Acquisitions July 2017

OJ82

OJ82

Forum GOD!
The Gentleman said:
Is it a Finest or Blonde?
I have a Finest from the Brad Sears/Lee Sabini collaboration and it is one of my favorite brushes.
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It is blonde badger.
My first M&F is finest, I still have to break my blonde in, but it feels a bit softer, than the finest. Maybe because it's not as much backbone.... But right now I prefer the blonde a bit over the finest.....
 
Mr_Smartepants

Mr_Smartepants

Genius Member
mike_the_kraken said:
There are BSSW brushes, made of handles turned by Brad, knots sourced from a private vendor, installed by Brad. They are branded BSSW.
Then there are BSSW & M&F collaborarion brushes, made of handles turned by Brad and knots tied & installed by Lee Sabini. They are branded M&F.

Lee's knots carry cachet value, and naturally command a higher price.
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This is a common misconception...but Lee doesn't tie his own knots. He gets them pre-made in China like everyone else. He may have tied his own many many years ago, but not anymore.
There's a thread on B&B somewhere where a M&F owner showed where his knot fell out of the handle, and it was a regular knot with a glue "plug". There's also a thread where a disgruntled user cut his brush in half lengthwise to show the inside of the brush. Not a hand-tied knot.
The only vendors that I know of that hand-tie knots secured with glue/string is Simpson, Declaration Brushworks, and The Varlet.

That Malachite resin looks sweet! Enjoy the brush mate. :)
 
mike_the_kraken

mike_the_kraken

Señor member
Mr_Smartepants said:
This is a common misconception...but Lee doesn't tie his own knots. He gets them pre-made in China like everyone else. He may have tied his own many many years ago, but not anymore.
There's a thread on B&B somewhere where a M&F owner showed where his knot fell out of the handle, and it was a regular knot with a glue "plug". There's also a thread where a disgruntled user cut his brush in half lengthwise to show the inside of the brush. Not a hand-tied knot.
The only vendors that I know of that hand-tie knots secured with glue/string is Simpson, Declaration Brushworks, and The Varlet.

That Malachite resin looks sweet! Enjoy the brush mate. :)
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I find the claims that Lee is providing of the shelf knots dubious and entirely lacking foundation. I inspected both of my M&F brushes (made in 2016) for glue bumps, and while I can't detect any - I cannot conclude whether he is/is-not hand tying knots (vs. fashioning them via glue) and have updated my original post to reflect this. That said, this is the exact statement from BSSW:

"Each knot is hand-crafted by Lee Sabini in the United Kingdom to fit the specific handle. This is the exact opposite approach from that taken by most other brushmakers who typically fit pre-made knots into the handle."

If you don't have credible, verifiable evidence that demonstrates Lee is sourcing off the shelf knots, all you're doing is spreading hearsay.
 
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Mr_Smartepants

Mr_Smartepants

Genius Member
mike_the_kraken said:
If you don't have credible, verifiable evidence that demonstrates Lee is sourcing off the shelf knots, all you're doing is spreading hearsay.
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Very true. Everything I've said is my own recollection of what I've thought I have read.
I have no proof. Though technically speaking...neither do you. :D
At least Simpson has videos showing their knots being made.
 
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Holyzeus

Holyzeus

Forum GOD!
Wasn't there an issue a year or two ago with glue bumps being present on Paladin brushes and guys not happy.
Then again I could be wrong..
 
The Gentleman

The Gentleman

Forum GOD!
From Brads home page:

"We offer shaving brushes in both our own classically-inspired designs as well as the iconic English Morris & Forndran patterns through our collaboration with the world-renowned English knotmaker Lee Sabini. Under this arrangement, Brad hand crafts both Morris & Forndran brush handles as well as our own, by hand, on a manual wood lathe in our Maryland Eastern Shore workshop.

Brush handles slated for Morris & Forndran knots are carefully packed and shipped to the U.K. where Lee hand crafts each knot to fit each specific handle. At the same time, brushes to be filled with our Silvertip Badger are completely finished in the USA!"
 
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