Why are badgers bulb shaped and boars fan shaped

[PaulL]

I seem to think that most badger brushes are bulb shaped, but most boar brushes are fan shaped. I wonder why that is?

I like fan shaped, and they are hard to find in badger.

 

[Alraz]

I have been told that the European market prefers the bulb-shaped brushes.... It does not make sense to me that they are not made fan shaped to match the surface of the face... well, it is no secret that I have a facelathering bias .

Al raz.

 

[njpaddy]

I would call my Rooney 3/1 fan shaped. The problem is that I prefer my bulb-shaped Simpsons.

 

[PaulL]

I have a Rooney 3/1 that's a bulb.

 

[franz]

My T&H branded Rooney 1/1 is definitely a fan... most of the Simpsons are bulbs or hybrids, but some of the brushes in the "50" series have been showing up with fan-shaped knots. Shavemac has an extreme flat-top knot available for customs.

To answer the original question I have no idea. Lately I have been liking bulbs more because of their precision.

 

[njpaddy]

I have a Rooney 3/1 that's a bulb.

I don't have any boars to compare mine to as I sold my lone boar 830 after about 10 shaves. My Rooney's been boxed and put away, but I always considered it more fan shaped compared to my SR and Simpsons. I do agree that most badger brushes now seem to be bulb shaped.

 

[blantyre]

The dominance of bulb shaped badger brushes is a relatively recent phenomenon. It coincided with the hype around 2-band brushes - it's obviously easier to make a bulb look 2-band than a fan. Just bury the lower tan band in the handle in the outer layers of the brush. There are still plenty of fans around though. At one time British brush makers typically made fans and Europeans made bulbs to meet local preferences.

 

[djh]

My first thought would be that boar brush knots would be machine-made and it is probably easier to do this in a fan-shape, whereas with badger hair the better (and better-known) knots are mostly hand-made so the brushmaker can choose to use whichever shape he fancies.

 

[BroJohn]

The dominance of bulb shaped badger brushes is a relatively recent phenomenon. It coincided with the hype around 2-band brushes - it's obviously easier to make a bulb look 2-band than a fan. Just bury the lower tan band in the handle in the outer layers of the brush. There are still plenty of fans around though. At one time British brush makers typically made fans and Europeans made bulbs to meet local preferences.

Rick is absolutely correct here. I don't know why the Bulb has been ascendant, but I definitely favor the fan.

-- John Gehman

 

[john parker]

I was under the impression that a bulb shape made for a firmer loft than a fan shape. The outer and lower hair - stiffer - supported the inner, softer hair of the knot, making for a knot with less bloom. If this were true, it may be that thinner hair would benefit by the bulb shape, where thicker hair would not need it.

 

[jhclare]

I definitely prefer bulb - both the appearance and performance.

I used to fall into the "must have short loft, dense, fan brush for face lathering soaps" brigade, but as I tried more and more brushes, I truly believe it is purely personal preference.

I like medium-dense bulb shape brushes (SR) because: they don't hog lather, they make lather quickly, they have decent backbone due to the shorter outer hairs, they apply lather really effectively, they feel great when using a mash & swirl motion (suction!). I also find a bulb more accurate in application that the equivalently spec'd fan. Fans (especially the really dense ones) bloom like crazy, which I'm not a fan (sorry!) of.

John

 

[franz]

I was under the impression that a bulb shape made for a firmer loft than a fan shape. The outer and lower hair - stiffer - supported the inner, softer hair of the knot, making for a knot with less bloom. If this were true, it may be that thinner hair would benefit by the bulb shape, where thicker hair would not need it.

This was going to be my tentative guess - that the shape of the bulb made for better perceived backbone. I notice my fan knots splay quite a bit more.

 

[ssultan]

+1...

I was under the impression that a bulb shape made for a firmer loft than a fan shape. The outer and lower hair - stiffer - supported the inner, softer hair of the knot, making for a knot with less bloom. If this were true, it may be that thinner hair would benefit by the bulb shape, where thicker hair would not need it.