. The two band finest extra is clearly a wonderful knot and the most versatile, but....................my favorite remains the black badger. Wonderfully invigorating scrub and makes short work of creams and soaps alike. Ok, it is scritchy and that is a deal breaker for some/many, but if you don't mind (and it does soften up with use) scritchy it is awesome and for 14 bucks...... And now it comes in 24 mm. And it is beautiful too-

View attachment 151474

But, if you are tender skinned the finest can't be beat and the silvertips in their various incarnations ain't half bad either.

 

[Blue58]

photos of my 2 band finest and my black badger

I do agree the black badger is an awesome brush if you want that little extra scrintchy feel when you lather. it is much softer feel than a boar but it still has enough of a scrintchy feel you expect from the boar.