Jayaruh Shaving: Wild Cherry Brush Handles

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Wild Cherry Brush Handles

I want to give Ceferguson on The Shave Den credit for inspiring me to make my own brush handles.

I have started a new project. We had a wild cherry tree taken out of our back yard on November 6, and I held back a part of a limb thinking that one day I may make a shaving brush handle out of it. Well, last week, I got out my table saw and cut a piece out of the limb. I had it in the warm house "drying out."

click on picture to enlarge

Yesterday, I started sanding on it. Today, I got out my Dremel and worked on making a home for new knots. I used a nickel to draw a hole pattern on one end. I successfully made a hole in one end and moved to the other end and did the same. So, this is what I have now. I will work with it like this, shaping the two ends, and then cut off the two ends to make two handles. This is going to be fun.

I'm thinking of a nice two band finest badger with a fan shape.

end number one

end number two

Friday, December 12
It was a very pretty day, so I took advantage of it. Here is what I have for now. The tall one, I think, I will end up shortening by about a quarter to three eighths inch off the bottom. The hole at the top will accommodate a nickel which translates to 22 mm. The short handle will be handle 1 and the tall handle will be handle 2.

handle 1 and handle 2

Saturday, December 13

Another pretty day out, so, I took the opportunity to continue the handle project. I took off about three-eighths inch from handle 2. I did some additional sanding and shaping, and I applied some Minwax Pre-stain Conditioner. I may just polyurethane, but I haven't made up my mind. They look pretty good now.

A little work in Paint, and you can get an idea of the final project.

UPDATE: December 14

I ordered a couple of knots on eBay from virginiasheng in China. They are due to be delivered between December 27 and January 10. I got both for about $30 with shipping. I just have to wait a bit. I am looking forward to receiving them and putting them in their new homes.

PUR Tech Synthetic: 22mm x 65mm

Silvertip Badger: 22mm x 65mm

UPDATE: December 22, 2014

I put a cherry stain on handle #2 (tall handle). I left handle #1 untouched for comparison. I put a darker stain on handle #1.

Handle #1 with walnut stain

Mock-ups with silvertip badger knot.

Polyurethane satin finish, 12/23

Update: December 29

Knots arrived in mail. This is a dry fit. 12/29

Update: December 30

Finished products. Knots are now epoxied in. 12/30
Officially named: Jayaruh #1 and Jayaruh #2, 12/31

This project was started back on November 6 when I cut a block of wood out of the limb of a wild cherry tree that had been removed from our back yard. I let the wood dry out for about a month and did some rough shaping on it. On December 6, I started this blog entry to document the project. The project will culminate tomorrow with some test lathering with both brushes. I will begin using the brushes for shaves on January 1.

December 31: Test lather (click here to see more)