So I bought this Zenith: Copper Scrubby! All Metal Zenith Boar Shave Brush 28x50mm Italy B36 Described as follows: "Here is a copper version of the big scrubby. This is for those who face lather and like large boar knots. This is a scrubby brush, but with time will have some wonderfully soft tips. Unlike the other boar brushes, this one will not feel broken in out of the box. I made a special order for these handles without the ring so that a larger knot can get into it. The knot is 28 x 50mm with an effective loft of 42-45mm. This is the same boar knot that is in the B14 brush. The handle is 66mm tall giving the brush a total height of around 115. It weighs in at 116 grams." This one's got me perplexed, as it is a really short loft. Tips are soft, no scritch whatsoever, but FIRM. I think I would call it the shortest loft boar I have ever seen/used. Anyone interested in trying a super short Boar with a solid copper handle, and then commenting? Let me know who is in, as it is super interesting to use.
I'm in. I've always thought that if I were to try my hand at gluing new knots into vintage handles that I would like to experiment with the fattest densest boar knot I could find and then deep set it.
Love me some broken-in boar knots. You might not get too many takers, given the world of Covid and sterilization. Nothing personal.
I thought of that after I posted the offer, but then I realized most of us have Barbicide/Marvicide, and that can be used to sterilize brushes, plus, the brushes are used in soap, then rinsed out, so can they really be that dirty?
I have purchased pre-owned brushes in the past, indeed, often. I wash the brush in shampoo and make a few palm lathers with some shave soap and that's it. I would never use a chemical on my knots---not even my synthetic. What's my point? Not everyone these days---especially these days, feels the way I do.
Received the Zenith boar on Sunday this week. I took a few photos of it with some of my other boar brushes as I compared the knots. And here they are again but rearranged a bit Interesting to note the different knot shapes I also found this thread posted by @PickledNorthern in 2016 where he purchased the same knot in a different handle https://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/the-chronicle-of-my-new-zenith-boar.51513/ I have used the brush twice now and found myself noting some of the same things mentioned in PickledNorthern's thread. 1 - it is a very short loft 2 - it is quite stiff 3 - it is very heavy 4 - it looks a bit unkempt I'll start with the last one. Here's a picture with other brushes with the Zenith in the middle If I didn't know any better I'd say someone took a bigger knot and gave it a bad haircut. While it looks a bit odd that doesn't seem to affect it's performance. Once you fill it with soap and put it to your face it works just fine. "Filling it with soap"; it's a very short loft so it doesn't hold enough for three passes. Not a big deal for me because most of my soaps are in Old Spice mugs so I usually reload between passes since the mugs don't have as much room as a bowl. I also find that a second loading often produces a creamier cushier lather than my first load. Before sending this brush on it's way I'll do a couple of bowl/cream shaves to compare with mug/soap shaves. It's very heavy. I looked on a vendor site and I believe it's listed at 116g. I think it's heavier than any of my other brushes. The weight seems to be at the bottom so it took a bit of getting used to especially with the metal handle which can be slippery when wet. The first run I kept feeling like I was going to drop it but by the second run I had it figured out. By the way, my first run was with VDH Luxury scented and the second run was with Arko. It's very stiff. I like a lot of backbone so this is great. It's very short. It works just fine but I'm wondering if it's too short. Maybe if it didn't look unkempt and had a better shape I wouldn't wonder about the loft but looking on a Zenith vendor's website I noted that most of the brushes are set at 57mm (this one is 50) but there was one in particular that was set at 55mm so I'm actually thinking about ordering one (since I don't have enough brushes) to try. The copper handle is very distinctive. I tried a little polish when I first got it and it shined up quite nicely. But then as soon as I used it a couple times it needed shining again. You might need to decide if you would like to have it naturally patina or if you would like to polish it regularly. It reminded my of my copper bottom Revere Ware percolators that get polished after every pot of coffee. So far I'm enjoying this brush and I'm most grateful to @jay_gatz for offering the pass around as Zenith is a brand I've been curious about. I'll post again once I've had more opportunity to use it.
Glad it arrived safely and you are getting to try it out. I noted the same thing about the amount of lather it holds. Interesting paradigm in that it has SO much backbone, it should be a monster of a face lathering brush, but the short loft necessitates a way to re-lather for three passes. I kept using it with either a mug, returning to the puck, or a bowl. It's not like a Simpsons Chubby where you can skip the bowl or mug. I love the weight of the handle, and yeah, it definitely has that "bedhead" look.
Three more shaves with this interesting brush. Two bowl/cream (Knightsbridge Bergamot and Cyril R Salter Rose) shaves and one more mug/soap (vintage Old Spice) shave. Here it is this morning ready for my second pass. I keep trying to find something wrong with it. My whole problem is how unkept the knot looks but it performs wonderfully. It's like an ugly girl who kisses really good. If you look at my photos from my previous report you'll notice I have a black handled Omega with almost as short a loft. Funny thing about that brush is even though the knot looks better, it doesn't work as well as the bedhead Zenith. The Omega doesn't open up (splay) as well and it tends to feel too pokey as though you've got your hand around the knot keeping it tight together. I almost wonder if the Zenith knot is purposely cut the way it is to allow you to adequately lather and paint despite the short loft. Anywho, this has been a fun experiment and I'm grateful to @jay_gatz for offering the free trial but it's time to send it back home. Now the only question is can I get over the appearance thing and order me one. Maybe if no one is looking...
