Shaving Brush Stands

[rschul2]

Hmm...this whole discussion....there needs to be an answer. I'm going to run a series of tests this week. Hopefully by the end of the week, I will be able to give us a definitive answer. I'm a scientist. I have access to equipment that just might be able to measure the amount of water retained in a brush after hanging upside down versus right side up. Will take a couple of days to get the results though.

[JackieMartling]

Randy,

Sounds like a great idea. I imagine will all eagerly await your results.

[blackgrass]

Randy,
Great idea. Something I have wondered about that you might be able to do at the same time as your experiment is to see how much water these brushes actually hold. I would like to compare several different brushes. You could weigh them all dry. Then soak the brush and let it drain till it stops dripping and see how much it weighs wet. After all, isn’t the main purpose of the brush it to hold water? How much more does a 30mm knot brush hold over a 26mm knot brush. How much more does a brush with the same knot size but longer bristles hold over the shorter bristle brush? This might make for an interesting experiment.
Ben

[rschul2]

Ben,
I should be able to work that in. I'm planning on testing a pure badger brush from Vulfix first (20 mm knot). I'll do the water retention and the "to hang or not to hang experiment." If this seems to work well, I'll try to get around to my SR241 possibly over the weekend.

[rschul2]

Gents,
So after a few days of testing the Stand or not To Stand theory...here are the results.

Test Subject: Vulfix #849 Pure Badger Shaving Brush (Dimensions: Handle=55mm, Bristles=45mm, Knot=20mm.

Conditions: Brush was weighed (dry before the experiment to determine the dry weight of the brush). Brush was then soaked in water for 30 minutes to absorb water, given a downward shake (brush remained perpindicular to floor-excess force was NOT used) 5 times to remove excess water from brush. The brush was then weighed to ascertain the amount of water held by the brush. Brush was then shaken (Hard) 5 times to simulate removing water from brush after shaving and left to dry either with a stand, or upside down.

Results:
DAY1: Hanging Upside Down
Weight of dry brush: 54.689g
Weight of wet brush after shaking: 65.988g
Brush absorbed 11.299g of water which equals 11.28 ml or 0.3 oz
Brush was shaken vigorously 5 times
Brush placed in a stand and left to dry overnight.

Day 2:
Weight of brush after hanging upside down: 54.689g
Overall: Brush was completely dry


Day 3: Not Hanging Upside Down
Weight of dry brush: 54.689g
Weight of wet brush after shaking: 64.449g
Brush absorbed 9.76g of water which equals 9.74ml or 0.29 oz
Brush was shaken vigorously 5 times
Brush allowed to dry upside down (no hanging) overnight.

Day4:
Weight of brush after no hanging: 54.858g
Amount of water still in brush: 0.169g which equals 0.268ml or 0.0080 oz
Overall: Brush was almost dry but not completely

Addendum: Interesting thing to note is that the not hanging brush had approx 5 hours longer to dry and was still not able to dry completely. My personal take is that it probably does not make that much of a difference, but if you wanted to be technical about it, hanging upside down seems to allow the brush to dry completely overnight. Note: This was not performed using a superbadger brush. I'm sure that the data might change somewhat, (ie. a superbadger should retain more water)but I'm not bringing my good shaving brush into a microbiology laboratory to find out.

Hope this helps end the controversy...or encourages more discussion...either way.

[guenron]

Gents,
So after a few days of testing the Stand or not To Stand theory...here are the results.

Test Subject: Vulfix #849 Pure Badger Shaving Brush (Dimensions: Handle=55mm, Bristles=45mm, Knot=20mm.

Conditions: Brush was weighed
=SNIP=

Results:
=SNIP=

Addendum: Interesting thing to note
=SNIP=

Hope this helps end the controversy...or encourages more discussion...either way.

Yeomans work if I ever saw it. Couple of issues that need to be addressed if these tests are to reveal more than good intentions though. Since the evaporative process (drying?) depends upon factors transcending stands or the absence stands have you take into consideration:
1. The relative humidity in the area when testing?
2. The barometric pressure?
3. The temperature?
We need to tip the hat to Messers Boyle, Charles, and jolly old Lord Kelvin! It seems that you have enjoyed this test. Now, as we are dealing with approximately a quarter of a cc, lets see if you can further isolate the potential impact(s) of those nasty partial pressures, etc.
I am excited. We are near the real answer to the ever-nagging question, To suspend or not to suspend?
Regards,
Ron

[rschul2]

Yeomans work if I ever saw it. Couple of issues that need to be addressed if these tests are to reveal more than good intentions though. Since the evaporative process (drying?) depends upon factors transcending stands or the absence stands have you take into consideration:
1. The relative humidity in the area when testing?
2. The barometric pressure?
3. The temperature?
We need to tip the hat to Messers Boyle, Charles, and jolly old Lord Kelvin! It seems that you have enjoyed this test. Now, as we are dealing with approximately a quarter of a cc, lets see if you can further isolate the potential impact(s) of those nasty partial pressures, etc.
I am excited. We are near the real answer to the ever-nagging question, To suspend or not to suspend?
Regards,
Ron

Since this little experiment was performed in a cell/tissue culture hood, I can be relatively sure that the humidity, barometric pressure, and temperature were the same for both experiments as the hood provides a regulated environment. I think the real question to address is which of the methods dries the brush faster. I would have to take various timepoints to achieve the answer. Won't have time to run that one for a while.

