I don't get it...

Drubbing

Drubbing

110% Smiley-Free
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Location
Perth, WA
Semogue Boar...I don't get it??

Join the club. Ignore the apologists and their 'mmm, try harder...'.

Mostly crap. Couple are half decent. Good to see the handles get a mention.

I haven't been there in months (honest). It just goes to show you can dip in anytime and come out with a heap of shit. But this is a vid the try harders said to watch. Yes, the almost wannabe famous Marco method. Don't know how it turned out. I fell asleep at the 3 hour mark....

FFS get on with it before I reach my mtherfkkin gun cabinet you anal bastard

Marco. First comment in. Priceless. Those fancy anti-clockwise swirls really fucked it up.

/Mini rant.
 
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Sorry you were unlucky.
My SOC is the stiffest brush I have ever used that can still hold a heap of lather.
My 1305 is the softest useful boar brush I have ever used, and doesn;t look like it will get softer and softer until it's useless, unlike badgers twice the price.

I've got my first boar (the men u) still that is useless, stiff and can't hold lather, Got my first badger (EJ best - the same as the recommended crabtree and evelyn) that is so soft now it's useless for hard soaps.

Semogue did get a reputation because they did something right, but sure plenty of duds out there as you know.

I love the simmo I bought off you, soft and heaps of backbone. I can see why you love them if you are using soft soaps and creams, and don;t really need a boar. I do though for the hard soaps I use, so I still like the semogue brushes I have for that purpose. As good as badgers are, they don't work well with old hard soaps.

Edit: as far as the "using more product" argument. I have 4 soaps I use (MWF, Eshave, tabac and some old T&H), and they are 3+ years old and none are even half used. I only use the simmo badger with cella.

I think soft soap and cream users are just going to prefer the badger, while hard soap users are going to find the boar just fine.
 
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I've seen that thread. Further in he actually states the "boars are not for you or YMMV" comments are a cop out. I'm surprised he's actually still there.

To be honest, with the benefit of actually having ripped out and re-knotted two Semoques, I'm surprised any of them work as people expect them to. I should have used them before ripping them apart but inspite of that, the complaint that they're too floppy and/or don't hold lather makes perfect sense given that Semoque manufactures an artificial flare (not correct spelling here!) and deliberately doesn't include enough hair to accomplish how a 22/50 boar brush knot should behave. What they should say in their descriptions is: "Less hair per volume so it almost feels like a badger and doesn't have that 'orrible hard backbone and scritchinees so typical of your average boar brush". Can't speak for all models as Drubbing hasn't sent me his other ones (yet), but just looking at their range and construction I'd say they all look pretty similar.
 
Does Drubbing know that Dave Grohl has a full set of Semogues? :amazed:

I agree mostly with Pablo. My 830 works fine. I'm not obsessed with backbone. Hell I don't think I even understand exactly what it is supposed to be or do :laugh: I'd say it has enough. It is not floppy like my FS silvertip badger.

I have to be more aggressive with my boar brushes than with my badgers. Mash that puck, mash that face. Lather abounds. You gotta get the soap/cream into the middle of the brush. If you only work at the tips the lather heads towards the handle instead of out to the tips. You can't blame the lather for being attracted to that lovely handle can you?
 
pablo_h said:
Sorry you were unlucky.

Semogue did get a reputation because they did something right, but sure plenty of duds out there as you know.
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Can't say my experience has been unlucky. They'd have to put out a huge amount of duds for me to have chanced on getting all of them. I don't know what it was.

What I've bought: SOC, 2000, 620, 830 (x2, one replaced for free), 1460, 1305

Leaving aside the softness aspect, as that's always going to be preference (but it doesn't help if they really are noodly), it's performance I've had an issue with. But given a few Perth members have used these without too much issue rules out the local water, which is just another YKW cop out anyway IMO.

That leaves technique, and as you know mine is flawless. No really, it's pretty good. But with every one I've had fickle issues - the 830 the worst by a long way. Both of them. Just a blatant refusal to load and lather, then fine, or at least better on another day - with all other things being equal.

I bolded that because it goes to what the BB poster was saying. I had to think about keeping stuff consistent, like how wet or dry it was etc. It was turning me into the worst kind of nerd. As he says, it's hassle having to examine everything you do, so why bother.

So I can't explain why some find they work fine, yet mine were as capable of being good as they were of being completely useless - some were less fickle than others but all were guilty. Not just being picky about quality here, I'm talking thin watery lather that isn't really lather, despite copious loading that even Marco would find anal. No BB look-after-your-baby-brush namby-pambyism either - I mashed the muthafkers like a Grohlster when it was called for.

Never had the same thing with the Omegas. Even the $6 one. They're just as soft, but they also have the grunt the Smogs are missing. I used the 10005 today and it was still a tad soft from yesterday. Didn't quite have the feel it usually has, but it still lathered like a champ. If I tried that with any of my Smogs, they'd be useless.
 
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'Is there a specific reason you alternate clockwise with counterclockwise swirls on the surface of the soap when loading the brush? ' - really if I didn't know better I would swear that this post is taking the mickey out of them!

I've just become a NOT Semogue fan. My 1305 broke yesterday. The knot, with half the glue plug, broke clean off when I was cleaning it!

What am I doing wrong? I mash it and treat it mean like Drubs says and it turns on me and breaks :mad:

Time to get a new brush I suppose and break it in...
 
