I was a lucky recipient of a premium horn handle from Kimson and I have one of Tony's 22mm finest badger knots and voila! A beautiful combination. I have yet to use it and look forward to its maiden voyage. I will put up a review in the next week or so. Until then here are a few pics. The loft I left is about 50mm tall.
Very cool! I was curious what size knot they took. He sizes them differently. I love the goldennib knots. That is a beautiful hunk of horn.
He says it's cow horn, what variety I don't know. But the brush knot is labeled 22mm but I asked forthe holein the horn to be 23mm. And that was perfect for one of the two knots that I had. For the other knot it was still too small. The baseof the knot, the glue portion is 22mm but the portion of hair just above that is wider. I measured one to be 23mm. And another to be 24mm. The handle has sloping hole from the opening toabout 10mm deep. Beyond that you justtell him what diameter and what depth. I asked for 20mm depth and 23mm diameter. It was a little deeper but that is fine, as I was able to choose what kind of exposure I wanted on the hair. Before inserting the knot I put masking tape around it knot at the level I wanted and measured around to adjust the level of the tape. I used mater proof epoxy and glued it in. I have pulled on it and it will not budge. So I assue it is there for good. I was a little worried about the glue as its instructions are in Japanese and this was my first time using it. Iwill use it tomorrow for the first time and until the badger funk is gone.
Post First Use: A great lather and shave! I didn't want to stop lathering! I did a four pass shave for the first time in a long time and oh, what a shave. The hair on this brush is very nice and soft and was very very pleasant to use. It has great flow through and was not too loose or anything. I am glad I have another knot like this one in reserve as I will put in another handle. I used a day two Lords DE blade and Musgo Real SC.
That brush is so sexy. I am really hoping for a TSD edition. As for gluing the knot, I can't speak for ZenthLent, but I do have a bit of experience. I slow curing marine grade epoxy. Sets super strong, and it is right at home in the wet environment.
Rodd knows his knots! I've done two re knotting projects and used thin 60 minute epoxy for the first that made a mess, soaked into the knot and gunked things up. The last knot I glued in with 60 minute "super epoxy" which was much thicker and less messy. I just want to add that the plug that holds the hair together can be sanded down a few millimeters to fit a larger knot in the same size hole.
Yes, marine grade epoxy. What I have is Japanese and is two part and it mixes up like a soft puddy. Very sticky when comletely mixed. Because Vu somewhat flares the first 10mm inside of the handle hole, I wasn't too worried about getting it messed up. I spread a large gob on the base of the knot and on and around the sides of the glued portion. I then pushed it down the the taped line that I put around the knot. And when it was down far enough I gave it a half to quarter turn, and made sure that it was standing straight. Then I let it dry for 48 hours. The box said 24 hours at 20 degress celcius but I gave it an extra day, as it is winter. I tried pulling the knot out after 16 hours or so and, so such luck. Very easy if you go slow and not goop it around. That's about it. Very easily done.
Where'd you get this epoxy? They have some waterproof goop at Daiso...but it's Daiso. Who knows how it works? I'm thinking of getting some old handles and reknotting them...
I mix my epoxy on a business card with a toothpick. After I've set the knot I set the card aside and I use it to check how the epoxy is setting up. When the epoxy on the card is harden I know that the knot is set. Much better then pulling an uncured knot out of the handle and having to reset it.
