Alright, I'll try to keep the story short on this one. In May, my wife and I took a long-awaited trip to Ireland. Before going, I researched my options for shaving related shops and/or gear that is only available in Ireland, or hard to come by in the U.S. Thanks to this handy B&B wiki page, I discovered that there is a small chain of barbers/barber schools in/near Dublin called Knights Barbers. I made it a point to visit their closest location to where I was staying during the Dublin portion of our trip, and bought one of the their "custom made" brushes (I believe they are made by Vulfix, but can't verify). I didn't want to upset my wife by spending an arm and a leg so I decided to get the smaller, pure badger brush of the 4-5 brush models they had available at the time.
Needless to say, I was not happy with the knot. In fact, I was very disappointed. After wrestling with myself over altering a souvenir that I consider to be precious, I decided to take the risk, and I am extremely happy that I did. After speaking to a friend on B&B who shared a review from another member, in which his Virginia Sheng Finest brush was compared to a Kent BK8 (his was a 24mm), I chose to purchase a Virginia Sheng 22mm Finest Badger to use for my first Finest Badger brush.
I've included as many shots as I could force myself to take in my excitement to complete this project. I believe it turned out quite nicely, and after a test lather this morning, I can't wait to use this brush.
The knots (I also ordered a 22mm Silvertip) came in a black tube, which was quadruple wrapped in bubble wrap. Scroll to the bottom to see the specs of my brush, and my initial impressions of the Virginia Sheng Finest knot.
Handle: Knights of Dublin (Vulfix?) - hole widened to 24mm using dremel - hole edge chamfered by hand
Knot type: Virginia Sheng Finest Badger
Knot size: 22mm
Knot diameter (top of handle): 24mm
Overall height: 91mm
Handle height: 41mm
Knot loft: 50mm
I think that these knots were well packaged. It wasn't the prettiest packaging, but I'm not about to complain- the knots were well protected. Notice the plastic bands wrapped around the knot, inside the thin plastic wrapper, which was inside the tube wrapped in bubble wrap. The shipping always seems to take forever when you're waiting for something you're really looking forward to, but 2.5 weeks from China to Detroit, MI is not bad.
The hair did have a strong chemical smell, which is still lingering after 16 hours and a test lathering. (I know you're supposed to wait 24 hours for the epoxy to fully cure, but the Devcon clear 5 minute epoxy is supposed to fully cure after 1 hour. I decided to push the envelope a little at just under 12 hours.)
My initial thoughts upon cleaning/lathering are that this knot has phenomenal backbone compared to my Silvertips, yet much softer tips compared to my Best. The knot isn't advertised as extra density/hair, but it seems much denser than my NOS vintage brushes. I have been leery of trying a Finest knot until now, and I'm really glad that I'm finally taking the plunge. If this brush performs as well as it felt on the test lathering, I may be restoring a quite a few more of my brushes with Finest knots. I can't wait to take this brush for its maiden voyage as the brush it should have been from the start.
Needless to say, I was not happy with the knot. In fact, I was very disappointed. After wrestling with myself over altering a souvenir that I consider to be precious, I decided to take the risk, and I am extremely happy that I did. After speaking to a friend on B&B who shared a review from another member, in which his Virginia Sheng Finest brush was compared to a Kent BK8 (his was a 24mm), I chose to purchase a Virginia Sheng 22mm Finest Badger to use for my first Finest Badger brush.
I've included as many shots as I could force myself to take in my excitement to complete this project. I believe it turned out quite nicely, and after a test lather this morning, I can't wait to use this brush.
The knots (I also ordered a 22mm Silvertip) came in a black tube, which was quadruple wrapped in bubble wrap. Scroll to the bottom to see the specs of my brush, and my initial impressions of the Virginia Sheng Finest knot.
Handle: Knights of Dublin (Vulfix?) - hole widened to 24mm using dremel - hole edge chamfered by hand
Knot type: Virginia Sheng Finest Badger
Knot size: 22mm
Knot diameter (top of handle): 24mm
Overall height: 91mm
Handle height: 41mm
Knot loft: 50mm
I think that these knots were well packaged. It wasn't the prettiest packaging, but I'm not about to complain- the knots were well protected. Notice the plastic bands wrapped around the knot, inside the thin plastic wrapper, which was inside the tube wrapped in bubble wrap. The shipping always seems to take forever when you're waiting for something you're really looking forward to, but 2.5 weeks from China to Detroit, MI is not bad.
The hair did have a strong chemical smell, which is still lingering after 16 hours and a test lathering. (I know you're supposed to wait 24 hours for the epoxy to fully cure, but the Devcon clear 5 minute epoxy is supposed to fully cure after 1 hour. I decided to push the envelope a little at just under 12 hours.)
My initial thoughts upon cleaning/lathering are that this knot has phenomenal backbone compared to my Silvertips, yet much softer tips compared to my Best. The knot isn't advertised as extra density/hair, but it seems much denser than my NOS vintage brushes. I have been leery of trying a Finest knot until now, and I'm really glad that I'm finally taking the plunge. If this brush performs as well as it felt on the test lathering, I may be restoring a quite a few more of my brushes with Finest knots. I can't wait to take this brush for its maiden voyage as the brush it should have been from the start.
And, the VS Silvertip feels fantastic initially as well. I can't wait to lather it up, and see how it performs.
