Ever Ready Boar

Pjotr

Cultured Philistine
Moderator
2016 Sabbatical
Joined
Feb 15, 2011
Location
Western Australia
Much to my disgrace, until recently my only boar brush was an el-cheapo Vulfix which to my knowledge isn't in production anymore. It has a reasonably nice handle, which made me buy it in the first place, but as I've mentioned before, it's either a nice handle and a lousy knot (come on you Smoggie owners, you know this to be true) or a lousy handle and a nice knot (Omega all the way) and never, it appears, both. Try as I might, the Vulfix remained tough, and quite frankly unpleasant to use.

As TGN have finally started stocking a few boar knots and I managed to scrounge a somewhat beaten up Ever Ready handle off @Mark1966 , it was time to make a new one. It's a 22mm knot, which seems to be the almost universal boar knot size, and it's got a 50mm loft. In my collection of brushes that is huge.

Ever Ready Boar.jpg

I have a new found appreciation for the humble Ever Ready handle. Firstly you can find this model and many other similar ones on e-bay all the time. It, to my knowledge, invariably had and was designed to take a boar knot and was sold as the reasonably priced drug store boar brush. Secondly, unlike similar makes that I've re-knotted, it is very well constructed with two threaded sections of meaty bakelite/plastic. I should have taken a picture of it in pieces. I also added a few bits of lead sinker in the handle and it feels and looks like a monster. I'd forgotten how long a boar takes to break in. After two shaves and several shampoos it's still destroying the lather but that will pass I'm sure.
 
22/50 is a good size. Omegas of that spec stay firm, and take a long time to soften through the knot. If it performs the same, that should suit you.
 
Nice looking brush!!!!
 
Thanks Marlow. It really isn't that hard. Ripping the knot out of a newish handle can be tricky (this one came knotless) as one slip of the chisel and it's bye bye handle. Just got to take it slow. Would be good to get hold of some Ever Ready handles and turn them in to nice boar brushes for those poor f####rs lumped with Smoggies.
 
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