Made a new handle for a very small Wee Scot-like brush.

[vferdman]

Thanks, guys for sealing advice. I have so far used a dremel-like tool with a fluffy buffing wheel and some buffing compound. This was after I used 600 sand paper. I think I got a pretty smooth finish. I then used clean wheels to get the compound out of the wood and applied Butcher's Boston Polish Wax. This consists of carnuba, beeswax and turpentine, basically. I wanted to see how my polishing job went and I needed to bring the wood grain out to see it. So I used this product, which is amazing stuff. Now that I learned about the tung oil and other methods that may be more appropriate I will think about doing those on top of Butcher's. I think these things are usually compatible and mostly synergistic. I have some old tung oil that dried up, so that won't do, but I may look into that wipe on poly stuff. Not crazy about it, but poly really does work. Danish oil would be my preference, but it's way too complicated.

Here are some pictures from progress so far.

Handle after first round of finishing



Dry fitted:

[vferdman]

Here is how I glue the knot in. I am using 2 ton epoxy that is not the 5 minute kind. It's long curing. I mask the knot and the handle off completely. Check and re-check. Hopefully everything is straight. I use a desk vise/clamp to keep the pieces together. There is not a lot of clamping pressure. Just enough to keep parts aligned and steady. I used a piece of scrap balsa wood to make a shin on the outside of the knot bundle. This shin is what's taking the jaw pressure, not the badger hair.

[ronniesoup]

looking good!

[Jack-in-the-Green]

Looking good! That's going to be a very nice brush. I love those 16mm finest knots. I put one in an old Ever-Ready travel brush, and that's the one I find myself reaching for 90% of the time. Soft tips & nice backbone, without the tendency to hog the lather that the bigger brushes have.

[AceByTerror]

...Now that I learned about the tung oil and other methods that may be more appropriate I will think about doing those on top of Butcher's. I think these things are usually compatible and mostly synergistic.

Just a heads up - very NOT true. LOTS of finishes are not compatible with each other. In general water based will play nice with other water based, and oil based will play nice with other oils.

The two don't (IMHO) play nice together.

Lastly, wax finishes only play nice with either as a final coat and with proper curing of the base coats. Wax coat below others can lead to big problems.

I would say there are exceptions to all these rules, with the key factor being drying/curing time. I think you *could* - YMMV :) - apply these out of order or in tandem **IF** you allow for complete drying and curing time. In the case of some oils that is literally weeks on some woods.

[vferdman]

Just a heads up - very NOT true. LOTS of finishes are not compatible with each other. In general water based will play nice with other water based, and oil based will play nice with other oils.

The two don't (IMHO) play nice together.

Lastly, wax finishes only play nice with either as a final coat and with proper curing of the base coats. Wax coat below others can lead to big problems.

I would say there are exceptions to all these rules, with the key factor being drying/curing time. I think you *could* - YMMV :) - apply these out of order or in tandem **IF** you allow for complete drying and curing time. In the case of some oils that is literally weeks on some woods.

Thank you for the very good info. I have glued in the knot, which was probably too soon. So now I plan on masking the knot up and using the hand rub poly or something of that sort. I am done with Boston Polish, I think for this project. The wood absorbed it pretty well. I may let it sit and cure for some time before going poly. Maybe even use it for shaving and see what happens.

Will post pics of the glued in knot soon.

[AceByTerror]

I am done with Boston Polish, I think for this project. The wood absorbed it pretty well. I may let it sit and cure for some time before going poly. Maybe even use it for shaving and see what happens.

Will post pics of the glued in knot soon.

Good call. Should work out fantastic for you!

[vferdman]

Here are a couple of quick pictures.





I washed the brush thoroughly to get the epoxy residue off and then I actually shaved with it. The handle is the most comfortable handle since Semogue 1305! That "waist" is perfect for three finger grip. The brush worked extremely well for shaving. Just as good as can be expected. It's a small brush, which is what I wanted. I set the loft rather high so it's a bit loose, but holds plenty of lather. I did three passes and had a very large amount left over in the brush. The lather application is very good. It's not too stiff and not floppy, just right. Release of lather was excellent. Much better than the 20mm finest fan XH I used for a restore. That one is a great brush, but too dense and hogs lather. This brush is just about perfect, I think. Based on one shave, of course.

One thing was evident is that I need to seal the wood. All the stuff I did before was washed out with cleaning and one shave. I am letting the brush dry thoroughly at least for 48 hours and then I will apply a hand rubbed ploy finish to it. I hope I am not too late. I don't think I am.

[ratshaving]

Looks beautiful! Impressive work with just a table saw

[vferdman]

Looks beautiful! Impressive work with just a table saw

Well, a table saw and a really good sander (Festool) and a rotary tool and hand tools and calipers and... You get the idea. No lathe, but many other power and hand tools. Also a lot of time. I think the next handle will go much quicker. I have an amazing piece of wood that I need to figure out how to use. If anyone wants a brush, I could take a commission... :) I really enjoy this.

[vferdman]

Just came back from Home Despot with some wood filler, Danish Oil and some stain to match the handle wood. After cleaning the brush and shaving with it after gluing the knot in, most of the Boston Polish came out and left the wood dull. Also, I used some Titebond and sawdust to make my own filer for the gaps in the wood from gluing up a laminated chunk to start with. All that filler is gone now also. So, I bought proper wood filler and will fill the gaps (they are very small) and will attempt to stain the filler as it's the unstained kind. Hopefully it will all work out and I will then use Danish Oil to seal the wood. I may still poly it later, but I want to try just the hand rubbed finish first. This is supposed to seal the wood from within. We shall see.

[vferdman]

Well, the Danish oil is great stuff, but the handle seems thirsty for more. I shaved with the brush after letting danish oil set for some 36 hours or so and again, the soap dullness appeared on the wood. So, back for some more oiling. This time I will give it a few soakings with Danish oil and let it dry, then buff and see what happens. I think since the wood is so dark it will show the soap residue no matter what, but at least I want the wood to be sealed.

I also got around to measuring the loft and knot. I came up with 19mm knot with 44mm loft. I did not measure the brush until I have shaved with it and formed an opinion about it on purpose. I did not want to be swayed by notions about dimensions and ratios that I have been compiling in me head. I set the dimesions by gut feel and the brush turned out great, so now I know the dimensions and it doesn't really matter. This 16mm TGN finest knot is really amazing at producing a very substantial 19mm knot brush. The glue blob just above the visible plug is actually about 18mm or so. This is why I had to drill out to what ended up 19mm. I just kept expanding the hole until the knot fit tightly, but not requiring force. the loft I just totally got by eye. I did not want to make it too short because I know these bristles are stiff and have good backbone to support a higher, better flowing loft. This is what I did and it turned out great. I was using a ruler I would have set it lower and may have ended up with a lather hog. My other TGN finest project, an Ever-Ready 650PB handle (solid resin) ended up a bit of a lather hog, though a great brush in its own right. I set that one at 22mm/48mm with a 20mm TGN Finest Fan XH knot. I love that brush, BTW.

So, there you have it. Really pleased with this brush and am ready for the next project, which is an old Ever-Ready black/white handle I picked up at an antique store a while back. Not sure what I will do with that yet... I am tempted to use a TGN finest again, but I already have two with that hair. Maye a silvertip stubby type?...