Brushes for fine finishing

Have a look at this site Tools For Working Wood they have what look like some absolutely amazing finishing brushes for Shellac etc. The link above takes you to their brush page, click on the lady making the brushes halfway down the page for a 41/2 minute video. It is fascinating.

I have already recommended these brushes to a few people and will be getting a set of 3 for myself. Good brushes for fine finishing are extremely hard to get here in Oz, a good polishers mop could set you back a couple of hundred dollars if you can find one. These look the equal of any I have ever seen and the prices seem ridiculously cheap for what they are.

Cheers - Neil :U

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Originally Posted by ubeaut

Have a look at this site Tools For Working Wood they have what look like some absolutely amazing finishing brushes for Shellac etc.

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Interesting webpage. European ox hair? Hmmm. I recently purchased some
reasonably expensive badger's hair brushes from Whitworth's Marine. The
guy said badger's hair was about the best you could get in Australia for
applying marine varnish, etc. When you get your brushes, I'd be very
interested to hear how oxen compare with badgers. :U

BTW, does anyone know whether the said oxen and badgers are harmed
when their hair is taken? Or are they merely shaved like sheep?

The bloke that does my hair doesn't even go to that much trouble. Then again, she has more hair to work with.

Not sure about the bagers? but I would think that the poor little ox gets to meet his maker, as there are lots of other uses for the rest of him.
hmmm. Badger... the only one i've seen is in Wind in the Willows.

The ox hair is taken from the ears. Badger is good skunk as is skunk and the fabled camel hair but for a real treat and a massive expense you can't go past sable.

Can't wait to try them out, but it could be a while yet.

It will be interesting to hear how these brushes work out once you get them Neil and I hope to read a post in the future on their performance. My late father had a sable brush that was used for gold leaf and never saw paint, years old the bristles are still as soft as a baby's backside and will remain that way as none of us would ever consider using it. From what I remember it cost him an arm and a leg at the time of purchase, and he only ever had the one.

Cheers, John.

What about armpit hairs? I've got plenty to spare.

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Originally Posted by Grunt

What about armpit hairs? I've got plenty to spare.

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A dog's armpit would need the fleas combed out first grunt, not to mention that they tend to be a bit average in quality in the first place.:wink:

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Originally Posted by Grunt

What about armpit hairs? I've got plenty to spare.

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What!!! and curdle the finish :D

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Originally Posted by ubeaut

I have already recommended these brushes to a few people and will be getting a set of 3 for myself.

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Hi Neil, have you received your brushes yet? If so, what do you think?

Cheers,
Dylan

For what it's worth,
I was shown years ago that the way to check out a good brush is to grip the bristles between your thumb and forefinger and pinch and twist so you can checkout the ends of the bristles- what you re looking for is lots of spilt hairs (so armpit hair is useless as we know you little darlings use those expensive hair products:p). The more spiltends the better - that is what they are trying to mimic with the artifical brushes. If you have a lot of split ends it means that in 'tipping off' you get a finer finish.The other thing to do is to hold the brush with the bristles uppermost and with just the side facing you and run your palm over the bristles (firmly) towards you so that you can see down into the brush - if there is a large cavity here then it is RS. With the better brushes you should only just be able to see any spaces at the very bases of the bristles. Also on a 3" brush I would expect the bristles to be 3" long at least- you can load this more than a shorter bristled ones and it aids in cutting in.
One thing I noted on that site was a reference to cleaning the brushes. The best thing I got was a "Rotaspin" from Rotacota years ago that spins brushes and roller sleeves. This means that you can debulk the brushes between 'washing' with the relevant solvent. Clean the brush in some solvent then spin it - uses a lot less solvent. Spin the thing in the wheelie bin unless you like that speckled look.Also use a wirebrush (with clean and straight bristles) to clean the brush especially the base of the bristles. You stroke the brush from the base to the tip of the bristles with the wirebrush and this cleans the base really well.
Hope this helps:U

Thanks Geoff, the spinners are still sold here & I've wondered if they were any good. Will lash out on one now.


Cheers...................Sean

been pulling hairs from my eares? for years now,.have i sliped uo on a money making effort again!!!!! damn

does it matter if they are grey!

ordered two brushes last tuesday night recieved them today monday.i would say thats good service.brushes look top notch.all i have to do now is make something so i can use them.:D

Let's know how they work Paul. I still haven't got around to ordering mine yet. Pretty slack, eh.