I decided I need a little help choosing a new knot for my father's day gift of a handle. I'm thinking any black/white knot style, as well as the Cashmere are out of the running. For one reason, I think a traditional Plisson type coloring will look better with this handle. For another reason, I already have a custom Tuxedo and a Custom Cashmere. This handle is drilled for a 24mm knot. I think I could get a 25mm in there if anyone knows of any, though. I really like soft and dense. I don't like to set my knots very deep. I like the extra splay and softness I get from the higher lofts. I also feel like these synthetic brushes tend to drip a lot more water down the handle as you lather when the knots are set lower. For reference, here are my current synths in order of preference Cashmere Tuxedo Stirling 26mm Kong Plisson - This one straddles the line for me on floppiness. I do enjoy using it, but it's easy to press too hard and bottom out the brush while lathering. TGC Synthetic - loft is a little too low on this one. 22mm Maggard Synthetic. I really enjoy the softness of the this one, but it's a bit small for head shaving. Asylum Brush works Scanlon - Ubersoft type knot. More scritch than I want for the new brush. Whipped Dog 24mm - Ubersoft knot, same comment as Scanlon. Here are the knots I'm currently considering. Let me know if there are others that should make the list. Frugalshave 24mm Plisson Style Fan knot. Anyone know anything about this? I just thought it might be interesting to have a fan shaped synth. Maggard 24mm Synth EverShave 24mm Synth - Advertised as softest knot out there, but doesn't look very dense EverShave 24mm Plissoft/Plisson - Doesn't look very dense. Another option I'm considering is having the handle drilled out to accept a larger knot and going with a 26 or 28mm Maggard synth. Pics below for reference. What say you?
The golden nib. Have heard a lot of good things about their offerings and they are affordable. Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
I cast my vote before seeing the handle. I was going to recommend a Jayaruh with a maggards knot. I really like the synthetic knot from Maggards. But my exposure to synthetic knots is very limited. I'll be watching for the final outcome Good luck in your final decision!
Do you have any actual experience with any of their synthetics? How do they compare to the ones I've tried and/or listed?
You need to reward that beautiful handle with a nice quality badger knot. Just my opinion. Go big on at least one brush in your collection.
I love the Maggard 24mm synthetic, but I am more partial to knots from The Whipped Dog and The Golden Nib. The Whipped Dog are a little more expensive than TGN which are a little more expensive than Maggards. But, all are within a single %. You really can't go wrong with any of them. The Nylon 3-band from TGN would look awesome in that handle.
I own a Golden Nib knot that I used in an old Rubberset handle. TGN 22mm <--> Maggard 22mm <--> TGN 24mm I love the TGN 24mm knot. The handle is Ok. I prefer the handle style of the one on the left. BTW... It's my opinion that the TGN knot has a little more backbone.
I have a custom Nathan Clark Silvertip that's currently in his queue for a knot replacement. I'm good with just the one high end badger. I prefer the synthetics.
Oh, wrong kind of synth, you say? I use the Maggard 26mm and love it. It is my daily driver. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
I've used the Maggard's synthetics , APShave Tuxedo and faux horse hair and Evershave synthetic Fan top. For backbone for strongest to lesser ... Maggard's, Evershave, then APShaves For softness of tips ... softest to lesser (which is difficult due that they're that close to each other) ... APShaves (specifically faux horse), Evershave, then Maggard's That's why I picked Evershave It's the middle of the road on softness and backbone.
My favorite current synthetic knot is the Cashmere. I like the loft and softness better than many other current knots. The Tuxedo knots are very soft, but have a shorter loft and thus more backbone and scrubbiness. Not bad qualities, depending on what you like. I recently got one of the newer "Full Moon" knots from EverShave on Etsy. It is a good knot, soft tips. It is quite similar to the Tuxedo knot in overall feel: similar loft, similar backbone, similar soft tips. But of course, quite a different look with the faux silvertip color scheme. Personally, I like the Cashmere knot better, and I pulled the Full Moon knot out of the handle (easy to do with silicone rather than epoxy) and I am waiting for another Cashmere to arrive in the mail next week. UPDATE: I went back to compare the Full Moon and Tuxedo knots again, and I have to revise what I wrote previously. While the Full Moon is a nice knot, the fibers are stiffer than the Tuxedo and it has more backbone. Nice looking knot, soft tips, and if you like backbone, a good choice. Personally, the softer backbone of the Tuxedo appeals more to me.
You rang? Knot preference is a personal thing. I have stayed out of this, but now that I am here, ... The best bang for the buck is found at Maggard Razors. They are all good knots. I bought the trio at Shave Envy, and they were all good knots. I have decided for me that the 24mm knot is as big as I want to go. I have made a few 30mm and saved one back for myself, but for me, the 24mm is as big as I will go for my personal use. I have not tried the fan shaped synthetics. It is just not my style. It's your brush, choose what you like.