[Mark C.]

There has been some talk about brushes lately –got me thinking about you making your own-I have over the years tried many animal furs,Elk, deer, squirrel, skunk

My favorites are skunk, elk, and deer.

I have had a skunk tail brush for over 25 years now-I took a photo of my collection-you can make your own-its easy-1st look for some fur-you can buy it I’m sure on the net but for me its road kill-. The skunk tails need to be hung outside for at least 6 months to air-Deer and elk do not need this-use the longest fur for brush making-I have a few hunter friends who bring me deer and elk-No body ever brings me skunk tails-for that carry some rubber gloves and a paper and plastic bag in car/truck, and a very sharp knife.

I like bamboo and we grow all kinds on the property- but one can buy it at a garden store-then cut it down in segments-I like the built in bucket hangers if you leave the branch nubs on the bamboo-see some in photo

That way brush hangs off glaze bucket lip

I like to wrap the fur at connection point with sail seizing twine from a marine store-usually this is waxed (like westmarine.com). This stuff holds up over the years of wet and drying. I coat the ends and the twine with a two-part epoxy like the slow set JB wield. The other trick is leave along tag line on the wrap, which goes up thru, brush handle and becomes the hang loop. Depending on the bamboo segments this can or cannot work. You will need to drill hole in top for hanger and larger one in bottom of bamboo for hairs.
I also screwed some metal hangers in tops as well to hang from.

These brushes last longer if you hang them up at end of day so they dry.

I do not have the process digitalized in photos so you will have to think these steps thru but it is easy. -Plus learning will make them better each go round.

I put a few cone boxes in for scale, as these brushes are big boys.Anyone notice the old short orton cone box-name the decade for bonus points.

So start collecting fur and build your own-My family has collected brushes for me from trips to Japan/China/Eastern block countries back in the 70-80s and none are as nice as the ones you can make yourself. Start looking when you drive in the country

Mark

This post has been edited by Mark C.: 25 February 2012 - 04:49 PM

[Nelly]

Mark C., on 25 February 2012 - 02:48 PM, said:

There has been some talk about brushes lately –got me thinking about you making your own-I have over the years tried many animal furs,Elk, deer, squirrel, skunk

My favorites are skunk, elk, and deer.

I have had a skunk tail brush for over 25 years now-I took a photo of my collection-you can make your own-its easy-1st look for some fur-you can buy it I’m sure on the net but for me its road kill-. The skunk tails need to be hung outside for at least 6 months to air-Deer and elk do not need this-use the longest fur for brush making-I have a few hunter friends who bring me deer and elk-No body ever brings me skunk tails-for that carry some rubber gloves and a paper and plastic bag in car/truck, and a very sharp knife.

I like bamboo and we grow all kinds on the property- but one can buy it at a garden store-then cut it down in segments-I like the built in bucket hangers if you leave the branch nubs on the bamboo-see some in photo

That way brush hangs off glaze bucket lip

I like to wrap the fur at connection point with sail seizing twine from a marine store-usually this is waxed (like westmarine.com). This stuff holds up over the years of wet and drying. I coat the ends and the twine with a two-part epoxy like the slow set JB wield. The other trick is leave along tag line on the wrap, which goes up thru, brush handle and becomes the hang loop. Depending on the bamboo segments this can or cannot work. You will need to drill hole in top for hanger and larger one in bottom of bamboo for hairs.
I also screwed some metal hangers in tops as well to hang from.

These brushes last longer if you hang them up at end of day so they dry.

I do not have the process digitalized in photos so you will have to think these steps thru but it is easy. -Plus learning will make them better each go round.

I put a few cone boxes in for scale, as these brushes are big boys.Anyone notice the old short orton cone box-name the decade for bonus points.

