I have used my Shavemac/APShaveCo STF XL at least 4 times since Thanksgiving and have lost at least 11 fibers from the knot... I'm thinking at this point that I just received a bad knot overall and will just call it as it is, finished!! I may or may not look at another down the road but this one will make its way to the trash and I seriously can't recommend this knot to anyone at this time!!
Muhle STF XL - It is that good!
- Thread starter Steve_in_CT
- Start date
Have you contacted Andrew with AP Shave Co? He has really good customer service. I bet he'd make it right.
can't be that bad. I'm sure someone would use it, why not PIF it?
I love my STF knots, particularly Rudy’s brushes with them. I fon’t think I lost a single fiber from any of mine.
Yes, I've talked with Andrew about the brush. I may contact him again but will probably just write it off and move on. I bought it, tried it, and it didn't work out in the end!! No big deal... I may still buy just a knot and set it in a handle I have laying around here. I seem to have much better luck with brushes I put together.
Why would I PIF something that's shedding everytime you use it? Make's no sense!!
There would be a bunch of guys who would love to try an STF but it may be out of reach financially.
I've given away much lesser brushes and the recipients were very happy.
A slightly shedding STF would make an awesome PIF.
Well as I mentioned above, just in the last 4 lathers its given up 11 fibers and they're was several in the previous lathers before Thanksgiving so I would never send something like that to someone else... It's shedding each and every shave. I am going to contact Andrew to see about sending it back to him to inspect it.
Disclaimer: This post will probably not be very liked by most but I was at my breaking point and wanted some answers!! For those that will ask, yes I spoke with Andrew and he said if my problem persisted we could talk about returning the brush for inspection but I felt due to the length of time I've had and used it, it wouldn't be right to return it so I disected it... I'm not sorry I bought this brush and it was a great learning experience...
After yesterdays shave and having to pick the fibers from my soap and out of the sink water, 6 hairs shed during this shave alone, and on average of 4 hairs per shave for well over a month and I was finally done with this brush and here is a pic with some numbers I took note of...
So in my opinion this is only a 24mm knot at best because the cup outside diameter is 23.74mm so I'm not sure where the 25mm distinction was made by Muhle. There is approx 5mm of glue plug above the cup itself and probably the reason I said early on that the glue plug seemed to make the knot seem like it had much more backbone than what others had described when talking about the STF-XL was one of the easiest splaying brushes they'd ever used. That said it looks like the knot was set all the way in the handle which had a depth of 20.53mm which with the glue in the bottom would set the glue plug above the top of the handle. I'd estimate about 3+mm of glue under the knot.
I was thinking of getting a new knot and setting it in a handle I had aquired back a few months ago but have changed my mind due to the glue bump in the knot and all the fibers the knot gave up with use in the past couple months but have changed my mind and will look for a different knot now and move on from the STF-XL altogether... I have considered that I received a lemon knot but at this point I just don't think with the dimensional data I collected that my feeling is I could get something that stands up to what others describe this knot as!!
After yesterdays shave and having to pick the fibers from my soap and out of the sink water, 6 hairs shed during this shave alone, and on average of 4 hairs per shave for well over a month and I was finally done with this brush and here is a pic with some numbers I took note of...
So in my opinion this is only a 24mm knot at best because the cup outside diameter is 23.74mm so I'm not sure where the 25mm distinction was made by Muhle. There is approx 5mm of glue plug above the cup itself and probably the reason I said early on that the glue plug seemed to make the knot seem like it had much more backbone than what others had described when talking about the STF-XL was one of the easiest splaying brushes they'd ever used. That said it looks like the knot was set all the way in the handle which had a depth of 20.53mm which with the glue in the bottom would set the glue plug above the top of the handle. I'd estimate about 3+mm of glue under the knot.
I was thinking of getting a new knot and setting it in a handle I had aquired back a few months ago but have changed my mind due to the glue bump in the knot and all the fibers the knot gave up with use in the past couple months but have changed my mind and will look for a different knot now and move on from the STF-XL altogether... I have considered that I received a lemon knot but at this point I just don't think with the dimensional data I collected that my feeling is I could get something that stands up to what others describe this knot as!!
Your findings are quite interesting, and it caused me to measure several of my 25 mm STF knots on hand. The outside diameter of the black cup is 24.70-24.74, so very close to 25 mm. I also drill my holes for the handles to 25 mm, and it is a very tight fit when gluing knots in, there is very little space. Probably a slightly larger hole might be more appropriate; maybe I test with 1" drill the next time. The height of the fibers, from top of the cup to end of the fibers is 60/61 mm. The total height of the knot, from bottom end of the cup to the top of the fibers is 75 mm; so my cup height of 14.8 is in tune with your findings
I also took a thin wire, and pushed it into the knot from the top until I hit the plug and I stopped. This was done to measure the height of the fibers above the glue plug: which is 53 mm.
I set mine normally at 54/55 mm, so I think the glue-plug has absolutely no influence on the behavior of the knot, like being too stiff, huge backbone etc.
I am just not willing to cut a knot open like you did.
Rudy, thanks for sharing some dimensional data here and although our #'s are off some it looks like mine may have been what they consider 25mm. As to cutting the handle and knot open it was no big deal only because it was detined for the trash can because it had shed so many fibers in the past couple months. I've never seen a brush shed like this one did. It still confuses me why mine acted and performed so different to what everyone else has described in the forums so maybe it was just a lemon knot overall...live and learn!! I was really hoping to give this brush a real thumbs up but unfortunately I just can't...
I still have memories of buying a synthetic knot from Apshave Co where the bristles were poky. Knot was unusable at all. I lost 12 usd but life goes on.
The bad thing regarding brushes is that we can't try before buying them and the experience is personal.
The bad thing regarding brushes is that we can't try before buying them and the experience is personal.
Hello.
I have a question for those who have the Muhle's 25mm STF (35K257 or 35K256), and specifically about the handle.
Does it feel solid, made of good material? What about the logo on the side, does it fade soon? Ergonomics?
I know that there alternatives but I am specifically interested in the original handle from Muhle.
I have a question for those who have the Muhle's 25mm STF (35K257 or 35K256), and specifically about the handle.
Does it feel solid, made of good material? What about the logo on the side, does it fade soon? Ergonomics?
I know that there alternatives but I am specifically interested in the original handle from Muhle.
I have the black handle version. Regarding the strength and quality, I have no complaints, they are solid. BUT, the handle is short and when you have to froth in a deep glass, it is very inconvenient.
Excellent. Thank you.
I'm gonna take another shot with the STF XL as I recently purchased a knot from @Rudy Vey to put into a handle I had purchased back sometime last year from Chisel & Hound that was just sittling here doing nothing. I set this one in silicone just incase I don't care for the handle, knot, or both as all knots I've set in the past was set in epoxy. If I like what this is like I will pull it back out and set it in epoxt for a permanent setting. The loft came out at just a tad bit over 56mm setting it all the way into the handle which I think will work how I want it to. Since I set it in silicone I will let it set until Friday's shave instead of using it tomorrow morning cause it won't be quite 24hrs by that time. Will check back in after a use or two...
I have the 25mm tortoise handled version. I also have a RV brush with the same knot. Between the two, I like Rudy's better because the knot is set little bit lower in the handle. When I place both next to each other, knot facing down, the Muhle brush is slightly taller. It makes a fine lather painter, but splays too much for my liking.
I applaud you. I bought a bad, prickly Muhle STF years ago and wrote them off. Then AP Shave sold them. I love setting my own knots using RTV silicone. I enjoy playing with height. Even after a year or 6 months, if I still want to play, I 'just' pull it out (it can be hard), scrape out the silicone with a flat end screwdriver, and create another shaving experience.
With that said, I set the STF in a handle and LOVED it. I think I like it more than my Wald ... well, it's certainly easier to lather in the beginning and dries out in a day unlike the Wald (and I know you enjoy your Wald too).
And I also just bought a new custom Rudy Vey handle to set an AP shave Muhle 25mm into it. I'm excited.
Blah blah blah me. I really am just happy you are trying this knot again. As someone who was anti Muhle STF, but now pro, good luck! I hope it works out for you
I do love my Wald as the A1 knot is just so special and pretty much everything I want in a knot but wish I could buy the knot seperately to set in a handle of my choice. I caved in this morning and gave the brush a go during todays shave but will await a few more lathers before I make any comments or findings for now...
Glad to hear you are getting along with the knot and enjoying the lathers...
Ti Blackbird / Feather / Ethos Shave MD / C&H STF XL / Proraso Green
So if using RTV silicone, you can literally just yank the knot out of the handle?
No steaming, no tools?
This sounds like a great way to set knots!
I use the clear silicone and I have been able to remove the knots from a couple of handles by carefully pulling them. On a third one instead I was not able to and I did not try with heat or other means, eventually I decided to keep it in that way. I guess it's also a matter of how much silicone you use. You do not really need to use a lot of it and so far I have not experienced any knot falling off the handle while shaving
.By the way, before setting permanently the knot with the silicon I use a flat thin rubber band around the base of the knot to keep it in place and to try it at different heights. If the hole is of the proper size, when you start using it the base expands and it stays in place regardless.
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