The Brush, "B-400", By Tom(@twhite ). Whipped Dog 24mm Boar Knot. Let me start by saying that this is one of my favorite brushes, well, the handle is. The knot originally was a Whipped Dog Boar. It was unusual, because it was a shedder. After being frustrated, and the hairs falling out 10-25 at a time, from what I remember, I sent it back, for evaluation. Larry was nice enough to send another one, at no cost. He said it was unusual, and it shouldn't be soaked in hot water. I don't. Also, only get the tips of the brush wet. I've never heard of that before. So, back to usual. I soaked in lukewarm water, and used the new one like all my other brushes. Well, it too shed, and did not show any signs of slowing down. It quick became one of my least favorite brushes to use. For a while, I even kept track of the hairs lost, per shave, and posted with the daily shaves. I stopped using this for a while, until the other day. Over 15 hairs came out, during the shave. Totally unacceptable. . This fine piece of art deserves better. POS Knot, before surgery. B-400. WHipped Dog 24mm Boar. I tried boiling the Gorilla Glue epoxied knot out. No dice. The new donor brush is an Omega 49. The old knot was then carefully drilled out of the old ferrule. Shown with the new brush handle, cut up. New Omega 40 knot, next to the B-400, which I polished up. I had to take down the sides of the Omega knot, by a lot. The glue flared out, a lot, and wouldn't fit into the ferrule. Now, the new epoxy is setting, and it should be ready soon.
Good job with the replacement. I am looking forward to seeing the final results. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
So when you don't want them out they shed like crazy...but when you do want them out it almost takes a nuke. Fun stuff. Great looking brush.
Every once in a while, donor knot sizes come up. On Maggard's site, every knot size of the brushes they have are listed in the description. Then a donor brush can be picked out much sooner.
funny you should say that. I tugged every way possible, to get that thing out, after boiling, and not a hair came out. I kind of cursed it, saying : "Oh, now you decide you want to stay in, you bastard"??? A large wood drill bit did the trick. It came out fast, and a Dremel with a rotary flapper type of sandpaper bit was used. Cleaned up fast, after that.
The epoxy set up enough, to take a picture. It still needs to set up, overnight. The Brush, By Tom, "B-400" Omega 10049, also known as the Omega 49. Donor brush.
I did notice the new knot, once trimmed of excess glue, easily fit into the ferrule. The Omega had this knot set very deep, in the plastic handle. But the donor knot only set so far, inside, the B400 ferrule. It looks more like an original Rubberset 400 now, with the tall knot. It sets a little over 1/2 of the way, inside the unthreaded area of the ferrule now.
I’m a little stumped by the “don’t soak in hot water / only get the tips wet” advice. Almost all of my brushes are boars and I fill the sink with hot water, float my soap mug, submerge the brush and razor, and take my shower. The only shedders I’ve had have been the green handled VDH’s and then only for the first few shaves.
Nice! I looked for a flat top boar knot when I install one in my B-400. Hard to find so I went with the closest I could get - an Omega 10098. Same 27mm diameter & required reducing the glue plug, too. Tom sent an "experimental" ferrule that was same outer size & height, but the upper inner portion has slightly thinner walls giving a bigger socket for the knot. Glad you made yours fit. Have fun breaking it in! That's my favorite part of boar brushes, still stiff and scrubby.
I wasn't luck enough to get an oversized ferrule. So, i have to make due. I decided on the Omega, because I have a couple of others, and they just plain perform.
Maybe I’m doing it wrong but I put every brush in a shave mug full of hot water for about 15 minutes before I go to work. I don’t submerge the handle but the knot is enjoying the hot bath. Never had a problem.
I just use warm water, put it in a mug, and just submerge the bristles only, for 5-10 minutes. Dont think that constitutes abuse. I just think WD had some poorly made Boar Knots. The Badgers I have from WD have been great.
Almost all brush manufacturers give the same advice: don't soak, don't use very hot water, don't load the brush in a circular motion...this will void the warranty. The equivalent would be someone saying a Jeep Wrangler cannot be driven on logging trails, driven through the mud, or driven faster than 40 mph...or you'll void the warranty. I'm kind of surprised the brush warranty thing hasn't been made into a meme.
I look forward to it becoming my favorite brush again. Ive started to do my test lathers, to de-funk it. No hurry, I'm on vacation, and wont be shaving for a few weeks.