So start collecting fur and build your own-My family has collected brushes for me from trips to Japan/China/Eastern block countries back in the 70-80s and none are as nice as the ones you can make yourself. Start looking when you drive in the country

Mark

Dear Mark,

I have a brush I made at Anderson Ranch on their Jamaica trip. We made it out of horse hair. Really simple. Chop sticks. Apply a wad of hair carefully around the base of a chopstick covered with the two mix glue system you can buy in the hardware store. These hairs were wrapped with dental floss followed by a small 1/4 inch piece of duct tape. Voila! A simple brush. We made them in several sizes and they all seem to work well for long whispy strokes. When I returned with these home made brushes I was the envy of the cooperative. Hard to get brushes that are homemade.

With these brushes you have to be really careful though that you don't let them sit with the attached end in say water or something over night. It is best to rinse them out and store them properly.

I have seen other simple brushes made with just a bunch of fine pine needles around a twig. This works for the application of oxides in a bit of all at once striping or multi stroke color effect.

But I have to say by far the brushes I like the absolute best are the ones with long whips.

Great discussion.

Nelly

[Denice]

Marc thanks for the interesting information about making your own brushes, another brush that can be made easily is a Yucca brush. The Native American Indians would chew the end the the leaf towards the root until the cross fibers were gone or pound it on a flat rock. I think I'll try the pounding the rock, I'm allergic to aloe vera and I think the Yucca is closely related to it. I might be able to get a skunk tail my daughter-in-law has a cousin that captures rogue skunks and cleans up dead ones for the State of Kansas. I understand he has no sense of smell but handling skunks all of the time he has a definite air about him. About the deer hair, do you use the longest hair on the tail? I live in the area of the heaviest population of deer in the state so there are a dozen of deer hit by cars here each summer. It's illegal to pick them up but I don't think any one would mind if a snipped a little hair. Denice

[Mark C.]

Denice, on 25 February 2012 - 10:38 PM, said:

Marc thanks for the interesting information about making your own brushes, another brush that can be made easily is a Yucca brush. The Native American Indians would chew the end the the leaf towards the root until the cross fibers were gone or pound it on a flat rock. I think I'll try the pounding the rock, I'm allergic to aloe vera and I think the Yucca is closely related to it. I might be able to get a skunk tail my daughter-in-law has a cousin that captures rogue skunks and cleans up dead ones for the State of Kansas. I understand he has no sense of smell but handling skunks all of the time he has a definite air about him. About the deer hair, do you use the longest hair on the tail? I live in the area of the heaviest population of deer in the state so there are a dozen of deer hit by cars here each summer. It's illegal to pick them up but I don't think any one would mind if a snipped a little hair. Denice

Yes the longest hair-
On Elk I think its the breast plate
On skunks the tails as it has long ones and you can air out the tail over time-
Horse hair works as well
Carry some scissors for collecting in the car.
Mark

[OffCenter]

Mark C., on 26 February 2012 - 12:08 AM, said:

Denice, on 25 February 2012 - 10:38 PM, said:

Marc thanks for the interesting information about making your own brushes, another brush that can be made easily is a Yucca brush. The Native American Indians would chew the end the the leaf towards the root until the cross fibers were gone or pound it on a flat rock. I think I'll try the pounding the rock, I'm allergic to aloe vera and I think the Yucca is closely related to it. I might be able to get a skunk tail my daughter-in-law has a cousin that captures rogue skunks and cleans up dead ones for the State of Kansas. I understand he has no sense of smell but handling skunks all of the time he has a definite air about him. About the deer hair, do you use the longest hair on the tail? I live in the area of the heaviest population of deer in the state so there are a dozen of deer hit by cars here each summer. It's illegal to pick them up but I don't think any one would mind if a snipped a little hair. Denice

Yes the longest hair-
On Elk I think its the breast plate
On skunks the tails as it has long ones and you can air out the tail over time-
Horse hair works as well
Carry some scissors for collecting in the car.
Mark

A few years ago, I sold off all my llamas except for one old male that I kept for brush hair (and because he's an old friend).

Jim