Recently a discussion was made about various boar knots from China and how they were "difficult" to break in. So I decided to buy some from ACE Shaving and try one for myself. I took the 20 mm Boar knot and put it through about 2 weeks of break in before placing it into a custom handle. The wooden handle is saturated stained with three layers of polyurethane with a final overall coating (outside and inside the hole) with clear epoxy. The handle is also heavily weighted. After an additional 2 weeks it became very soft at the tips and the knot still has good backbone. It creates a good lather and smoothly applies it to the face, both in the bowl or face lathering. So even though they do take more time and effort than Semogue or Omega boar knots, the finished product can provide a nice brush.
Not Black, I have tried Best, Finest and Silvertip. The ACE Best is the "best" (pun intended) hidden secret on the market. Soft at the tips like a Silvertip, but with good backbone. You should try one of the Best. Here is the thread on ACE Shaving Best and Silvertip. http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/the-three-badgers.29622/
Lovely brush. After about a month of use boar knots really do soften up very nicely. Great stain color as well. Did you add that insert in the bottom of the brush or was it already there?
I see everyone go crazy over a variety of knots available to the end user but the ACE Best Badger is one of the highest performers for the dollar that is available. It is so odd to see it so underused or maybe under reported.
