Haryali London Shave brush-poor handle craftmanship or am I missing something?

[oakeshott]

For reasons now opaque to me, I purchased on ebay for 40 bucks a silvertip, rosewood handled shaving brush which turned out to be from Haryali of London. Received the brush a few days ago (had it sent to the hotel I was staying at) and while the knot seems to be of good quality (I don't feel I'm experienced enough yet to judge that properly), the poor finish quality of the handle shocks me. Not only could it stand to be sanded to a better finish, but worse, much worse, is that as far as I can tell, it hasn't had any sort of protective coating applied to the wood.

Am I ignorant of some special qualities of Rosewood that obviate the need for a protective finish? Is there something I'm missing?

The brush itself seems to perform fine and the knot bloomed beautifully after only one shave and is not a shedder (especially compared to my AOS travel brushes). It concerns me, however, that with regular usage this wood will deteriorate quickly.

Included two pics one with and one without flash. The flash greatly exagerrates the drying out of the wood at the base of the know, but it's there already after only 3 shaves.


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[cvac]

With these ebay brands you never know what you're going to get. From what I can make out in your photos, that doesn't look too hot. My advice would be to PM some of the craftsmen on this board that make brushes with wood handles and take some better pics. They should be able to give some kind of informative opinion on the matter.

[StuMcB]

I bought a super cheap travel brush some time ago from E-bay. It was from Turkey and in boar. The handle was wooden with no apparent protection. It's preformed flawlessly for me over several days away. Could be your brush has been 'oiled' ?

[Oblique Human]

Haryali is a Urdu/Hindi word meaning "Greenery". Its probably manufactured in India by Parker.

[oakeshott]

Used the Haryali for about three shaves. Got home yesterday and my newly bought M&F brush was here to greet me. Used it this morning. The comparison enabled me to make the add'l observation that the Haryali was less dense and far, far more "floppy" than either of my two other Premium brushes. Exceptionally soft though.

[Icebear]

Used the Haryali for about three shaves. Got home yesterday and my newly bought M&F brush was here to greet me. Used it this morning. The comparison enabled me to make the add'l observation that the Haryali was less dense and far, far more "floppy" than either of my two other Premium brushes. Exceptionally soft though.

Hi there,

if you do like the Haryali brush other wise and are a little handy, you can give the wood some layers of coating with something from your local hardware store which is suitable for indoor applications. Just be careful at the edge, not to get anything into the knot itself. If that's too much of a hassle for you, just get rid of it again in the 'bay and be done with it.

[oakeshott]

Hi there,

if you do like the Haryali brush other wise and are a little handy, you can give the wood some layers of coating with something from your local hardware store which is suitable for indoor applications. Just be careful at the edge, not to get anything into the knot itself. If that's too much of a hassle for you, just get rid of it again in the 'bay and be done with it.

One of my coworkers is starting to enjoy wet shaving and I think I will make a gift of it to him if after using it a few more times it doesn't suit. It would be a step up for his shave den.