My first project was to replace the knot on a stock VanDer Hagen brush. Although not a "looker", the new brush has been totally awesome, and I have been using it daily for the last 4-5 months. Since I recently completed a Titanium handle for my fist razor project, today I decided to make a new Titanium (6al-4v) handle for a second Silvertip knot from The Golden Nib.com. From left to right: (new 24mmx58mm Short Loft Silvertip knot, my modified VanDer Hagen brush, the Omega boar 31064 "banded" model, and Omega boar #49): Here is the Titanium bar I used for this project: I started by smoothing the OD and face-off the Ti bar with a PCD insert: I then proceeded to very slowly work on the shape - it took me between 4-5 hours to do all of the machining today: I added some internal grooves to provide mechanical lock to the epoxy (the knot can't slide out): Then the assembly (the easy part!): Compared to my other shaving brushes (Ti handle=5.1oz, VanDer Hagen=2oz, Omega boar=2.7oz): And here is my Titanium pair:
That's amazing. The raw materials for those must have cost a pretty penny. Did you just have some scraps lying around?
THY handle ! God bless your hands,i hope to see some other handles like this one from you My respects.
Thank you guys for the kind words I missed this earlier. The Ti costs between $40-60 for the piece I used, and of course about $25-30 for the knot. So about $80-90 just for materials before adding machining/labor to make one.