hake brushes for gum

I had a great weekend gumming away....and in the process I realized
something about brushes.

I have a series of hake brushes I use and have had for years--they are well
seasoned, no longer shed. But the other day I noticed that there are hakes
I have that don't have a good spring, they kind of "mush" when brushing on
the surface, and there are those that do spring and the outside edges are
curved inward to the middle.

The one brush i have used for years that has wonderful spring and curves in
and works great for gum is a stitched cheap hake called Connoisseur Series
150. I can get them locally at the MSU bookstore, but I found them
available here so I thought I'd share the info:
http://www.c2f.com/html/productlist.asp?CategoryID=P-79318

The ones that mush that I can't stand have whiter bristles that don't come
to a nice edge, but they're stitched, too...unfortunately i can't read the
writing on the handles anymore to say what I don't recommend.

I realize, too, that after a while of using the hake with gum it gets better
and better, smoother, glossier, etc. It's one of those things that ages
well and I'd cry if I lost it.

It's not as if I don't abuse it, either--after a gum coat, I rinse it, and
leave it in a cup of water to let the excess pigment fall off to the bottom.
It's lasted me this way for 7 years. for $15 that's a steal.

The one brush that is a treat is the badger blender that I recommended on
this list a long while ago that I got at Jerry's Artarama--not the expensive
$150 one but the LW15 Badger Softener 4" for $18. I own two for smoothing
out a gum coat.
My two cents..
Chris
Received on Mon Nov 21 09:35:39 2005