I did a little horse trading a while back and ended up with 3 Vie Long horse knots. I was eager to experiment with them and decided to take the brown horse on vacation with me last week. Kind of a forced trial period where I was stuck with one brush. Believe it or not I don't care to have a lot of brushes around I find it distracting. To be honest, I was disappointed with it's performance. I expected it to be a little scratchy but I ended up with a "birds nest" in the middle of the knot (hole) which I would comb out daily only to have it reappear the next shave. I do think this would be a nice feeling brush once it's broken in but I don't think the hole will clear up. This week the white knot is up and I'm not seeing this tendency to birds nest. I certainly don't need to have and use a horse brush, it's more of a curiosity at this point and the fact that I enjoy experimenting. My question is, is there anything I could be doing to cause this bird nest? I don't want to be blaming the tool if it's the operator that's screwing things up. Any ideas? I'm suspecting loft might have something to do with this. Neither is at a factory loft setting, both are shorter. The brown is 5mm longer than the white.
Those are some fantastic looking handles!! Absolutely beautiful!! I've heard of this" happens sometimes" tendency of Vie-Longs to make a nest. I have two Vie-Longs, one shorter handle one and the other a long handle barber model. I've used the shorter drk. brown haired one several times without any nesting problem at least so far. Does the nest only appear when your making a lather? As I said some people complain about it others either it doesn't happen or it doesn't bother them. I did read somewhere that this hole is normal in horse hair brushes. It would seem that a shorter loft would have a tendency not to produce a nest. Have you emailed Vie-Long to ask if this nest/hole is normal? I also have a bestshave.net #6 horse hair(I've used this brush daily for the last 3 years or so), that tends to make a hole when I make my lather. The brush however makes "WONDERFUL" lather and the hole doesn't seem to have any adverse affect on the brush as far as it's lathering making and applying ability goes and the hole fills in completely when I dry the brush after cleaning it post shave.
I have a banded Vie-Long horse with the standard loft. I use it quite a bit and haven't had any issues with the doughnut hole. When lathering I get better results when I use lighter pressure than I would with badger or boar brushes – sorta letting the tips do the work. I've used it for everything but now find that I reach for it mostly when I want to bowl lather creams. Great handles by the way.
I was told that it can happen as a results of using too much pressure. The remedy I was given is the same you mentioned...lightly brush out the knotted hair. I never did enjoy the extra scritch from horse hair, it irritated my face. Those are stunning handles by the way. I hope the blonde horse behaves better, and provides better results.
I think what people fail to realize is that horse hair even on the horse requires a high degree of care and grooming to keep from getting tangled even in the stall without any external issues. Why would the brush made of horse hair suddenly change its properties and issues because it is no longer attached to the horse?
Ok! I hope you resolve the horse hair issue, but I can't get passed those gorgeous brush handles. Where did you find those?
I have a Vie-Long myself and although it is probably my favorite brush to use I do find it annoying that it develops that "doughnut hole" as you describe it. I find it only happens if I use too much pressure when loading. I just comb out when it happens and try and be respectful of it next use Beautiful handles BTW!!
Just a quick reply, the white horse is not showing a tendency to birds nest. I have this one lofted at 46mm. The feel between the white and brown knot is considerable, the white being softer and not scratchy at all.
I have use 2 Vie-Long Horse hair brushes,50-50 and 65-35 I had the same problem,i call it "grenade effect" and wasn't by too much pressure. I am interesting for the Blond one,i will be happy to see the results after some days of use. Enjoy your brushes,great handles !
Obviously some of the individual hairs from the brown horse have been installed into the knot with their polarity reversed. It's a shame when this happens, because the brush can never achieve it's true potential, and there will always be a knotting/tangling problem whenever it is used. If you really like the brush, I would consider sending it to that master brush surgeon, Mr. Carrington. Ask him to reset the hairs with: 1. Polarity Neutral. This is when the knot is carefully reassembled with polarity end of half the hairs facing the handle, and the other half facing outward. This has some drawbacks, but it also has some advantages. 2. Polarity Forward. This is when all hairs are set w/polarity marks facing away from the handle. (personally, I don't care for this as it greatly increases "scritch".) 3. Normal Polarity. This is when all hairs are installed with with their polarity end facing the handle. Whatever you decide, best of luck with the horse Oscar! BTW, those handles are just fantastic!!
Oh Dear, I have just (Today) brought myself a Vie-Long Horse Hair, Metal and Timber brush on eBay ( I think i'll call it the "horse N cart" brush), now I'm nervous I could strike the same problem No doubt though that your brushes look beautiful !!!!
Today's shave Brown horse on the first pass, white on the second. I relofted the brown horse a little shorter than it was and you can see a small hole or birds nest forming. The white horse is lofted at 46mm and looks good. The white knot is soft, somewhere between a boar and a badger and honestly closer to a badger. I do think a shorter loft might help the problem of bird nesting to a degree. By the feel of the brown horse on my face the last thing you'd want to do is shorten it, it's on scratchy side. I probably hit the wall with the brown horse but no doubt eventually I'll shorten it up to see what happens.
Let's see what is going to happen but i am not optimistic Those Brown Horse knots cause me nothing more than trouble.
My experience with horse hair knots is limited to one white haired Vie-Long brush, a Zurito Blanco. No bird nesting ever. I wonder if there's any correlation between color and bird nesting?
In the beginning i was a FS fan but latter i disappointed by his poor quality knots and abandon that brand I used some other brands as Virginiasheng,PC and Pens etc no good results,the WD knots will be very soft so i think TGN has the best Pure badgers in the market.
