Pin-ups, Shave Brushes and Lasers

We had a customer who wanted a pin-up on a shave brush. Which, by the way, is about the coolest idea.  At first, we thought it was going to be easier than it was.

 

We had a picture that seemed simple enough, a lovely lady in a beach repose.

 

What we did not realize at the time, was the simple workings of the laser.  In what we consider black and white pictures, what we see is actually is black  spot, white the absence of the  and a half tone of black.  In order to get gray, the space for black is only half filled with the area that would normally be a dot.  So, a half dot.

 

A half dot.  That was the crux of the problem.  A point of heat at the end of the laser is on or off.  Laser land refers to this as a binary system.  Just like all those 11111 and 0000 of binary code in the fledgling days of computers. 

Simply, there are no half dots. No half dots for me, the picture, the lady and no half dots for her new owner. 

There were, seemingly, an endless amount of versions. To tweek and tweek again the  picture to fool the laser to apply a dots that show our pinup lady.

 

This was the last flat version.  She is there with her towel and hours spent on making her hair work out properly.  I had no idea what a delightful challenge this would be.  The best part was the final burn of the image and finishing the shave brush.

 

 

 

Badger Badger Badger the New Shave brush Handles

Tis the beginning of so many new brush handles.  From the limited addition Walnuts, newly finished Spalted Maple, and Lilac wood.  With many more in the pipeline....


Take one home @ http://tinyurl.com/m7nvv6k Lovgren & Daughter Etsy Shop.

This striking handle will be gone soon.  All of the similar ones went within a few weeks.  If you like it get it now and pick your Knot at the Etsy Shop: http://tinyurl.com/m7nvv6k

At our Etsy Shop Lovgren & Daughter: http://tinyurl.com/m7nvv6k

Found in our Etsy Shop: http://tinyurl.com/m7nvv6k

Each one could be yours!  We offer engraving at no additional cost - anything from a monogram to a family crest to pinup picture (another bolg post on that custom brush on the way :).

Found at the Etsy Shop: http://tinyurl.com/m7nvv6k

Beautiful Walnut Badger Shave Brush Handle special finish

We love when customers come up with ideas!

One of our customers liked the idea of Walnut in a more dramatic profile.  Now we usually do a very graceful profile (shape) of a handle but our customer had given us a sample of a Bavarian turning to use as a reference.  Actually now we are going to make a few in a similar manner because it looks great.  Also the Belle Époque curves are great but there are avenues and styles that look extraordinary also.  I keep falling back on the saying "A change is as good as a rest".  Sometimes to reignite the creative process we need to see from someone else's perspective.

Brilliant idea.  Having a picture for reference is always a good idea.  And it makes talking about the style and the wants of the customer easier. 

 

 

This finish on the wood is wee bit different.  It is a combination of walnut oil and a wax over the walnut oil.  Usually we do everything to make sure the new owner hasn't have to think about the handle again for the rest of their lives.  In this case, it was important to the customer to have a finish that was traditional.  The earliest forms of finish was some kind of oil either walnut, linseed or one of the other oil that provide a good seal.  On top of that is beeswax to provide a buffer between the oil and the air or water.    

 

This type of finish will need periodic renewing.  Which means the wax must be removed and then the oil replenished and the beeswax reapplied.  This maintenance is not for everyone.  We are happy to work with people to give them the shaving brush they really want.

 

Feel free to drop us a note, we would love to hear from you!

Etsy Shop Lovgren and Daughter:  http://tinyurl.com/m7nvv6k



 

Antique Pine and the work was worth it.

Finally, got the finish finished on the antique pine special sized shave brush. 

You can see the branch terminal bud and the other black come from a nail that was nailed into the tree an age before it was felled.  Thanks goodness, Eric found the nail before it went flying through the air or it ruined a tool.  The tree had completely grown around it and it was not moved in the raising of the barn, cutting of the tree, or disassembling the beam.

 

This is a regular knot size compared to the 32mm x 65mm silvertip knots.  while it looks petite in the picture the smaller one is the "regular size".

 

Here is the large brush and bowl next to a regular size bowl.  The owner is a tall man (6'4) and wanted finally to be able to feel a brush in his hand correctly for someone who is taller.  We happily custom make brushes and bowls for individuals.  Please do not to hesitate to let us make your dream brush.

 

Brush of a Lifetime Tall men and Big hands need a big brush

To show the large handle better here is a mahogany in comparison to the usual size. The smaller brush knot size is 22mm x 65mm the larger one is 30mmx 75mm.

Custom Shaving Brushes and Flame Box Elder

Another custom Badger Brush that went to live in Singapore. We have had a piece of flame box elder for close to two years. The color of the wood is just amazing. It's a lot of work to track down interesting pieces of wood. First I have to scour the usual sites, ebay, nc woods, and our neighborhood. Actually, some of our best apple wood that has come from pruning our apple trees. One of the best parts is that the handle and the bowl are scaled up to his hand.

Family Insignia on custom wet shaving brush

We have enjoyed working with another customer. Having created an insignia or a family crest, we had some work to with Corel to get it on the Mahogany brush handle. It was really great that the importing the file into Corel went so well.

Exciting new Developments

Having been away working hard there a few projects I would like to share. We have been doing a lot of custom work for people. This brush is in Latin on a mahogany handle. Wonderful to work with the folks of Badger and Blade and the Shavenook bulletin boards.

Shave Brushes

Shave Brushes - Men, Men Men, Manly Men

Shave Brushes are Brushes with which one applies a lathering soap to enhance the shave.


Yeah Yeah Yeah.  It makes a difference HOW you get the soap on?!  Couldn't be THAT different. 


IT IS,THAT Different.  REALLY.


A good shave brush starts out in life as a piece of wood for the handle and a brush knot.  The TYPE of brush knot also makes a difference.  There are Boar Bristle Brushes you can buy in a drug store.  They are vaguely better than using regular Shave Foam. 


BADGER BRUSHES are the instruments of a fine shave.  We offer two types Best (or Mixed Badger) and Silvertip.  Silvertip is the Rolls Royce of Badger Brushes.


With a brush one creates circles in the shave bowl in circular motions.  These circular motions create air inside the soap which makes a lather.  As you apply the lather to your face in gentle circular motions again, it softens your beard and helps each hair stand up to be ready for shaving.


We offer the two types so that even within a budget you can get an excellent shave.

The Silvertip with a Walnut Handle

 The Best Badger with a Walnut Handle

Shave brushes have been recently seen on the AMC show "Mad Men" and A&E show "Longmire".