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.

Graceful Nakashima

There are w few woodworkers that are so revered as George Nakashima. He was a Japanese-American woodworker who use great slabs of wood in their most natural state to combine them with the foundation that creates a chair or a table or a desk. This is one of the rooms in his home. His trademark addition is a butterfly joint to stabilizes wood. While they are necessary to stop wood from cracking apart as it ages, they are also beautiful. His daughter continues his work at their Pennsylvania home. A more complete picture can be found at their website: http://www.nakashimawoodworker.com/ from which I borrowed the photos as an example to help educate those people who pass by the blog. What the Nakashima's imbue their work with the Zen-like lines that are calm and natural. We are blessed the such a talented woodworker lived among us. We are also indebted to his daughter, Mira who carries on in her father's tradition while moving forward into the 21st century.

Paint the Rainbow!

Tops and their finished look

After matching the tops and their handles with color, then at least two coats of shellac.  In between each coat you have to sand the layers to make sure there aren't any bumps.

Shellac is frowned upon currently because it reacts to water.  Think about the white rings on your grandmother's table.  BUT and this is HUGE shellac as a base coat provides great build or depth of color in the finish. 

What does that mean?  Depth of finish creates more refractive light to see the wood.  Or, it looks better. 

We use a poly as a top coat to protect against water and many other solvents like alcohol.  Solvents - dissolve finish.  Shellac is based in alcohol so if rubbing alcohol spills on it - it gets gooey and smudgey and basically ruins your day.

The is the bare handle                                                 Handle with color on it

 

 

 

In the last photo you can see how the colors blend into the bowl and look like a matching piece.  Some of the intensity is lost with applying another coat of shellac, snading that down with 600 grit sand paper and proceeding with the poly coats of finish. 

 

 

 

 

From Rough to Round

Now that we have an approximate shape that is circular we can mount it on the lathe for the rounding out parts.

This is the blank mounted on the lathe.  You can see here one of the vertical cuts to remove the corner went a little too deep.  It's okay.  There is enough wood to make minor adjustments while it is on the lathe.

Eric at the lathe making the first passes.

Eric is at the lathe rounding and shaping.  Notice the tool rest this is where a turner rests their tools to ensure an even cut. 

This is the very roughed out bowl.  Now we can see the cool shapes and colors that will be part of the bowl.

Badger, Badger, Badger

Badger Brush

"So, is the Badger brush, like, Badger-Badger or is it something like Badger?"

I was asked this question this week when I was talking to a customer.  At first I was surprised.  What on Earth?  Of course it's <<real>> badger.  But it got me to thinking. 

Why are our brushes so much cheaper than very large brand names?  The large name spends a lot of money on their marketing blitz.  They have been doing it for years.  The have stand alone brick and mortar stores in New York City  (the most expensive real estate in the country).  Bless their hearts.  They have CEO, CFO all the way down to the sales staff on the floor; the barbers in the shops.  Everyone needs to get paid.  I hope they do.  I hope they have great benefits and awesome pensions.  To finance these things drives the cost of each item up. 

Here's what we do without: salaries, benefits, making enough money to cover the costs of manufacture, and profits - we get a lot of satisfaction.  We love them,  we love the wood.  I love the finishes that bring out the beauty of the wood.  Eric loves the tool and learning new and better ways to use them.

Name something you love to do.  Name something you do that doesn't make you money.  Scrapbooking? Shiny antique cars?  Retro cookie har collecting?  Excellent!  And you do it now even though you aren't paid for it.  It's the same thing and once you've made something for friends and family...where do you go but outside your circle. In our case, we started a shop on Etsy.

Then we found an amazing resource from China.  99% of all badger brushes are made in China.  They still have a large badger population.  Badgers interfere with a farmer's fields.  Farmers who need their crops to survive.  Now they can earn money by killing pests. And having found a resource we can buy directly from China.  Directly from tiny business to tiny tiny business.  Across the world.  Across the world!  That is cool enough to do it by itself!

So we get our brushes at a good price and since we do not have expensive expenses, we don't charge as much as the big names.  This is where I am not good at capitalism.  I wouldn't feel right charging a zillion percent mark-up.  I also am not worried about funding pensions and shareholder return on investment.  Frankly, the big business idea could not be more unappealing.  I went to business school.  It was painful.  Not my thing. 

So, are our Badger Brushes are Badger-Badger.  I think this explains why they are cheaper than the large company's similar brushes.  Pure Badger Hair Shave Brushes, Really.

And ps have nothing to do with the meme.  

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".