[Coche_y_bondhu]

Hello Randy,

Excellent experiment. Well done. Carry on.

Cheers,
Richard
Area 52, Texas

[blasterjumper]

I didn't feel like buying a stand so I made one myself using a wire hanger. I dont have a picture to show right now, but it works really well, all it takes is a hanger, a pair a pliers, and about 10 minutes of bending the wire to get it just right.

[blackgrass]

I didn't feel like buying a stand so I made one myself using a wire hanger. I dont have a picture to show right now, but it works really well, all it takes is a hanger, a pair a pliers, and about 10 minutes of bending the wire to get it just right.

Hah! I did the same thing. I have a wire shelf that holds my shaving kit and I was able to attach my wire brush holder to one of the shelves and it works perfectly. More than anything else I just like that isn't sitting on the counter top and is out of the way but still visible.

[scarecrow]

I have one of those small acrylic holders, but the only badger brush I have is a long, heavy tube-handled travel version (there's another on the way now). Once I bought a badger, of course, I couldn't stand to use any of the boar bristle brushes anymore.. and I knew none of the commercial stands were going to fit the travel brush, so I did pretty much the same thing.

I made two prototypes of a custom brush/razor stand from coathanger wire, and refined the design a bit in the process (it's simple, but not like any I've seen)- then I made one from the quarter-inch aluminum rod that can be found in many hardware stores and house centers. It was somewhat different to work with, but the prototyping experience paid off. I cut off the excess with a Dremel cut-off wheel, rounded the cut ends and polished the aluminum with the same tool while I was at it.

I can see the flaws that I'd avoid if I did it again, but others seem to think it looks pretty good... and it's lightweight enough that I might actually think about taking it on a trip.

Sometimes I even remember to use it. I had gotten sort of used to standing the brush up instead.

[honkdonker]

[quote="Enrico"]

I just received a new (so called silver tip) brush from Shavemac, [/quote]

Hi Steve. I am very curious as to the quality of this silvertip. Could you please describe in some detail the feel, stiffness, colour, etc, and any other things about your Shavemac? I am wondering if these may be some of the best true "silvertip" deals to be had, if they are indeed silvertip.

Any comparison to other types of brushes you have used would be helpful.

Thanks.

[Enrico]

Honk,

I'll do the best I can
The only other better brush that I use, that I can compare the Shavemac to, is a Vulfix 2235.

The Shavemac has a much rounder shape than other brushes I have seen or used. I was quite interested in the info post that Paul Bowser rec'd from Shavemac, that he kindly shared with us a few weeks ago. It described in much detail how the brush hair is formed using the shaping box. When you look at it you can see the great care taken in forming the shape, and the fact that there has been no trimming of the hair, which appears to have taken place on other brushes I have seen. It is a quality product for sure.

As for the feel, it is quite soft, compared to the Vulfix. The bristles do have some stiffness to them, but I don't know how they compare to other "silver tips", as I have not used any, and I don't know anybody around here, where I live, that has one.
I was able to compare it to a BK8 that I looked at sometime ago, and the bristles of the Shavemac were a little stiffer, but the tips were noticeably whiter and softer than on the BK8!!

The coloring of the hair is somewhat like the Vulfix, but again the tips on the Shavemac are much whiter in color.
The brush I own is classified as an XL silvertip, yet it appears to be just the right size, in that it is easy to handle and does not appear to be "too big", as others have indicated some larger brushes are in their opinion. It is about 1/3 bigger than the BK8, when compared side by side, but does not bloom out like other bigger brushes I have seen.

I have been using the brush on and off for about 3 months now, and it is excellent in my opinion. It has not dropped a single hair that I am aware of.
I would sure like to think that it is a true "silvertip", but I am no expert.
If you have any other questions, I can attempt to address them.

By the way, related to subject of this post, as mentioned in the info from Shavemac "After cleaning (post shave), excess water should be shaken from the brush. The shaving brush should then be placed upside down in the shaving brush stand and stored in a well ventilated area in order to dry out."

Regards,

Steve

[honkdonker]

Thanks Enrico, that was a most informative reply. It is interesting that the bristles seem somewhat stiffer, and the tips whiter and softer than the Vilfux. This would seem to indicate that it is a silvertip, based on my understanding of the silvertip. Silvertip is supposed to be the softest touch, and that, coupled with the somewhat stiffer bristles, as Gordon has many times mentioned are particular to the Plisson, etc, seems to solidify the type of hair used. It would seem to me that Shavemac silvertips may be among the best values available for true silvertips. Surely Simpsons and others don't hold a monolpoly on true silvertip hair!

Thanks.