The Copper Hat shaving brush journal

Discussion in 'The Brush' started by geogaga, Oct 21, 2010.

  1. geogaga

    geogaga Member

    So, today I received the brush I won in The Copper Hat shaving brush give-away. The rules of this give-away implied that I have to give this brush a honest review. As every brush has its own stages of development while being used, I decided to replicate such in a journal style. Not every day, but every time I will use the brush, I will try to post some pictures and my observations about it. Once there is enough facts about the brush I will post summarizing article to review section,
     
  2. geogaga

    geogaga Member

    Day 1.

    Received the brush. It is 22mm silvertip badger brush with natural olive wood turned handle. At attached pictures you can see brush alone and towards my Frank Shaving 23mm silvertip badger shaving brush. Visually they are very similar (except the handle, of course).
     

    Attached Files:

  3. ChemErik

    ChemErik Mr. Personality

    Beautiful handle selection! It appears the knot is set fairly shallow, you'll have to let us know if it feels floppy.
     
  4. geogaga

    geogaga Member

    Erik, actually I was looking forward to choose this olive wood handle, but had waited for too long and this handle was picked by another winner - churchilllafemme. I picked another one, but today I found that Brad prepared me a very generous surprise - an olive wood handle! :)

    Now to the handle. Handle has a tiny, but powerful magnet at the bottom and the brush can be easily stored upside down securely sticked to metal surface. It lies very confidently in my hand and feels convenient. Weight is 49 grams. Finishing is clear lacquer (I think), has some tiny bubbles and very minor swells, but nothing criminal. Little touch of hand maden product :) I also found some tiny signs of lacquer or epoxy at the bottom of the know, but they should not be a problem.

    I'm going to test-lather-drive it tomorrow.
     
  5. geogaga

    geogaga Member

  6. geogaga

    geogaga Member

    Couldn't wait till morning and did some test-lathering-drive. Here is the brush among others (really like how it fits the interior :D) ready to be soaked and being actually soaked.
     

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  7. geogaga

    geogaga Member

    So, I soacked it. Typical new brush badger smell was not as strong as with FS brush. Yes, it is floppy, but I think not dramatically floppy. I have a reeeallly floppy brush, so I may not be an objective person to tell how floppy it is. It seemed ok to me, however, final floppiness face-test to be followed.
     
  8. geogaga

    geogaga Member

    Day 1. Lathering Omega shaving cream

    A small dollop of cream and the rest of the water in the brush (I had to shake it a little as it was heavy of water). Lost 6 hairs. Well done.
     

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  9. geogaga

    geogaga Member

    Day 1. Lathering Mitchell's Wool Fat shaving soap

    Had some trouble scraping the top of the MWF puck as bloomed knot didn't want to use all its bulb shape, but just the center area. I didn't want to push the brush while it is not broken in, so I just was turning the brush to load its tips seamlessly. With some water added to almost completely drained brush I got decent lather. Lost 7 hairs.
     

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  10. geogaga

    geogaga Member

    I find this brush perfect for for bowl-lathering. It is very handy and I can swirl how long I want without having my hands getting tired. It is bigger than my 23mm and the loft seems to be taller. Will measure it tomorrow.

    The only thing that bothers me is shedding... It shed 14 long hairs both from center area and border (?) areas during the fight with Omega and MWF and about the same amount during washing and wiping. So I took a sparse comb and carefully went with it on the top of the brush and got some five more. After that I did not see any hair shedding. Hope they all are gone and the rest of the family will never leave :)
     

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  11. PanChango

    PanChango Not Cute

    Thanks for the pictures.

    That is a nice looking brush. Judging by the pictures, the loft looks a bit tall for my tastes, but I rarely do anything but face lather sticks.

    I wonder if they offer different lofts.
     
  12. Wow! I absolutely love that handle! And the magnet idea is clever and very functional. I really hope that brush turns out nicely so I can order myself one. Btw, that's a handsome shaving mug/scuttle/thing you've got there. Where'd you pick it up?
     
  13. TheCopperHat

    TheCopperHat Member

    The loft size is completly custom order, I offer the option of a custom made brush in whatever shape and size you would like, with a depth of your choice.

    The shedding seems excessive the first few uses as my brushes come with a little extra stuffing so in reality your not really losing any substance from the brush. It should settle down for you now.

    It's nice to see it settled amongst such a collection :D.


    Cheers
    Brad
     
  14. travlnawlday

    travlnawlday New Member

    Looks like a Robert Becker shaving scuttle. I recently bought two and have been quite pleased with them both. By the way, nice looking brushes. :cool:
     
  15. geogaga

    geogaga Member

    Yes. This is one of Robert's creations in 'Milky Way' style. I also bought a matching brush dripping stand from him - you can see the brush set in it.
     
  16. geogaga

    geogaga Member

    Day 2.

    Third lathering of this brush. Face-lathered with Omega shaving cream. Held larger amount of water comparing to my other brushes - 23mm FS silvertip and... ehr, 21mm, I think Shaving Shack Pure Badger. Very soft at the tips. Floppy, but not dramatically, as I said before. No problem three pass lather. Well done. Lost 5 hairs.

    Did not feel any awkwardness in holding and maneuvering the brush. I believe this is because of the shape and the weight. Not slippery. I like it.
     
  17. Sodapopjones

    Sodapopjones Well-Known Member

    I'm willing to bet its not going to stop shedding anytime soon....

    Also, just because a knot is "Over-Stuffed" doesn't mean it should have leeway when it comes to shedding either, I have heard this before.
     
  18. geogaga

    geogaga Member

    Will see. I'm not going to judge by now as I do not have any expertise in making badger knots :) All of my brushes loose a single hair per shave from time to time. They are all budget models. Let's just see.
     
  19. TheCopperHat

    TheCopperHat Member

    Agreed it should not have any extra leeway, it's something I'm working on as far as a different base plug, all part of the r&d. I greatly appreciate Alexey's thorough review.

    I have 4 of my brushes now and quite a few customers whom I keep in contact with and we haven't lost any hairs from them in a long time ~6 months. The first solid week of use they lost the stragglers.

    I am building these brushes for wetshavers, and it's this community that will tell me what they want to see and don't want to see as far as a brush goes. I look forward to suggestions, ideas, or simply cool shapes.

    Cheers
     
  20. geogaga

    geogaga Member

    Day 3.

    Same shave components. Same amount of lather as in previous days. 9 hairs lost, 3 of them during the drying.
     

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