Mark1966 said:

I've just become a NOT Semogue fan. My 1305 broke yesterday. The knot, with half the glue plug, broke clean off when I was cleaning it!

What am I doing wrong? I mash it and treat it mean like Drubs says and it turns on me and breaks :mad:

Time to get a new brush I suppose and break it in...
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Could be the chisel and mallet technique you use for cleaning Mark.
 
Mark1966 said:
.........I've just become a NOT Semogue fan. My 1305 broke yesterday. The knot, with half the glue plug, broke clean off when I was cleaning it!.........
Click to expand...


The knot with half the plug came clean of the handle? That's unusual to say the least. You should post it over at B&B and watch the reactions. If true at least half the knot is removed. Rip the rest out and see if the construction is the same as the two ex-drubbing models. I'd be interested to hear. If you can be bothered.

If you're looking for a boar go for an Omega.
 
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Mark1966 said:
'Is there a specific reason you alternate clockwise with counterclockwise swirls on the surface of the soap when loading the brush? ' - really if I didn't know better I would swear that this post is taking the mickey out of them!

I've just become a NOT Semogue fan. My 1305 broke yesterday. The knot, with half the glue plug, broke clean off when I was cleaning it!

What am I doing wrong? I mash it and treat it mean like Drubs says and it turns on me and breaks :mad:

Time to get a new brush I suppose and break it in...
Click to expand...

That is unusual, they may be fickle but they're usually also impossible to kill. Pj hated me on a number occasions trying to get the bastard knot out of some of mine.

Probably your own fault. Not enough anti-clockwise swirls...
 
I'd be posting photos on B&B. Especially if you can get a shot of the 'cup' which splays a 20mm knot to 22mm at the neck.

Watch the damn apologists then! If the photos are of high enough quality then I will write up a front page article on here denouncing the construction of the brushes at Semogue.

My 730HD is fine as it is crazily densely stuffed, but you can be sure that the 620 is as useless and noodly as ever. Worst brush I ever bought. Might send it to PJ for a serious badger re-knot. 24mm TGN finest at very short setting?
 
Razormonsta said:
...... Might send it to PJ for a serious badger re-knot. 24mm TGN finest at very short setting?
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It would be nice as the 620 has a really nice handle (where have I heard that statement before). Being an acrylic see through handle the options for extending the hole are beyond what I can do. Sinking a knot another 5-10mm and leaving the hole in a respectable state is unfortunately not an option for me. A wooden one or even a faux ivory or whatever would certainly be doable. I could replace the current knot as is with a TGN badger but you'd end up with a really soft borderline floppy knot.
 
For those who were curious....

pics of the brush below -





 
Bloody hell. That only happens with really old brushes. You can see the flare from the cup and how the 22mm reduces to what wouldn't be more than an 18mm knot. What is the diameter at the bottom by the way?
 
Pjotr said:
Bloody hell. That only happens with really old brushes. You can see the flare from the cup and how the 22mm reduces to what wouldn't be more than an 18mm knot. What is the diameter at the bottom by the way?
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Don't know - but I will measure tonight. Should I just bung some Araldite in there and it will all be sweet?
 
Mark1966 said:
Don't know - but I will measure tonight. Should I just bung some Araldite in there and it will all be sweet?
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That shouldn't be a problem but you have to remove as much of the old glue as you can from inside the apperture and also around the insides of the ring. Also give the bottom and glue lined sides of the knot a good sand to remove old glue there too. Be careful on the sides where the glue has seeped in to the hairs as you'll end up cutting through the hair too. The only problem I can foresee is to ensure that you use just enough glue to make sure the side of the knot is glued to the ring. If that doesn't happen you could end up with glue lined cavities in between the knot and the inside of the ring. Water will get trapped in there with no way of getting out. Capillary action without capillaries doesn't work if you know what I mean. Go easy on the glue. Use a little bit to start with, insert the knot and lift it out to see if glue is going where it's supposed to. If not add a tiny bit more. If it's starting to squirt out the top take the knot out and remove a tiny bit etc. Use some glue that gives you a bit of time to muck around. Not Superglue obviously and I'd be inclined to use slow curing Araldite. Good luck.

Keep these pictures. You really should post them over at B&B under the heading: "Too much flare, not enough hair" and wait for the Semoque sicophants attempts to get you banned!
 
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You mean that I can't just squirt a bit of SupaGlue in and push it back together?

Hmmm, maybe this goes in the too hard basket...

Just measured BTW - 24mm at the top and 18mm at the bottom
 
Mark1966 said:
You mean that I can't just squirt a bit of SupaGlue in and push it back together?

Hmmm, maybe this goes in the too hard basket...
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Well, of course you could. I'm just giving you the full monty as it were. If somebody woud ask me to repair it that's what I would consider.

Mark1966 said:
Just measured BTW - 24mm at the top and 18mm at the bottom
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There you go. By the time you take away the glue on the outside of the knot you've barely got 17mm worth of hair. So, it's a 17mm knot with a loft of 50mm! Even without the artificial flare that's pushing it. Going back to an earlier post by Pablo, I think it's more a question of luck if they do work.
 
OK, we will see how instant nails goes :amazed:

Shocking but true - it was the closest I had around. It is the high strength wet applications one ;)

Is this what you mean by a thread BTW
 
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