Finally finally! Finished a set of brushes for my nephew, and am sending them out tomorrow. The SL Cardinal red brush, out of cherry, with silvertip badger. A copy of my Strongset, also cherry, with boar. This was a HUGE PITA getting the shape right (still not quite correct, but I gave up LOL), and the paint, thought I would never get it half way decent, but finally came out OK. The third is spalted tiger maple, pure badger. The spalting is black stains caused by mold in the wood. I remember in my youth(when there were more important things on the mind than lumber) my Dad was sawing a maple log for a woodworker. I said "that wood looks rotted". He said "that is spalted maple". In my ignorance I asked "what is the difference between rotten wood ans spalted wood?" He said (with a smile) "spalted wood is rare and valuable, rotten wood is worthless". Ah! a rose by another name LOL. Yeah actually it was a lot of fun!
Like the longer handles. One thing I hate is to buy a new brush and find that I rap my fingers on the bowl because the handles too short!
Yes I did. I thought commercial brushes a little expensive, so rather than spend $20 for a brush I spent $200 setting up an old lathe, so I could make my own then spent $23 on a knot for it. I just write off the difference as entertainment expenses.
Good for you! They are stunning and you have a great hobby. Much better to spend the money on a hobby than on therapy, because you have no outlets.
I've been thinking about getting a mini-lathe for years to try my hand at turning pens. Now that I've started wet shaving, there's yet another reason to consider it. Great job!
IMHO you have thought about enough, time to do it LOL! Lots of wood turning sites, I like Penn State Industries for tools, and The Golden Nib for brush knots, but lots of other sites out there. Time to have fun!
