Sure thing. I got the bulb-shaped (I have a personal preference for bulbs over fans), Grade A SilverTip from TGN. The "Grade A" is supposed to have more of a backbone and I have to say it's darn near perfect. @clint64 may remember what depth he set it at. Here are some snaps so you can see how it looks: Almost brand new/little use: After quite a lot of use:
That knot was as dense as I have ever seen. As I recall it was set as deep as you could go at right around 50mm if I recall. That knot was a little over spec the spec of 65mm from the base of the plug.
I put the high mountain, you were asking about in the other thread, in my 400. i love mine, it seems just right. actual @clint64 did the work.
Ha, never heard of it before but The Switchback brush looks really good actually. Selling at an introductory price of $49 - heck, you even get both knots w/ the handle. 24mm "Teddy Bear Hair" Duro Synthetic Knot and 24mm Suave Knot Loft: 60mm wt w/ Suave Knot: 114 grams wt w/ Duro Knot: 118 grams Handle wt: 72 grams Total Wt. 162 grams Ht: 5.5" Zinc Alloy/Rustic/Antique Style Chrome Plating
Here's a Reddit review from three days ago: "First use of the Crown King Switchback 400 with 24mm Duro-Knot. I wanted to use this knot today as I have already used the Suave knot and wanted to compare. Both knots feature very soft tips, as soft as the Plisson. The Duro-Knot has more rigid fibers and a slightly larger glue bump that you can feel at the base. While this is 24mm, the way the fibers spread out make it slightly larger than the 26mm Suave knot. While the Suave knot feels identical to the Plisson, the Duro feels like a hybrid of the Mühle and Plisson. By this I mean it has the backbone more like a boar, yet is has the incredibly soft fiber tips you would find on the Plisson. It is very different than other synthetics I have used. It does take a little bit of pressure to get the fibers to splay on your face, not much difference than a new boar knot in that regard. The handle is very nice looking and has a decent heft. I would rate the look of the brush a solid 10, as it is based on the vintage Rubberset 400, while I give the chrome finish about a 7.5. It is not perfect, a few tiny bubble on the end of the handle which may have been caused by the adding of the brand logo. Being chrome plated over zinc alloy only time will tell how well the finish will stand up, although not a major concern as I have plated zinic alloy razors from the 1930’s. With that said, go price a Rubberset, they range on eBay from as “cheap” as $125 to about $300, and you will still need to reknot and possibly spend a lot of time or money to have someone restore it for you. For about $50 you get a brand new duplicate with two different synthetic heads, so for me this it is a great value."
Both the High Mountain from Larry used in @david of central florida brush and the Silvertip from TGN used in @Darkbulb brush were very nice knots. I feel that the High Mountain from Larry would be better described as a 2 band finest knot. It just depends on which type knot one prefers.
My latest... a 'Badger Knot Insert,' into an "English Leather Cologne-Cap!" I used Silicone Glue; after reaming out the inside threads of the Cap, with a Dremel-Tool! I really like it!
One of things I enjoy about this hobby is looking into the history of the things we use. So I started looking into the Rubberset company and our much loved 400. I found a cool site with a lot if information on shave brushes here is the link. http://oldschoolshavingbrushes.com
There is my brush Its a cleaner than the photo suggests!!! Thats a better photo even if it is almost 4 years old. I like my brush and I like boar knots as well,
The restore of my Rubberset 400 #3 is complete, and I'm elated with the results. To recap, and thanks for all the great advice and tips on processes used to restore one of these beauties. I picked this up on the bay, back in July when there was less competition from y'all. I polished it up with some Flitz and a paper towel and posted a before and after picture. After getting y'all's opinions on how to proceed I went with just polishing it up after replacing the knot. Using the @clint64 process, I got the top off and drilled out the old knot. I used Bar Keepers Friend to clean it up, worked great, and finished with Flitz. I went with a Silvertip from Larry at Whipped Dog at 24mm. In my opinion these Silvertips are the softest I have come across. I set it a couple of times and just epoxy set it at 50mm. Nice and soft and good backbone. Thanks again for all the help, and thanks @Darkbulb for this thread that started me on this journey.
