LE Semogue Boar and Badger Size 1

Minorci

Minorci

Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Location
Canberra
So...

For the price, these are piss weak average brushes at that.

Little annoyed at the moment. In short, my Semogue 830 boar lathers better than the 'Finest Bristle' and on the first couple of goes, the painted band was coming off in the soap and my TGN Silvertip remake lathers better than the Badger.

Plus sides, the new handles are awesome.

Will construct a better review once I've had a chance to break them in as first impression may be wrong. If it isn't though I doubt I will be buying Semogue ever again and these puppies going up for sale so I can fund a purchase of a Simpson.

Drubbs you can commence with the I told you so's.
 
Minorci said:
...... the painted band was coming off in the soap.......
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I'm assuming you mean the wannabe-badger stain. That tends to come off for a bit during the first couple of shaves. It does stop after a while. Nice handles though. A shame you can't lather up with a handle.
 
Minorci said:
So...

For the price, these are piss weak average brushes at that.

Drubbs you can commence with the I told you so's.
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Well, I won't do that, because it's a bit of a sting to spend that much on a boar and feel dudded. I'm still getting over how much I paid for a Chubby, even though it's not a dud, just freaking expensive. But I did flag my opinions on Semogues in general when I raised the topic; nice handles, well made, but poor knots. Hard to see them changing that formula.

Pj has cottoned on to why their knots are so soft. They're all set into a cup, set into the handle. So when you buy a stated spec width of knot - you can take 4mm off that. They gain their 'density' through the flare the cup shape gives them. So they're less packed than their specs suggest, and simply look full because they're angled more.

I've got the 2000, and it's essentially the same as any other Semogue, just bigger. In fact the extra loft makes it even softer than an 830.

As you said, you're essentially paying for the handle. The dye always runs for a few lathers. Omegas don't, but all Sems do. If it really irks you down the track, you can either sell it at minimum loss you know where, as the frenzy will still be in full swing, or ask Pj to reknot with a TGN Badger. Expensive way of going about it sure, but you'll get a nice brush you can use, and with PJs work, you'll never know it was a reknot.
 
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Yeah the fake badger dye ran a fair bit on my 1305, but stopped after about a week.
I still like everything else about it though, I bought it for a softer boar brush, and thats what it is. Before buying it I only had the men-u pure bristle boar brush from nathan, and I found that too firm and not holding much soap.

My SOC is still the best boar though, massive and still stiff, holds a lot of soap, and came with no fake badger dye.
 
Drubbing said:
.........Pj has cottoned on to why their knots are so soft. They're all set into a cup, set into the handle. So when you buy a stated spec width of knot - you can take 4mm off that. They gain their 'density' through the flare the cup shape gives them. So they're less packed than their specs suggest, and simply look full because they're angled more..........
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Yes, the cup/rim actually flairs quite dramatically over a 12mm depth from 22mm at the top to barely 18mm at it's base. Consequently the boar knot that's set in these cups are barely 18mm. In the case of Drubbings 1460 it wasn't any more 16mm. I had to grind away at the inside to remove the flair and the bottom end of the cup and could only just barely squeeze in a 20mm TGN knot in. So basically for a brush that's got a listed knot spec of 22mm and 50-55mm loft you've only got at best the amount of hair present in an 18mm knot. You do the maths. 4mm difference in circumference represents a 33% reduction in the amount of hair (in reality it's probably more). Couple that to the artificial flair at the tips which basically spreads that reduced volume of hair over a greater area/volume and they'll be soft brushes allright. There's no amount of extra packing or using Finest Bristle (whatever that means) that's going to make up for that.

Of course I can't speak for all Semoque brushes but looking at all the pictures of splaying blooming boar brushes and the tell-tale signs of cup rims on all of them I'll put money on them all having the same construction.

