Wild Cherry Brush Handles | New Knots Arrived | Glued in the Knots | Test Lathering the Wild Cherry Brushes | O-rings for the Wild Cherry Brushes | Wild Cherry Brush #3 | Jayaruh #4 Handle | New Brush Project #4 Finished | Jayaruh #4 Post Bloom | The Four Wild Cherry Brushes
I want to give 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."
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| 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.
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| end number one |
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| end number two |
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.
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| 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.
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| PUR Tech Synthetic: 22mm x 65mm |
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| 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.
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| Handle #1 with walnut stain |
Mock-ups with silvertip badger knot.
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| Polyurethane satin finish, 12/23 |
Update: December 29
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| Knots arrived in mail. This is a dry fit. 12/29 |
Update: December 30
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| 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)
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| Jayaruh #1 and Jayaruh #2, with o-rings |
To continue this story click on New Knots Arrived
