Here are 4 new 2 band badger brushes for my personal collection. Hence the name for the thread 4 X 2 Band Adventures. I have obtained some 2 band knots from multiple makers for restoration and custom made brushes. Two of the brushes are customs that I have made and one restored brush. The source of the knots will remain a mystery for the sake of this thread. In addition I have purchased a Simpsons Super 2 Band for comparison. This will be a comparison and contrast thread between these brushes. Each brush will be spotlighted with some individual pictures and a description of how it performed. Here is the 4 X 2 Band Bunch. Let the adventures begin!
Now for the testing. This will be the first round of four using a hard soap as a common benchmark. The soap I am selecting for the first round of testing is VDH Deluxe Hard Soap. I chose this soap for three reasons. It is a good performing soap that I am very familiar with. It is readily available in the market place. Lastly, I am not testing the soap or making the soap the star of the show, this is about the brushes. The first brush on the list is the Simpsons Keyhole Super 2 Band. This brush was purchased new and this is the first time it has been used. I soaked the brush in room temperature water while I took my shower. A small amount of water was placed on the soap to soften it up. After the shower, I took the brush and gave it a couple of light drop shakes to reduce the water. The brush was applied to the soap and it picked up a nice layer off the top with a couple of swirls. I began to bowl lather the soap and added a slight bit of water to the mix as I normally do. The soap exploded into a nice thick rich lather enough for two face passes and a full head pass. The brush applied the soap to my skin almost effortlessly. The handle was easy to grip and maneuvered around my face and head without any awkwardness. The knot was absolutely excellent. Perhaps one of the very best I have used. It has solid backbone and was soft without any hint of scritch. A perfect combination for many users who want a soft brush but not a floppy brush. The lather flowed easily from the knot and this brush was extremely effective as well as luxurious. Simpsons set the bar very high with this wonderful brush. The handle is easy to use and it looks very elegant. This is a very impressive brush and would provide years of excellent and luxurious service in anyone's collection. Well done Simpsons, well done indeed!
The next brush on the list is the 1943 Lady Liberty 2 Band. This brush is a custom brush that I produced. It has a wooden handle that has been saturated stained to produce a uniform color with two layers of polyurethane both inside (hole) and outside along with a final complete coating of clear epoxy over the polyurethane. The handle was completely coated before the knot was installed. This should provide long term protection for the handle. What is on the bottom of the handle is why this brush got its name. As with the Simpsons Keyhole, this is the first time this brush has been used. The testing procedure was the same as before. I soaked the brush in room temperature water while I took my shower. A small amount of water was placed on the soap to soften it up. After the shower, I took the brush and gave it a couple of light drop shakes to reduce the water. The brush was applied to the soap and it picked up a nice layer off the top with a couple of swirls. I began to bowl lather the soap and added a slight bit of water to the mix as I normally do. The soap exploded into a nice thick rich lather enough for two face passes and a full head pass. The brush applied the soap to my skin easily and smoothly. The handle was easy to grip and maneuvered around my face and head without any awkwardness. The knot was very good. It has solid backbone and is soft with a small amount of scritch. The lather flowed easily from the knot and this brush was extremely effective. This is a very nice brush and knot combination. The knot was not as good in my opinion as the Simpson Keyhole, however I would rate it at least 90% as good which is excellent rating. This combination should enjoy many years of excellent use.
Those sure are some nice brushes alright. I couldn't help but notice though..you seem to have money riding on them..
