Badger Shaving Brushes and Mandrels

[Bellsy]

I gave this Badger Brush a go and since there was no available mandrel I decided to design my own. One is for Acrylic handles and the other is for Wooden handles. Sorry about the poor picture quality. The brushes and AcryIic blank used were purchased through William Wood-write or Pen Blanks.ca The Wooden handle is Bicote.

Mandrel specs.....
1/2" dia. arbor for collet chuck.
3/4" dia. x .310" long arbor for blank to fit over.
5/16" - 18 threaded insert to attach blank (Acrylic) 1/4" drill for pilot hole of thread.
5/16" dia threaded insert to attach blank (Wood) 1/4" pilot hole in blank.

Drill a 3/4" hole 5/16" deep into the blank with a forstner bit. Then drill the pilot hole 7/8" deep for the Wood blanks and 1" deep for the Acrylic blanks. For the Acrylic blanks tap the blank with a 5/16 - 18 tap.
Mount your blank on the mandrels and start turning. Remember that the length of the larger arbor is .310" in length and your blank was drill @ 3/4 deep. Therefore the end of the blank will need to be trimmed back during turning until it reaches the 3/4" x .310" portion of the mandrel.

Note: I purchased 3" long hanger bolts which have a machine screw end 1 1/2" long and a wood screw end 1 1/2" long. For the Acrylic mandrel I use only the 1 1/2" portion of the bolt. For the Wood mandrel I use half of the machine screw end (3/4") and half of the wood screw end. The hanger bolts are threaded into the mandrels.
There is a second diameter @ 5/8" on the arbor that allows access to the end of the blanks face. This allows optional turning ideas to be used while turning the handles. i.e. a flat end or a tapered end. The handles shown are tapered down to the arbor leaving a sharp edge when removed from the arbor after finishing.
You can make the arbors any length desired and the prototypes shown below are @ 3" long over all, including the screw which is 3/4" in length.

Comments and suggestions welcomed.

Dave

Mandrels

Brushes

 

[fernhills]

I use the bottle stopper mandrel to do the brushes, i thread the blank using a 3/8 x 16 tap. Works well. If i am doing more then one and finishing i just use a 3/8" bolt and cut the head off and slip that onto a 3/8" collet chuck. Your system out classes mine, thanks for the info. Carl

 

[bitshird]

Nice looking mandrels, Thanks for sharing the idea's

 

[Woodlvr]

Nice work. I really like your design for the one on the right.

 

[wood-of-1kind]

Dave, that is a real "solid" design. Don't be surprised if you see a "retail" version of it soon. $omeone i$ going to make money on thi$.

 

[Bellsy]

Dave, that is a real "solid" design. Don't be surprised if you see a "retail" version of it soon. $omeone i$ going to make money on thi$.

I was shocked when I found out that there was nothing available for making the brushes on. That's the luxury of having my own metal lathe to make these with.

Dave

 

[wood-of-1kind]

I was shocked when I found out that there was nothing available for making the brushes on. That's the luxury of having my own metal lathe to make these with.

Dave

I know that you are busy doing things for "others", but you may want to consider making a small batch and offering them here for IAP members. You may be pleasantly surprised and make some pocket money to pay for this great craft of ours.

 

[Bellsy]

I know that you are busy doing things for "others", but you may want to consider making a small batch and offering them here for IAP members. You may be pleasantly surprised and make some pocket money to pay for this great craft of ours.

I actually have considered it and I have had requests from others on other forums. My schedule (work and this hobby...and life in general) seem to drain away the 24 hours we were given in a day....

I spend many hours away from my home shop as some of the members here that know me can confirm. My metal lathe at my home shop gets a lot of use if I am not knee deep in pen turning or other things I love to do on the wood lathe.

Much like the pendant mandrel on this site, yes this could be a big hit also. I will look into this more as I am getting a good feeling about it. The funny part of these Badger Brushes is remembering as a kid when my grandfather still used it. Hey maybe this going to be like the return of bell bottoms or high heels....ok maybe not the high heels...

I need to look into the shipping across Canada - USA and abroad to others. Lately my regard for the Postal Service in Canada is a disappointment......not to mention our friends at Customs......

Dave

 

[wood-of-1kind]

I need to look into the shipping across Canada - USA and abroad to others. Lately my regard for the Postal Service in Canada is a disappointment......not to mention our friends at Customs......

Dave[/QUOTE]

Dave, if shipping accross the border is an "issue", may I suggest that you befriend a US-IAP member here and get them to make shipments on your behalf. Once you get one(1) package accross, the rest is easy. I collaborated with DAniel here and he was extremely helpful in helping me with the sale of my carbide tool. Food for thought.

 

[Bellsy]

Dave, if shipping accross the border is an "issue", may I suggest that you befriend a US-IAP member here and get them to make shipments on your behalf. Once you get one(1) package accross, the rest is easy. I collaborated with DAniel here and he was extremely helpful in helping me with the sale of my carbide tool. Food for thought.

Thanks Peter,

I will look into this some more.

Dave