Initial thoughts on my newly acquired T&H/Rooney 1/2

[Antique Hoosier]

I shared these thoughts with the very fine Gent who sold me the brush...I am VERY THANKFUL he offered it at such an appealing price point. A really fine guy he is....he sent along a pack of DE blades which I will PIF because I don't own a DE...and a very nice sample from Czech & Speake of an EDT, "Mimosa"

Here are my initial impressions that I shared with him to both confirm receipt of the brush and to offer sincere thanks to him regardless...

I just used the brush and although a wonderful deal at $63 shipped it left me fairly cold..perhaps that was your feeling too? I have owned a Rooney 1/2 once before and loved it...this one is decidely more mushroom fan shape and very short loft. I lathered with Blenheim Bouquet cream first but it didnt fair well...that cream needs a longer loft for flow thru IMO...switched to La Toja stick and it did much better. I believe I need a longer lofted badger...Likely a trade candidate now. BUT>>>I DO WANT TO SAY THANK YOU!!!! Mike

The search CONTINUES!!!!

[rsp1202]

Michael, I've had two Rooney 1/2's and they couldn't have been any more dissimilar. One was a scrub machine and dense, the other easy going with a high loft. I got both through Vintage Blades and wonder if the newer batch has such variability.

Savile Row will have a higher loft and tips that feel similar to your Thater 3-band, but the knot will be a touch less dense and firm. It will be a bloomer, too.

Shavemac's regular Silvertip will be similar to the SR; the D01, though, will have a tighter bloom and be much scrubbier.

My old Simfix Emperor 3 in 3-band Super Silvertip had soft tips and could lather anything, but it looked funny with its skinny handle and huge bloom.

Those are a few I'm familiar with.

[Antique Hoosier]

Ron...isn't that funny! My first Rooney 1/2 in faux horn SHOULD have been kept by me...it was a dream...this one is quite dissimilar indeed. I may have a trade with a fellow for a brush from my past.... Only worried that he said it shed a bit. I have never been so flummoxed over a shaving brush selection in the last 7 plus years...can't believe my angst concerning it. Sooooooooooo bad that I almost grasped at a Vie Long Horse....oh my!

[CMur12]

Michael, as a bowl-latherer, I favor a taller loft as well. I also insist on a decidedly fan-shaped brush or I won't bother with it.

Unfortunately, the trend since I joined these forums some eight years ago is toward shorter, more rounded lofts. In some cases, brands that used to use softer silvertip have adopted coarser, stiffer "silvertip" to provide more backbone for face-latherers.

I bought a Savile Row brush eight years ago. It had a 22mm knot and a 58mm loft. (It was a good brush for bowl-lathering, but I have moved away from bulb-shaped brushes, so I recently gave mine to a new wetshaver.) My understanding is that Savile Row has shortened the lofts since then. I also bought a Rooney 1/1 around that time, with a 22mm knot and a 55mm loft (as I recall), but these same brushes now sport 48 - 50mm lofts. To add insult to injury, the English brands that we used to be able to count on for proper fan-shaped lofts are rounding them more and more (Simpson, I mean you in particular).

Sorry to hear your latest acquisition is a disappointment. I hope you find something better, soon.

- Murray

[Antique Hoosier]

Murray and others...I have traded it for a Kent BK4, a brush I have owned on 4 or 5 other occasions over the past 7 plus years. Reliable and great flow thru!

[CMur12]

Michael, it's hard to go wrong with a BK4. I think that if I still had mine, I would like it better now, with my current preferences, than I did before.

- Murray

[rsp1202]

Michael, you certainly don't let any grass grow under you in choosing quickly. Great choice.
I'm with Murray about appreciating these things differently over time. I've had three BK4's, always replacing them with a Savile Row, but I wish I'd kept one. Guess I always thought it was too classy to be considered a "workman" brush, but there you go.

[Antique Hoosier]

Yes, it is a familiar old love the BK4. I know it has very high regard among the Gents of SMF. Gosh, I think it was probably 2009 when I last had one in the den.

[Squire]

Kent BK4 is about as good a default brush as any.

[bernards66]

Michael, Well, as it turns out the suggestion that I was about to make is unnecessary as you've already acted on it! How did you do that?( chuckle ). Anyway, good move. Given what your preferences seem to be the BK4 should do the trick....and then, you can stop obsessing about brushes and enjoy....really, you can. And just for the record I have to add that even 'back when' quite a few Simpson brushes had rounded off crowns, especially the Chubby models. Simpsons were never uniformly totally fan shaped. Plissons are traditionally bulb shaped, in fact I think that they started the Continental fashion in that regard, but, they vary as well. My older #14 EW is, indeed, very bulb shaped but my newer #12 HMW much less so. There's always variation with the upper end brushes although, in general, the English makers have tended to favour a more fan shaped crown as opposed to the European firms.
Regards,
Gordon

[brothers]

Michael, we're on pins and needles waiting to hear how you react to this, your most recent fling with the ever popular Kent BK 4. If this flops, we're running out of options.

[Antique Hoosier]

Gary, it is gonna have to work because I refuse to shell out big dollars for brushes any longer. I suspect it will be a good fit. I have often thought of reacquiring a BK4 and I found the trade quite simply. Destiny!

[Squire]

Destiny calls and I will answer tout suite.

[Antique Hoosier]

BK4 won't arrive until Monday...that leaves me an Omega 48, Omega 49, and a vintage boar to use over the weekend. I have really been using the 48 and 49 in a bit of a rotation. They do a fine utilitarian job. They both cost me under $10 shipped a couple years ago when I was going through a boar stage. The vintage boar I picked up of of a forum BST in early 2007 and have never let it leave the den...probably because it has little or no value. Looking forward to the Kent arrival.