The next brush on the list is the Two Tone Made Rite. This brush was bought NOS and it had a Generation 1 Nylon knot that I estimate was made in the mid 1950s to the very early 1960s. Although the knot was in perfect condition, the performance of the original nylon knots left a lot to be desired in light of current technology (or any technology). Rather than replacing the knot with a current technology synthetic brush, I decided to use this brush to support a two band badger knot. So, when the knot was removed, the handle needed to be cleaned internally. A fixed post holding the original knot had to be removed to install a new knot to a reasonable depth. The two handle sections were separated, cleaned and reconnected with a complete layer of epoxy bonding the interlocking sections. At that point the replacement 22 mm two band knot was placed into the handle and the loft was set as seen in the following image. As with the prior brushes, this is the first time this brush/knot has been used. The testing procedure was the same as before. I soaked the brush in room temperature water while I took my shower. A small amount of water was placed on the soap to soften it up. After the shower, I took the brush and gave it a couple of light drop shakes to reduce the water. The brush was applied to the soap and it picked up a nice layer off the top with a couple of swirls. I began to bowl lather the soap and added a slight bit of water to the mix as I normally do. The soap exploded into a nice thick rich lather enough for two face passes and a full head pass. The brush applied the soap to my skin easily and smoothly. The handle was easy to grip and maneuvered around my face and head without any awkwardness. The knot was absolutely excellent. This matched the Simpsons Keyhole in terms of softness without scritch. It has good backbone. The 54 mm loft was required to accommodate the internal structure of the handle, which allows for slightly less backbone than the Simpsons Keyhole, but not enough to adversely affect the performance. The lather flowed easily from the knot and this brush was extremely effective as well as luxurious. This is a beautiful handle and I am really glad that I decided to use this in the two band test. The handle and knot combination are wonderful. I can't wait to perform more testing on this brush, however wait I must for there is one more brush to receive and initial testing
I'm really enjoying this series. Lady Liberty is stunning & the magnificent Ring of Fire would make Johnny proud. I'll just turn up the music a bit & eagerly await the next review. "Love is a burning thing And it makes a fiery ring Bound by wild desire I fell into a ring of fire..." Sneaky, ain't ya? I missed the reference at first!
The last brush on the list is the Custom Ring of Fire. This brush was one that I had been thinking about doing for some time. When this group of knots came along I felt the time was right. I had an elliptical piece of hard wood of unknown origin and I began to cut and shape it down to where I wanted to accommodate a medium size knot of around 24 to 25 mm. I chose to use saturation staining as the method of enhancing the wood color wise. Saturation staining is a process where you soak the wood for a given time in a stain mixture. I chose a Cabernet (Red Wine) stain mixed with Dark Walnut Stain and Orange oil. The mix was set at 25% Cabernet / 10% Walnut / 65% Orange oil. The handle was fully immersed and soaked in this mixture for a full day to allow the stain to completely saturate the wood inside and outside. Now with this method you are at the mercy of how the wood will behave with staining because when it is fully saturated it will not accept more stain even in the outer layers because it is full of Orange oil. When the handle was removed, the wood had a hardened section all the way around that did not absorb as much stain as most of the brush. That lighter band dances across the remainder of the brush like a ring of fire. That is how the brush got its name. Other scuffed areas are also prominent where the stain was a shade between the light and dark sections. The dark sections are a reddish brown. After the handle completely dried out, three layers of polyurethane was applied inside the hole and outside. A final layer of clear epoxy was applied inside the hole and all the way around the outside for a strong protection against water. A bottom pedestal piece was attached with epoxy and eventually the 24 mm two band knot was secured at a 54 mm loft to match the Made Rite Two Tone to determine the differences between the knots under equal loft settings. As with the prior brushes, this is the first time this brush has been used. The testing procedure was the same as before. I soaked the brush in room temperature water while I took my shower. A small amount of water was placed on the soap to soften it up. After the shower, I took the brush and gave it a couple of light drop shakes to reduce the water. The brush was applied to the soap and it picked up a nice layer off the top with a couple of swirls. I began to bowl lather the soap and added a slight bit of water to the mix as I normally do. The soap exploded into a nice thick rich lather enough for three face passes and a full head pass. The brush applied the soap to my skin easily and smoothly. The handle was easy to grip and maneuvered around my face and head without any awkwardness. The handle was not weighted down and is light even for one of its relative size. The knot was absolutely excellent. This matched the Simpsons Keyhole in terms of softness without scritch. It has good backbone. The 54 mm loft is a good length based on the larger 24 mm knot. It had slightly less backbone than the Simpsons Keyhole, but more than the Made Rite Two Tone 22 mm of the same loft size. This brush produced more lather than the three prior ones due to a larger tip area which allows for more soap capture and greater surface area. The lather flowed easily from the knot and this brush was extremely effective as well as luxurious. This is an excellent performing brush with great looks as well.
Well my old photobucket account decided long ago to go south due to too much viewing. The photos were replaced today.
