A single perfunctory ARKO lather to defunk even though I didn't notice any smell. Second try at De Vergulde Hand achieved great success! The knot released lather well. Having had conversation with Steve @Vlasta, he set the knot towards the bottom of the ferrule. That gave great backbone and conquered my issue with floppiness. This is my third handle of the type. First was an actual vintage unnumbered Rubberset 400. It was not shiny, and the knot was beyond usability. I did get the old boar out and had started cleaning up the patina. That handle is residing in Osaka, Japan with Member Jack @Sparrow. Before I completed my restoration Member Tom @twhite place a B-400 with me. That's been a great brush now fitted with three ferrules containing an APShaveCo Tuxedo, a Whipped Dog HM badger I received from Member Clint @clint64 , and finally a new Omega 98 boar. The knot Steve installed in the T-400 is so much better than some of the early badgers I've owned. Now I' have to figure out what to put in the oversized extra ferrule... The T-400 has arrived, and so have I!
Like Jim @Jayaruh , Steve @Vlasta is a Supporting Vendor of The Shave Den. Find one of Steve's post and look in his Signature at the bottom of his post for a link to his Etsy shop, or check his monthly post in The Mall / Hot Deals / Vendor's Corner.
Unless I'm mistaken, you can actually adjust the depth of the knot at any time simply by screwing the plate that the knot sits on. That is assuming you only put epoxy on the very bottom of the knot and no epoxy gets into the threads inside the ferrule. I've decided to get an Envy Shave Luxury Silvertip to put in mine. The handle is gorgeous. And I love the hefty weight of it. Not too heavy but not too light. Just right.
Yup, Steve has come up with an innovation (Patent Pending) by adding a threaded plate to set under the knot. As you described the knot can be glued to the plate and turned on the internal ferrule threads to raise or lower the knot. I opted for no plate to allow the knot to be set as deep as possible without the adjustable option.
It's come to my attention that a few people have also purchased the boar knot through Vlasta's brush sales. I personally have purchased one too, and I would say that it is too coarse and abrasive at first. Through talking with Steve and disusing the knot I did a little research on fast break in procedures for boar knots. After watching several video's on it on YouTube I came up with my own procedure to try and see if it could be saved and used comfortably. After trying to use the boar 4 times it still seemed the same as the first time I used it, yes I did wash and condition it before first use. What I came up with is almost a weeks worth of breaking it in, not continuous work but 6 days to get to the point of using it. The procedure goes like this, soak the knot for 48 hours in cold water in the refrigerator and rub the knot on a cotton towel for 15-20 minutes. Return it to the cold water and wait another 48 hours and repeat the rubbing for 15-20 minutes. Do the same for a third time and see if it helps. I just completed my first round of soaking and rubbing the knot and it seemed to make a vast improvement in the knot. I am starting to see a bit of split ends in the knot that means softening of the knot. I will report more as the process continues in hopes that this will help others with the same problem. This fast break in should also work on other boar brushes I suspect.
it has been brought to my attention that the boar knots I supplied to a very few of my T-400 buyers are less than I would have required in terms of hardness and shedding. If I supplied you with a boar knot AND you are less than totally satisfied then hit me up with an eMail. I will gladly replace the knot and ferrule free of charge. Don't suffer in silence
BY THE WAY from now on all of my boar knots will be harvested from Omega handles or bought from a different dealer. The ones I used turned out more bad than good.
Out of 100 knots sold recently, only 5 were boar. So its an issue to be resolved. I am replacing all effected customers with a new knot, a new ferrule if they want to replace themselves or a full refund.
I like to give my customers the service they deserve - including holding my hand up when I messed up. I had actually emailed all of the customers for the T-400 on this very subject of boar knot quality. Thanks to Joe for spreading the word. Steve
Thanks for all who responded, including Steve - he PM'd me. Going for a boar! Can anyone advise me on knot set height? Is it a standard loft or do I have some input?
By the way dude it will be a knot from an Omega brush. Brand new. I don’t want to run into any quality issues. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Well Ladies and Gents I've kept something under my hat long enough. I had a special box made for my T-400 #34 and have been buying different knots for it. Now is time to revel the Big Project and secret I've been keeping. I had a box made buy one of our own to house my handle and knots in, which turned out fantastic. Thanks so very much @Jayaruh for you fantastic job and craftsmanship! And to my good friend @Vlasta with out you none of this would have ever been possible. Now to make everything clear I paid for every bit of this myself although I was given a good deal on some of it. In retrospect I should have had a bigger box made but oh well a companion box may be in order someday because I have more knots than I have room for and at the time of this posting I have all but 1 or 2 of the knots offered currently by Vlasta for the T-400/ So I guess this will be an ongoing project for this brush. All my ferrules are marked with my #34 to keep it as a set. I currently have 9 knots for this brush, some are kind of duplicates like my Black and white horse, and the two boar I have. I got the first boar and had a problem with it but have been working with it to soften it up. But Vlasta sent me another one to replace it with a better boar knot in it. Let me tell you his customer service is beyond compare, you will never find a more upfront guy in the brush business, ever! So here is a pictorial documentation of my box, brush and the Knots I currently have. The last pictures of the box full of knots shows one of the knots sitting on the box because it was full! I thought 8 spots would be enough, was I wrong! I have 41 pics documenting the construction of this box, Thanks Jim for taking all the pics to document this! A personal thanks to Jim and Steve for making this project a possibility and a reality. Gentlemen I am in your debt! I haven't decided on my favorite knot yet because I just received the last 5 today. But out of my first ones I had gotten the 26mm HMW Badger is my current favorite.
@BearCWY this looks awesome and I am humbled by your kind praise!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk