Shavemac 2 Band Silvertip Arrived

Jarick, that knot must be a tad too large at 58mm! I have a 28mm set at 51.5mm and I find it almost excellent as I like more backbone. I have to echo your sentiments with this new hair as it is just wonderful and one of the best knots/hair I have ever tried!

Not too big at all! I've learned that loft is my friend, especially with bulb shape brushes. If they are too low-lofted, you have to smash the brushes to get them to open up, and I don't want to damage the bristles. At the higher lofts, they splay much easier, yet they are controlled. Also, the bulbs get pointy at low lofts and that can lead to a scratchy feeling.

The only reason I would go with a smaller brush is because I've been doing 2-pass shaves a lot lately, and I don't want to feel like I'm wasting soap. So a 23-25mm brush at 54-56mm might be more manageable.

You make good points. No doubt why Thaters are so good.
As for the Shavemac, I'm going by what I've heard about dropping the lofts on the fans. Horses (badgers?) for courses, or something like that.

Jarick said:

. . . I've learned that loft is my friend, especially with bulb shape brushes. If they are too low-lofted, you have to smash the brushes to get them to open up, and I don't want to damage the bristles. At the higher lofts, they splay much easier, yet they are controlled. Also, the bulbs get pointy at low lofts and that can lead to a scratchy feeling. . .

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Yeah, my comments were about bulbs. Fans need a lower loft than bulbs, but I still don't love them. The only other thing I could think is a really small fan like a 20-22mm knot at 42-46mm loft. Still not sure I'd love it, but the big fans don't appeal to me at all.

For the Thaters, the 4125 handles are excellent but I feel the lofts are just a bit short, so that's the nice thing about Shavemac. I could have gone Thater 4125/2 2-band bulb but the loft would be 54 vs 58.

celestino said:

Jarick, that knot must be a tad too large at 58mm! I have a 28mm set at 51.5mm and I find it almost excellent as I like more backbone. I have to echo your sentiments with this new hair as it is just wonderful and one of the best knots/hair I have ever tried!

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Your 28 is set at 51.5? I'll be curious to see that one at our next meetup as well as check out that fabled Shavemac non D01 2 band hair! If you still have it... I would have requested that 28 at least at 55mm. But you know me!

I'm with Jarick in the "loft is my friend" camp with regards to 2 band pronounced bulb brushes.

Celestino is one tough cookie!

I was never a fan "fan" until I started reading the reviews of the new Shavemac knot. These posts about the higher lofts, though, have me re-examining my current fan-plan and reconsidering a bulb again -- though I'm still not ready to go above 52mm. As for bulbs, my Thater 4292 is a 22/51 and has plenty of backbone while still opening up without the need to smash. One of the ways it achieves that is by having less density than the 4125, but I don't miss that so much as it improves flowthrough tremendously. Lots of ways to get to where you want to go. Coupla great brushes.

Those 4292 brushes have higher lofts rather than lower density. I think the 4125 lofts work better for fans and 4292 better for bulbs.

Looking through my brush history, I've had 9 badgers with fan-shaped knots. The silvertips have always been pretty floppy, but they weren't terribly dense. The 2-band and best badgers were better.

I can't describe the face feel of the fan vs bulb adequately. The fan brushes do splay out easily, but it's almost like you're lathering with the side of the brush hair. With the bulbs, you have to push to splay them a bit more, but they seem to focus the tips of the brushes back on the face.

The more I think about it, the more I'm thinking I'll probably get another 24-25mm bulb with a higher loft and have a rotation of about three brushes.

I ended up increasing my loft on my order to 52mm on my 24mm knot. For my tastes, I don't think I can go any higher than that. Bernd said that the brush will ship on Wednesday.

I've been badger-less for about a month and have been using a Plisson and a SOC. It will be quite a nice transition to go to something nice and dense.

Been going back and forth on the next brush. I think I like the concept of the 3-band silvertip, but the 2-band just is excellent. The 3-band can clump into a mop when wet but the 2-band still retains its shape. It seems to bloom a bit wider but has a bit more backbone. The tips are incredibly soft.

At first I was thinking of a 3-band silvertip bulb with 24-25mm knot and 54-56mm loft, but now I'm kind of thinking of a 2-band silvertip fan with 22-23mm knot and 46-48mm loft. I have a Thater 2-band fan that measures 25mm knot and 58mm loft which is way too big. Even with a hair binder bringing the loft down to 52mm, it's still way too big on the face. So a 22mm x 46mm or 23mm x 48mm seems like a good size for a two-pass shave.

It works differently than the TGN Finest, too. The TGN Finest has TONS of backbone and gel tips, whereas the Thater 2-band has soft (but not floppy) backbone and soft but not gel tips. That seems to make it more of a sponging, massaging sensation as opposed to a scrubby (yet very soft) massaging of the face.

Used again today. The tips are incredibly soft, not even a hint of scritch, just like a big pillow with a little more backbone and structure than your average silvertip, and of course a good density, not like a Kent for instance.

I've got the cash for the next one and I'm pretty sure I'm going with a 24x54 bulb shape. Just the same exact thing with a little smaller knot that would be nice for 2-pass shaves.

Jarick, great to hear you are enjoying the brush.

I am enjoying mine, immensely, and might be preferring this hair to most I have tried; its attributes of being very dense, uber-soft tips, very good backbone and nice flow-through make it such a joy to use. There is not the slightest notice of scritch/scrub, really. However, I couldn't use a smaller brush than 28mm.

Jarick said:

I've got the cash for the next one and I'm pretty sure I'm going with a 24x54 bulb shape. Just the same exact thing with a little smaller knot that would be nice for 2-pass shaves.

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I have a 24x53 silvertip 2 band bulb in a wolf whiskers handle. Absolutely wonderful brush!

Got any pics? How do you like that loft?

Here is the photo of it that Peter sent me when he was finished. I've used it in rotation about 3 times so far. It has bloomed nicely- not overly large. The tips are very very soft when wet ( probably the sofest out of any brush I've had) and clumpy/crunchy when dry. The loft seems perfect. I primarly bowl lather but have also face lathered with it. Great backbone but absolutely not too stiff and not floppy at all. Peter did a fantastic job.

I love his swirl designs. Great brush!

Jarick said:

I love his swirl designs. Great brush!

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Me too, thanks!

Well, the Shavemac 2-band will have a little brother on the way. Ordered a 173 ivory handle with a 24mm x 54mm 2-band silvertip.

Jarick said:

Well, the Shavemac 2-band will have a little brother on the way. Ordered a 173 ivory handle with a 24mm x 54mm 2-band silvertip.

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Congrats!

May I take this opportunity to post a pic of my recent Wolf Whiskers Shavemac two band. 26mm knot set at 51mm.

MaxP said:

May I take this opportunity to post a pic of my recent Wolf Whiskers Shavemac two band. 26mm knot set at 51mm.
View attachment 561624View attachment 561625View attachment 561626

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beautiful! What are your impressions of the knot?