So, in short, if you're after a soft boar brush you'll get one. If they use the same principle with badger hair brushes it'll be the same although the effect won't be as pronounced because badger does this naturally anyhow but conversely you're still getting a lot less badger than you think you are and badger really doesn't need any artificial splaying. I'm no expert on this but I doubt you'll find any other brush makers that'll use a 16 or 18mm knot to reach a 50mm loft.

But then again a lot of people consider softness in brushes a luxury. Semoque in essence accomplishes this through employing a few cheap tricks.
 
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Pjotr said:
Yes, the cup/rim actually flairs quite dramatically over a 12mm depth from 22mm at the top to barely 18mm at it's base. ...

But then again a lot of people consider softness in brushes a luxury. Semoque in essence accomplishes this through employing a few cheap tricks.
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Well put. The width/loft ratio is the thing here. The 1305 is so popular because it's more vertically set than any of the others I've had. You still get the benefit of those really soft bristles, but with some grunt behind it. The rest I've had just don't have that.

The Omega 10275 isn't that far off being a 620/1305 hybrid. It's moppy soft at the tips, but holds up. It has the very same feel as the Semogue 'Premium'. But costs $7.

Interesting how the frenzies run on Semogues LEs though. The Blue Boar was a veritable scrable for getting hold of one. After the dust settled, a good number ended up on BST. Strangely, no Minorci-type posts popped up about them. People just stopped talking about it. An interesting lesson in net hype. It happens a lot with all sorts of gear online.
 
I am discussing the poor finish of the ring/cup with VS at the moment so I haven't got my size 1 badger wet yet.

I would say the size 1 badger is pretty extreme on the width/height ratio. It is less than twice as tall as it is wide off their specs. It might take a bit of playing around to get it working. I'm expecting it to behave a bit differently to my other brushes.

The handle is very nice. The sticker looks like it was put on by special ed kids.

I'm really enjoying my FS silvertip though so I don't think I get all barred up about backbone like some do. My 830 has plenty enough backbone for me.
 
Sooo....They are refunding me on my brush and asking for it to be sent back to the factory for analysis.

Here is the offending Smoggie...

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Not sure how they managed to finish the ring so poorly. It has a few small dents also which are hard to make out and could have occurred during shipping.

A bit disappointing but there you go.
 
What a bummer. There's always one that'll slip through. Finally a post on VC 4.0. First for days.
 
Didn't even know you'd got one SYD. That's too bad. How about Omegas? You could buy 7 of them for the same price.
 
SmallYetDeadly said:
I'll steer clear of omega in badger. Should be getting a '49 in about 9 days ;)
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I think they get a bad rap for generally being known as producers of budget boars. And what most would generally purchase from them is budget boars. I'm just as guilty myself. However I'm sure their more expensive range of badger brushes will be just as good as any other. Or at least worth a try. If they know how to make boar brushes they can also make badger. Same principles.


Oh almost forgot.......... Semoque?.......Really nice handles.
 
SmallYetDeadly said:
I'll steer clear of omega in badger. Should be getting a '49 in about 9 days ;)
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They make some nice looking ones, don't see any reason to avoid them.

Nothing wrong with budget boars. Except those from from hicksville drugstores costing less than a cappuccino - that's where my line is drawn. I muchly prefer the Omegas to Smogs; they work like boars, just as soft, but don't arse you around and go loose through the knot. Some don't mind that, but I've badgers when I want something that soft.

The 49 should be good. I'm really liking the 102. It's about the same size, but plenty of knotty grunt. Works really well.
 
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garethm said:
Semogues, but gee they've got a nice handle...
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You have been lurking here awhile haven't you. Don't worry within a few months you will be having to decide what brush to use with what razor and what soap or cream - it is the nature of the beast and of the beasts who habitate this forum.
 
garethm said:
I own one brush and know nothing about Semogues, but gee they've got a nice handle...
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Indeed they do. You can have my 830 if you like (that would make it 2 I've given away). Just to suck you in and get you started. I was going to sell it, but I haven't been killed in the rush yet...
 
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