The tiki brush is a 22mm synthetic knot from TGN... and it ROCKS! I whittled the handle, but didn't have any basswood of the right size so used a piece of scrap 2x2. My knife was sharp, but pine isn't the best wood for carving. Still, skipping a few picadillos, I rather like the result. The second brush is the TGN 27mm boar bristle (after five uses). I like it quite well. Great backbone and plenty soft enough for me, though I expect it will soften plenty more with continued use. The second handle is American Chestnut. The picture fails to do this piece of wood justice: the grain is gorgeous! I intended to whittle a tiki head from the chestnut, but it made seasoned maple feel like balsa wood. That bad-boy is hard! I shaped with jig saw and rasp. It isn't symmetric, but it fits my hand one way and REALLY fits it another way (the other two sides just make you turn the brush 90 degree for comfort). I almost tossed the handle because it looks too large for the knot. However, it gives great leverage for shaking the knot dry before hanging it up. I think I'll keep it.
