TGN Finest vs Finest F2-Help with selection, please

Hi!
I have a restore in progress, and I have two knots from TGN on the way. One in 20mm Finest, one 18mm Finest F2, which TGN states is "taken from the Manchurian badger". I know there is a good portion of the wet shaving community who are enamored of Manchurian, but honestly, I don't know enough to understand the difference.

http://thegoldennib.com/wet-shaving/badger-hair-knots.html

The difference in size makes zero difference to me. I like smaller knots so anything in that range is fine, but the diameter might affect things like loft in regards to the characteristics I'm looking for. I hope this brush will end up being a favorite of mine, and one I can find great pleasure in using.
Both knots are 60mm loft. I bowl lather, so thinking of a final loft in the 50-52mm range. Not looking for flop. I want some backbone, but I would like a bit of splay on the face. Mostly use soaps, but some creams.
Taking the information above into consideration, those of you who have experience in both knots, I would appreciate opinions and suggestions, and also feedback on the loft height I mention for these type and diameter knots.

I found very little difference between the original and the F2. Some have reported they prefer the original over the F2, but I could not tell a difference in the knot I used.

Mike, thanks!

I did run across my old post here:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/358621-TGN-Finest-or-Finest-F2?p=5408687#post5408687

Mike, thanks for the link. Very helpful.

Good luck with the restoration, Mike and I am sure both knots will be fine!

Thanks, Celestino. I chose the F2.

Pre-bloom.

I've used both knots. My experience is the the F-2 has somewhat softer tips, but a bit less backbone than the standard Finest. All things being equal (e.g. knot diameter) I personally would set the F-2 at a slightly lower loft than the same size Finest. I primarily face lather, so for me the F-2 (20 mm) works best below 50 mm, i.e. at about 48 mm, while the Finest (again, 20 mm) works well at about 50-52 mm. But that's my taste and, of course, YMMV. Both are excellent knots. If you can test lather at different lofts, that would be ideal.

Spang, thanks. I set it at 52mm. It is pillow-y soft. Not floppy, but it does not have a lot of backbone. I think it would probably have been a bit better at 48mm, but I like it where it is.
It lathered I Coloniali Mango soap this evening and whipped up a decent lather. But I need to watch it, as it retains more water than my Duke 2.
Here is a post bloom pic.

Here's a couple of restores I did with the TGN knots in question. The Ever Ready on the right is a 20mm standard Finest set at 52mm; the ivory handle Erskine on the left is a 20mm F-2, also set at 52mm. I'm with you; I wish I'd set the F-2 just a bit lower, but it's still a fine brush. Like you said, soft as a pillow. I use it mostly for creams, but it certainly will handle hard soaps with no problem. BTW, nice job on your restore. It looks really great.

Spang, those look beautiful. Love the shape of the Erskine, and I don't see many of the ERs with that style handle around here.

Great job on the restore Mike - looks really good. I think that I should have set mine lower too - F2 at 52mm (think if 2 1/8" converts to that) would have preferred it at 46-47.

Pillowy soft is a really good description of the feeling - like it is floating on your face. I never had a good badger brush - so it is hard for me to compare it to other brushes.

Spang - nice job on those two - very nice handles and job on your two. Good info on these knots.

labrax, thanks.
Some of the higher priced Badger brushes have soft backbone and high lofts. It just depends what you like. There are guys that like both types.
The more I use this brush the more I'm glad I set it where I did. It's giving me a chance to experience a different type of brush from my usual, and the more I use it the more I like it.
That being said, I think there's a happy medium I want to get to. The next brush I do, I'll really play around with loft until I get what I think is perfect before setting it.
I think that's the biggest advantage to restoring/assembling your own brushes; you can play around and get exactly what pleases you.

SRNewb said:

labrax, thanks.
Some of the higher priced Badger brushes have soft backbone and high lofts. It just depends what you like. There are guys that like both types.
The more I use this brush the more I'm glad I set it where I did. It's giving me a chance to experience a different type of brush from my usual, and the more I use it the more I like it.
That being said, I think there's a happy medium I want to get to. The next brush I do, I'll really play around with loft until I get what I think is perfect before setting it.
I think that's the biggest advantage to restoring/assembling your own brushes; you can play around and get exactly what pleases you.

Click to expand...

Mike - your comments are right on the money! I do think that doing these restores allows you to customize it where you want it. I think both of us are doing the same thing, in fact, I have the same brush handle in a ivory/white that I am putting together next.

I set 5 pieces of buckshot in the bottom with some epoxy last night. Need to wet sand, polish and set the knot in it tomorrow or the next day. The roads were closed today due to snow storm and I need to get some epoxy to finish it off - so it will need to wait a bit.

That will be an awesome brush! For me at least, these handles fit my hand really well. And their length is just right whether bowl of face lathering, also IMO.
As for the snowfall, we got about half an inch thank God. Hope you guys thaw out quick.