Recently I won an Ebay auction of a Gibbs 210 brush, which was an antique brush I've seen several times on the forums and was really fond of it's unique handle shape! Being more of a badger fan I didn't really care for the boar bristles it came with so I was lucky to find an auction with a very cheap price+postage on account of the bristles being is such bad state! Here are some pictures of the brush as I've received it:
The handle was in worst condition that it seemed on the seller's pictures, a lot of plate lost, and being hollow it was a lot lighter than I'd imagined!
After hearing great praises on our very on brush artist's beejay, I contacted him regarding a new badger knot and restore of the brush. Luckily he was available, and trough excellent communication and a bit of a mind reader's talent he understood want I wanted even better than myself! The result was nothing short of fantastic! Here are some commented pictures he sent me of different stages of his talented work:
We finally opted for a 20mm two band badger knot, set at 47mm and he filled the handle to give it more weight and heft, and this was the last picture he sent me:
The arrived at my eager hands last Monday, has used yesterday, and was better than I ever taught it would! Soft tips, good backbone, an excellent face feel, produced lather effortlessly and enough for three passes (and than some). I honestly never expected to love it so much as I'm a bit of a 24mm knot snob!
So, here are a couple of more brush porn pictures:
And my Shave of the Day width it:
I just want to thank Master Bill for his wonderful work and for allowing me to have this very unique brush!