Best Places to Buy Brush Knots

I have searched far and wide for this answer and I am unable to find it. So hopefully this thread can be built into a one stop shop for those who wish to make a home made shaving brush or refurbish an older, perhaps vintage family heirloom and do not know where to buy a knot for it.

I personally am looking for a quality Silvertip to Fine Badger Brush Knot and all I can find are made in China. I do not know the actual quality of these and I am wondering if there is a specific place recommended for knots of this type as I want my creation to last a very long time.

Boar Knot, Synthetic and any other Shave Knot type vendor suggestions are also definitely welcome as I want this to be for everyone who wants to build a brush or refurbish an older/vintage brush.

Awaiting the infinite wisdom of the experts.
Sincerely;
Nate

The Golden Nib has knots and handles.

You might find most vendors who sell badger knots, do in fact get their knots from China. It is still legal to hunt badger in China. Don't be apprehensive of knots from China. Vendors do have some quality control, by being picky of the supplier and supplies they select.

I ordered an 16mm 2-Band Finest for a butterscotch restore just last night from The Golden Nib (TGN). It came from China. TGN has an excellent reputation for their Finest knots.

+1 on TGN. I have a 24mm finest, extra hair fan shaped knot that is absolutely amazing. I ordered a 3 pack of black badger from Ace shaving on eBay and they perform well and look good, but never stop shedding, they only slow down. My next round will be from Virginia Sheng, unless VS and Ace are one in the same. Whipped Dog is also on my list to try a knot from

I've only used one supplier so far but I'm very happy - - so no need to change! The Golden Nib has a good selection of sizes and grades of badger, boar and synthetic. I have bought a dozen of their knots and never had a stinky one or one that lost excessive amounts of hair. The service is very good and Tony, the owner, is happy to answer questions and make suggestions. They even looked through their inventory for me once when I needed a particular odd size (not something I would ask them to do often, but they did it with courtesy and found just what I needed!). Highly recommend them!

I PIFd a synthetic TGN to a friend here. You can see his comments in the Brotherhood of the Blue Tip thread. He liked it.

Earlier this evening I put a Best Badger knot from Old Town Shaving into an Ever Ready 150. I gave that one to my real life friend who got me into this. It wasn't a cheap knot, but I was impressed with the density...which was at least on par with my Simpson. You can see a pic of the brush in the current monthly restraint thread.

I think you can order confidently from either...but I really liked the feel and density of the knot I handled from OTS today.

That's my $0.02.

I suggest Virginia Sheng on the bay. I have many knots from her and they are absolutely AMAZING! Check out my many brush restos in the forum here. In fact, I just just got done posting a new one!

Excellent resources. After a little research it appears that no mater what brush or company you buy a brush from, if it is Badger Hair, 99.9% of the time, the knot in it is made in China. So that kinda narrows it down. I have looked at all resources mentioned and I like what I see, now to go and buy a caliper and measure out exactly what size I need to buy for this brush.

Thank you all so very much and hopefully this thread will help others as well.
Sincerely;
Nate

Devonmoonshire said:

Excellent resources. After a little research it appears that no mater what brush or company you buy a brush from, if it is Badger Hair, 99.9% of the time, the knot in it is made in China. So that kinda narrows it down. I have looked at all resources mentioned and I like what I see, now to go and buy a caliper and measure out exactly what size I need to buy for this brush.

Thank you all so very much and hopefully this thread will help others as well.
Sincerely;
Nate

Click to expand...

I picked up a basic Vernier caliper from Home Depot for under $10. And if anything I posted was helpful, I'm glad for it. I look forward to seeing what you do next!

againstthegrain said:

I picked up a basic Vernier caliper from Home Depot for under $10. And if anything I posted was helpful, I'm glad for it. I look forward to seeing what you do next!

Click to expand...

Just picked one of those up at Ace today, a little over 13 bucks but that is well worth the gas it would take to get to the nearest HD, Lowe's or Harbor Freight. Nice little caliper for the needs I have, thank you for the advice

Sincerely;
Nate

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. If I need a knot quickly I buy from TGN. If a couple weeks isn't going to kill me then I buy from Virginia on the bay. I only buy from Ace if he has something I need and the other two don't have it and I can wait almost two months to get it.

Just bought a 22 mm Silvertip from WD since I have been wanting to get a straight razor as well for some time now I figured go ahead and get them both from the same place. Now Hopefully the knot will sit securely in the carved out hole and it will be deep enough to make for a soft yet rigid brush. First one so here's hoping it comes out useable.