Allow me to present the “Brush, Experimental, version Alpha” – or “X-A” for short.

The knot is inexpensive Chinese badger from source who seems to mostly sell budget make up brushes and wigs. The handle is a piece of two-by-two construction lumber, good Norwegian spruce most likely, that have been ageing in my shed for a few years now. The finish is a mineral oil and CA glue finish, which – if my sources online can be trusted – should be at least somewhat water resistant.

It’s a 19mm knot with a “free loft” (above the handle) of approximately 55mm. The handle itself is about 45mm tall and 40mm in diameter… perhaps a little chubby, but the main objective with “Brush, Experimental, version Alpha” is to see how the knot works. Since I fully expect and even plans to de-knot it at some point and transfer the knot to a future “X-B”, the knot is set in place with bathroom caulk as suggested in a thread on the Shave Nook.

Finishing the handle took quite some time – not because it was particularly hard to turn, but I had to procure some Forstner Bits, thin CA glue, and not at least find the time in between everything else that have been going on.

Used my punch set to stamp an A on the bottom. What I’ll do when I have not just made versions Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and so on, but also versions Ærlig, Østen og Åse… well.. I guess I have to get some punches with numbers on. Or a laser engraver… either way it’ll be a long time before that point is reached.

The actual knot itself is fairly soft, with a bit of backbone and a pretty decent face feel for not having been broken in. It honestly feels better than my Wilkinson Sword Badger did before I broke it in… but miles away from the lovely Artisania Romera Manchurian Badger that I got from Phil at BullGoose Shaving. To me it’s a pretty decent little lathererer, good for an inexpensive brush or for a beginner wetshaver who don’t want to sink too much money into a new hobby. It’ll be fun to see how the knot develops, in this handle and the ones that are sure to follow.