some shaving brushes

[adam tracksler]

here are my latest shaving brushes.
Before Tung oiling

Left to right

Burl Cherry, Black and White Ebony, Olivewood and Green Acrylic, Bocote

These are my second batch

http://www.brycecreative.com/clients/ser/brushes2.jpg



here is my first batch, both olivewood


http://www.brycecreative.com/clients/ser/brushes.jpg

[Benjamin Dahl]

Adam, those are very nice. where do you get the bristle from?
Ben

[George Morris]

very very nice!! And where do you get the bristles? How about a dicription on how you do it? George

[Jim Becker]

Very nice, Adam!!! Even if someone only uses them for "Decorative" purposes, those are just darn gorgeous!

[Mark Stutz]

Adam,
These look great! What kind of finish did you use on these? What quality are the bristles? I use one of these daily, and like table saws, shoes or steaks, you get what you pay for.:D In use they are wet every day, though not generaly for any etended period, but over time, I'm not sure what would work the best.

Mark

[Steve Trauthwein]

Great looking brushes Adam! I too would like to know your source for bristles.

Regards, Steve

[Paul Heely]

Nice looking brushes Adam. I too would like to know where you get the bristles and how they are attached, I'm assuming epoxy?

[adam tracksler]

Thanks for the comments.

I get the bristles from arizona, they are silvertip badger. There are a bunch of sources online, just search for silvertip badger knot

I have been using one for over a month and havent had any issues with the water. They are finished with Waterlox Marine Finish. The knot (technical term for the bristles) is epoxied in.

I have been experimenting with how best to make these. I have a shopsmith 10ER, which is not the machine with the highest tolerances (I am getting a Rikon in the next week or so...) The way I have found to be best is:

Chuck the blank into a jaw chuck
Bore a 25mm hole
bring the blank to the tailstock
turn the handle
sand
part it off
sand the bottom by hand
epoxy in the knot
finish with waterlox

I will make a photo essay with the next one I build

I think it would be easier if I could put the bored hole into pin chucks, (but it is a smidge too small for my Teknatool Nova pin chuck. The hole is too small for a jam chuck (its about 1/4" deep)) to allow me to finish the end on the lathe.

I thought about a screw chuck, but I have one from the woodcraft bottle stopper starter kit and it just seems to strip the thread on the blank and end up spinning on its own (I dont know where the issue is there -- with the screw, my lathe, or me..)

anyone with any opinions on my method, please speak up. I am a self-taught turner and dont have any turning buddies here in Kittery Maine!

--ad

[Pete Kekel]

I know several turners up the road from you in Damariscotta. Plus the turning center at Round Top, or the school at CFC - that part of Maine is a virtual hotbed of woodturning.

[Dennis Peacock]

I think it would be easier if I could put the bored hole into pin chucks, (but it is a smidge too small for my Teknatool Nova pin chuck. The hole is too small for a jam chuck (its about 1/4" deep)) to allow me to finish the end on the lathe.

I thought about a screw chuck, but I have one from the woodcraft bottle stopper starter kit and it just seems to strip the thread on the blank and end up spinning on its own (I dont know where the issue is there -- with the screw, my lathe, or me..)

anyone with any opinions on my method, please speak up. I am a self-taught turner and dont have any turning buddies here in Kittery Maine!

--ad

Adam,

First, I'm no expert...but I do have a little turning experience under my belt, well, maybe I can't see my belt in the front any more, but that's not your problem. ;)

Jam chucking the 25mm hole it not a problem. Put a piece of wood (endgrain looking directly at the headstock&tailstock) turn a short 1/2" tenon on the end with a slight taper from easy fit to almost to tight a fit for the 25mm hole. Make sure you have a nice, straight, square, shoulder for the brush handle to bump up against as this is what the majority of your turning support comes from, is the shoulder and not just the tenon sticking inside the brush handle. Bring up the tailstock and "lightly" hold the brush handle onto the jam chuck. If you have a live center with a changable tip on it, then you can use a flater tip to not mar the end of the brush handle. Remerber!!!! When turning with a delicate mount??? You need "sharp" tools and a lite/delicate touch. This part of your turning is for final shaping/finishing and not forming/roughing. ;)

Now...on the worm-screw. When I first got mine, I thought it was really cool. The screws are best used for stock that would be good for small bowls, platters, and such as that. I've stripped many a mounting holes when bowl turning with a worm-screw mount (even with the tailstock brought up and used "tightly"). Part of the problem is that we have a tendency to take to big of a "bite" with a piece that is worm-screw mounted, the screw threads and wood can't take the torque stresses we put on the wood......remember, the lathe is trying to spin the wood and we are basically "stopping" the wood by sticking a cutting tool into it. ;) The rotation of the lathe is tightening the screw and our action out be "unscrewing" the wood from the worm-screw. We cut the wood with a too big of a bite and the torque of the lathe at the worm-screw rips the wood out of the hole via the worm-screw thread (kinda like a drill bit in wood ya know :rolleyes: ) and wha-lah!!! We have a stripped worm-screw hole and we are left looking a out wood sitting still on the lathe while the lathe is still spinning. :eek: :D

All that said......this is all worth exactly what you paid for it. ;)