Having some metal brush handles made via CNC. Son's college has some nice high end machines. He works in the shop part time while attending college. I've given him a few pictures and the teacher has offered to see if he can duplicate them. Great, but now I have to figure out what width is the ideal for a shaving brush knot. Is there an ideal ? Does it vary depending hair, badger, boar, horse or synthetic and vary according to height ? (I'm building my brush repertoire and knowledge)
Yes, it varies. Badgers and boars seem to splay differently on the face. *shrug* I have found I prefer 22mm +/- 2mm badgers. I have a 24mm that is on the verge of too big. But that's me. Boars are different and I don't mind the larger sizes, such as the Omega 49 or 98, both at 27mm. Some folks love the mega-brushes.
Personally I like the 24mm knot if it is a badger. While I do have different models from 20 mm to 30 mm, the 24 mm feel the best on my face. If it is a boar, I LOVE the 27 mm Omega pro 48.
I guess it might depend whether you are face or bowl lathering. For me (face latherer) anything from 21-24mm works very well. I have 21 and 22mm boars, two 24mm badgers and a 24mm synthetic. Tried the Stirling Kong Synthetic, that was too big for my taste. Same with the Omega 49 (I think those are in the 26/27mm range).
I have two Vie Long Horse brushes, both with a 23 mm knot and find them acceptable, but not mind blowing. I also have a 26 mm Stirling which I like a great deal. I just don't have any other synthetics to compare it to size wise.
I like 20-23mm. 18-19mm are a touch too small and 24mm is a touch too big. 20-23mm dry reasonably fast, allow precise application of lather, and hold enough lather for two to three passes. Badger: 20mm Boar: 21-23mm Synthetic: 24mm Due to the different hair characteristics, I do prefer different sizes depending on the material used.
I like to face lather and a 24mm boar or badger is great. I would have him drill them deep 15 - 20mm as I like to sink the knots a bit deeper - you can always fill the space up with coins and silicone or epoxy. If you only drill them 10mm deep you don't have the option to go deeper. Just my thoughts. It is a fantastic opportunity to get some great handles.
A lot of it depends on your face and preferences. I have an average sized face, I would say, and prefer 22-24mm brushes. I have a 24mm Omega boar that is as big as I would like to go and also have a Plisson 22mm and a Razorock Plissoft 24mm. the Plisson and plissoft splay about the same amount because the Plissoft is more dense and doesn't splay as easily as the Plisson. Maggards razors just came out with 24mm synthetic knots, and you can find reviews for others such as the Sunrise, etc. I don't have much knowledge on badgers, but others around here would know a bunch about knot width to height ratios.
22-24 for me. I also have a vintage boar that's around 20, but is a very soft powerhouse. It keeps up with the big boys.
Some days I like steak, other days hamburgers and on occasion a hot dog! Just like that, every face and hand will have a preference! My brushes range from 18mm to 30mm from variety of Badgers, Boars, Synthetic and Horse and all will have a fair rotation based on my mood. Since you will have a metal handle, I would imagine there may be some weight to them, so you might need to focus more on the overall shape/weight more than the actual knot. For me, out of all, I would say 24mm is the more popular go to choice among my Badger knots.
It is of course all subjective. And other things to take in account are the material and loft. I have a 30mm silvertip with a short loft that I love! But I also have a 23mm two band finest that is my all time favorite knot so far. It just depends on too much to narrow down to a knot size. I would say to people looking at a first brush to get something in the 22-24mm range as it is a good size starting point.
