Four handles came in the mail this last week. Two are for me and two are for my daughter's father-in-law. Not only do we share a granddaughter, we share an interest in nice brushes.
Nearly two years ago shortly after the granddaughter was born, he went to visit. When he saw the mug and brush I gifted his son, he confiscated it for his personal use for the course of the visit, until I came to visit too, and told him to give it back and buy his own. He ordered his own that night. His first brush was a Whipped Dog 24 mm Silvertip. On the same order he included a 16 mm Silvertip knot. (Whipped Dog doesn't carry them anymore). He never got around to making a handle for it.
Before then, I bought a Whipped Dog 16 mm brush. I liked the knot and its performance well enough, but the handle was big and bulky for such a little knot. It appears to be the same casting as is used for a 20 mm brush. I ended up buying a 16 mm knot by itself from Whipped Dog and making a handle from a turning blank purchased from Exotic Blanks. He liked my little brush and he intended to do the same thing, make his own handle. I gave him a turning blank, but he never found a friend with a lathe that would help him make a handle.
A few months ago, the knot fell out of my original brush. That gave me an opportunity to re-knot the handle with something more befitting the handle and still suitable for travel. I ordered a Virginia Sheng 18 mm Silvertip and modified the hole to accept it. That included drilling deeper to set the loft at 45 mm. The original 16 mm was set at 40 mm. The one I made a handle for was set as high as I could set the little knot at 44 mm. This was a big improvement for the bulky handle, but still a little chunky.
Now I had an extra 16 mm knot and started looking for a handle. Also a few months ago, someone posted about the Frank Shaving handles they ordered and eventually I got around to contacting Frank Shaving and asking about handles for a 16 mm knot. They responded that they didn't have any 16 mm handles, but had one style of 18 mm if I thought it would work. I ordered four, one for my little knot, one for my friend, and one each for a future project.
You may ask why I felt I needed another 16 mm brush. The knot, although a little less lofty than the one used on the brush I made, is special in its own way, it has hooked tips and is really a nice little knot.
Here is a photo of the handles before starting. My knot is on the left, and my friend's knot is on the right.
Here are the two knots installed, again, mine on the left and his on the right. The hole diameter was pretty much perfect. I spaced mine up with three dimes, and he spaced his up with two dimes. I needed three dimes for my knot to contact the floor of the hole due to the swell just above the base disc. His didn't need that. Final loft on mine is 43 mm and on his is 45 mm. Final weight on mine is 41 grams and on his is 39 grams (must be the extra dime).
Here we have my new brush in the middle, the brush with the original handle, now re-knotted with a larger knot, on the right, and the brush with the handle I made on the left. The new handle is pretty much ideal for the knot although I really like the longer handle of the one on the left.
Here is a line-up of all my travel size brushes. An Art of Shaving (what they call a temporary brush) on the right, and an Omega 599 on the left. I travel a lot and it is nice to be able to rotate brushes for travel as well as at home.
And to put things into perspective, here is the new little brush with a 22 mm High Mountain set in a Whipped Dog handle. This is pretty much a normal sized brush. I call it my "Goldilocks" brush because there is so much about it that is just right. It is not a Whipped Dog knot. I did this before Whipped Dog offered High Mountain knots. The large brush is my Uber Beast, a 30 mm Super Silvertip knot set at 69 mm loft in a Whipped Dog handle. the new brush truly is a little brush.
Nearly two years ago shortly after the granddaughter was born, he went to visit. When he saw the mug and brush I gifted his son, he confiscated it for his personal use for the course of the visit, until I came to visit too, and told him to give it back and buy his own. He ordered his own that night. His first brush was a Whipped Dog 24 mm Silvertip. On the same order he included a 16 mm Silvertip knot. (Whipped Dog doesn't carry them anymore). He never got around to making a handle for it.
Before then, I bought a Whipped Dog 16 mm brush. I liked the knot and its performance well enough, but the handle was big and bulky for such a little knot. It appears to be the same casting as is used for a 20 mm brush. I ended up buying a 16 mm knot by itself from Whipped Dog and making a handle from a turning blank purchased from Exotic Blanks. He liked my little brush and he intended to do the same thing, make his own handle. I gave him a turning blank, but he never found a friend with a lathe that would help him make a handle.
A few months ago, the knot fell out of my original brush. That gave me an opportunity to re-knot the handle with something more befitting the handle and still suitable for travel. I ordered a Virginia Sheng 18 mm Silvertip and modified the hole to accept it. That included drilling deeper to set the loft at 45 mm. The original 16 mm was set at 40 mm. The one I made a handle for was set as high as I could set the little knot at 44 mm. This was a big improvement for the bulky handle, but still a little chunky.
Now I had an extra 16 mm knot and started looking for a handle. Also a few months ago, someone posted about the Frank Shaving handles they ordered and eventually I got around to contacting Frank Shaving and asking about handles for a 16 mm knot. They responded that they didn't have any 16 mm handles, but had one style of 18 mm if I thought it would work. I ordered four, one for my little knot, one for my friend, and one each for a future project.
You may ask why I felt I needed another 16 mm brush. The knot, although a little less lofty than the one used on the brush I made, is special in its own way, it has hooked tips and is really a nice little knot.
Here is a photo of the handles before starting. My knot is on the left, and my friend's knot is on the right.
Here are the two knots installed, again, mine on the left and his on the right. The hole diameter was pretty much perfect. I spaced mine up with three dimes, and he spaced his up with two dimes. I needed three dimes for my knot to contact the floor of the hole due to the swell just above the base disc. His didn't need that. Final loft on mine is 43 mm and on his is 45 mm. Final weight on mine is 41 grams and on his is 39 grams (must be the extra dime).
Here we have my new brush in the middle, the brush with the original handle, now re-knotted with a larger knot, on the right, and the brush with the handle I made on the left. The new handle is pretty much ideal for the knot although I really like the longer handle of the one on the left.
Here is a line-up of all my travel size brushes. An Art of Shaving (what they call a temporary brush) on the right, and an Omega 599 on the left. I travel a lot and it is nice to be able to rotate brushes for travel as well as at home.
And to put things into perspective, here is the new little brush with a 22 mm High Mountain set in a Whipped Dog handle. This is pretty much a normal sized brush. I call it my "Goldilocks" brush because there is so much about it that is just right. It is not a Whipped Dog knot. I did this before Whipped Dog offered High Mountain knots. The large brush is my Uber Beast, a 30 mm Super Silvertip knot set at 69 mm loft in a Whipped Dog handle. the new brush truly is a little brush.
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