Is one-band badger upon us?

kooshman7 Is that second handle have dymondwood in it or is it like the recycled skateboard deck wood? Both of the handles seem like they would work well for me to face lather with. How heavy are the handles by themselves? I usually prefer pretty light. One more question, you think the bloom is going to be fairly contained or will it widen quite a bit at those loft heights?

Excited to see what will come of the final brush Joe. Cheers

I'm not sure what the second handle is made out of. I did buy it because it was styled like dymondwood, and I always liked that, but I thought I read something that it was discontinued recently. Both of these handles are from Chinese manufacturers. The first comes from Boti and is referred to as a Boti Shaving Brush Handle Walnut Wood and Resin Handmade just for the short hand name, and the second is called High Quality Wood and Resin Handle Threaded Handle Shaving Brush Handle. I was trying to remember why the second that is styled like Dymondwood looked odd to me, and finally realized going back and looking at the pictures on aliexpress. Mine is vertical, while the pictures show one that is horizontally layered. Minor detail. I decided that I'm going to go with the second handle. I may just put the free synthetic knot I received with the second handle into that and use it, or maybe give it a nicer badger knot of some sort. I saw a good number of handles from various sellers on aliexpress I liked quite well.

The walnut and resin handle weighs 74g, and the Dymondwood like handle weighs 83g. My knot is 25g. I'm thinking the bloom on the knot will be fairly contained. It's quite similar I was thinking to my extreme flat top as seen in my avatar picture. Maybe it is just my mind and eyes being fooled by how it looks visually from being tied up for so long, and I can't get away from that totally, but the hair is quite stiff. Quite like stiff 2-band like Shavemac 2-band D01. I know my model is the standard density too, and being quite the flat fan I think it's closest comparison will be a slightly loftier version of my avatar brush. I know it will open up, but when I got my avatar brush I was pleased with how little the stiff 2-band hair for Shavemac D01 didn't allow it to open a crazy amount, unlike it's 3-band cousin. I think I still had my 23mm 3-band D01 at the time and that just bloomed like crazy for it's small size. I wasn't as into big brushes then as my tastes have been right now. Not sure where I would be with that old 23mm 3-band D01 extreme flat top now. I just really like it in 2-band much better.

I just put some silicone on the knot and set it into the Dymondwood acrylic mix handle. I got out my Flattop Shavemac as seen in my avatar pic, and there's not a huge difference in the loft as I thought actually. 2mm it looks like when you hold the handles at eye level and knot level. My Shavemac has a knot of 30.4mm when set, while the Dymondwood has a knot of 28.8mm set. The Dymondwood has a weight of 110g while the Shavemac comes in at 81g. The Dymondwood doesn't feel too heavy when picking it up, but I need to use it to know if it really is too heavy. I remember having one of the 75th Anniversary Muhle brushes that was made out of metal and that was too heavy for me. I parted with whichever anniversary that brush was because of the weight.

One thing that stands out to me for the Meri knot vs my Shavemac is the finishing quality between the two. The Shavemac wins hands down. It wouldn't have taken Meri much to make me happy before using it. There's just too many hairs on the Meri that are sticking out. I've never had this level of hairs sticking out on any other brush, and I've bought more than I care to think about. I still need to use it and see if it annoys me in use. I dread that it will, but it may not. I'm trying to stay positive on that. I'm just glad I got a handle for this brush and have finally set it after such a long delay, and looking forward to using it!

Edit: I did take a few pictures of the Shavemac and Dymondwood together. I forgot from your last post zac I think both handles work well for face lathering or even bowl lathering. I do see an emphasis towards face lathering though. I'm a face lathering mostly, but I do deploy a scuttle for slight bowl lathering to keep the lather warm. Since I use both I just don't consider myself exclusive to one realm, but do admit some brushes I lather more in the bowl than on the face.

Got busy again, but I had a chance to use the brush yesterday for the first time. I don't remember a great deal of using it. My first pass I couldn't feel anything, and it took the second pass to feel anything. Too much beard in the way. It is quite similar to my Shavemac Extreme flat top. Not near the density of that brush and it can be seen visually and felt in use. Blooms much more, not as compact as the Shavemac, but not floppy by any means. I can say for their fans you might as well go for the extreme density. Their's is basically an extreme flat top. It really needs to be profiled more for a fan as the extreme flat top might not be to everyone's tastes.

In terms of how the tips felt they had that natural feel to them that I prefer. No gelling. It's still not a brush I would want to use back to back everyday. I've always found they are best for me when I haven't shaved for quite some time. The most remarkable part is that I couldn't feel it the first pass, and I don't think I've ever had that with any natural tipped 2-band, or at least not often. I was disappointed until I got to the second pass and could feel some tip presence. I'm much happier with this type of hair over most of the others I have bought. I promise to get pictures when possible and better impressions.