Well, the Frank Beech Wood Silvertip shaving brush finally arrived yesterday, after it's two-week trip from China.
The brush is really beautiful for something of this price level. (The photo above is from iantang's eBay listing, and it's a perfect image of what the brush really looks like). I was fortunate to get it at iantang's previous price of $28 plus shipping. He's raised the price of them to $39 plus shipping in the last week or so, probably because of an increase in his material costs.
The wood handle has a nice sold feel, without being too heavy in the hand. The knot is mounted in the handle extremely well, very snugly and demonstrating lots of care in construction.
As for the bristles themselves, they are extremely soft on the tips, but the shafts are nice and firm. I'm really stunned at the quality of this considering the price. The brush also came with a nice acrylic brush stand.
I gave it a ride this morning. I let the brush soak in some warm water for about 15 minutes while eating and prepping. I decided to try it with Tabac, since I get some of the best lather with that great soap. After working up the lather in the bowl and applying it to my face, I noticed that it was a bit on the thin side this morning, but I don't blame that on the brush. The brush appears to hold a generous amount water, and I gave it a mild squeeze and one shake before working the Tabac. I mistakenly added a bit too much water while mixing, so the thinner lather was more my fault than the brushes. As it turned out, the lather held up pretty well on my face, and I got a decent DFS.
I'm also used to using a Conk Pure Badger brush, which is much stiffer and can work into a hard soap with less effort. I wanted to avoid working the Frank too hard until it's broken in a bit.
I saw only one hair shed in the mixing bowl, which I expect with most new brushes. And the brush did not have that badger fur funk so common with new brushes.
I'm going to give the Frank a try with some other soaps and a cream or two over the next week. So far, I think this is a terrific brush, a real steal even at the higher price.