New 19 - 24mm Morris & Forndran Brushes

Based on your responses to our recent thread and several special orders, we are delighted to offer selected Morris & Forndran shaving brushes in sizes from 19 to 26 mm depending on model. To that end, we hand-turned the examples shown below, which we plan to ship to Morris & Forndran the week of 9 August. The first photo shows 22mm handles while the Style 1 and Knight handles shown in the second are 24's.


We are offering completed Morris & Forndran brushes made from these handles on a first come/first served basis in your choice of Lee Sabini's hand-tied Finest, Blonde, or Super Badger. 

You can order and learn more about these brushes on our website here.  (P.S. As an added attraction, we're now offering the Heritage II L7 in 26mm with the sample shown in the third photograph.)

Thanks for your generosity to listen to the input of members. It is refreshing to see offerings below 26mm on the market from a quality vendor.

That Style 2 in ivory is stunning.

(08-06-2021, 11:15 PM)hillbillyreverend Wrote: Thanks for your generosity to listen to the input of members.   It is refreshing to see offerings below 26mm on the market from a quality vendor.

Our privilege, Rev.  I appreciate your kind words! 

We're offering these brushes as an experiment.  If they sell well, we can add more patterns and possibly multi-resin pieces. 

We've offered custom 24mm brushes in the past, but 60% were cancelled as soon as the brushes were ready.  We then listed these brushes on the ReadyMade page where they sat, and sat, and....  The thing is:  we pay Lee as soon as we receive completed brushes, so it makes little sense to tie up capital on work that doesn't sell. 

On a positive note, our surveys revealed concerns about small brush handles either too short for bowl/scuttle lathering and/or with diameters too small for comfort.  For those reasons, we're offering what I'll call "traditionally" small handles (the 19 and 22mm Style 2's and 22 and 24mm L7's), the 60mm tall Knight 24mm, and the enlarged 24mm Style 1 Bi-Colour (which can also be done in 22mm with the same size handle).  (FWIW, a 25mm Style 1 is my favorite brush!)

Smaller brushes often pose technical challenges as well.  The Style 2 isn't too bad, but the compound shape of handles like the L7, the XL's, and most multi-color pieces calls for tighter tolerances and a higher degree of manual dexterity.  (Oh, for a Haas self-feeding (CNC) toolroom lathe with 10-position turret!  (But I digress!))

The bottom line is:  I love this business.  I view the challenges as opportunities--in this case, as a skill-building experience and, as mentioned above, an experiment.  Whether it succeeds or fails, we will have learned some valuable lessons.

Time will tell.

(08-07-2021, 04:22 AM)primotenore Wrote: That Style 2 in ivory is stunning.

Appreciate that, Primo!  I kinda like it also.

Appreciate your take on these and your choice of handle for reasons stated.
The Heritage ll would be my choice in 26m although the style l very appealing as well. Beautiful work as we all know.

Brad, this is terrific news; these sizes are right in my wheelhouse.  I hope the experiment works out because there is a real dearth of smaller brushes on the market today.  By way of clarification, are the knot sizes the diameter of the base of the knot?

Appreciate your kind words, Gents.  As mentioned before, we shall see how things work out.

As an update, the above-mentioned small M&F brush patterns are now available for custom order via this link (along with some fanciful photo processing   ). 

I’ve been busy with doing other things and decided to check up on some stuff and happened here. It’s nice to see the Series 2 in particular make a return! The Series 1 is nice too as mentioned that extra length and the ring in the middle can offer some grip.

Looking at the Series 2 specs, I’m left with a question. When the Series 2 was introduced there was only one size, and you have 2 sizes with the same handle and loft dimensions. Is the 19mm numbered as Size 1, and the 22mm designated as a Size 2? I would be referring to the number between hand made. If so I would be roped in. I wouldn’t be able to resist the draw of a 2/2! Lol

(08-22-2021, 01:05 PM)kooshman7 Wrote: I’ve been busy with doing other things and decided to check up on some stuff and happened here. It’s nice to see the Series 2 in particular make a return! The Series 1 is nice too as mentioned that extra length and the ring in the middle can offer some grip.

Looking at the Series 2 specs, I’m left with a question. When the Series 2 was introduced there was only one size, and you have 2 sizes with the same handle and loft dimensions. Is the 19mm numbered as Size 1, and the 22mm designated as a Size 2? I would be referring to the number between hand made. If so I would be roped in. I wouldn’t be able to resist the draw of a 2/2! Lol

Thanks for your comments and questions, Joe!  The short answer is: "yes" to both questions.  The long answer is, as you might imagine, somewhat more involved. 

I've long admired the Style 2's design, but it wasn't until a few months ago, when a fellow asked about one under the Morris & Forndran brand, that I started looking at it seriously.  For a seemingly "simple" design, getting the Style 2 "right" proved fiendishly difficult.  (Long sweeping curves pose unique technical challenges which are only amplified in smaller handles!)  In the past, I've -- with one exception I can remember -- been able to reproduce a reasonably accurate handle rendering from a decent "straight on" photograph in two or three tries.  But the brush shown on our website took six attempts, largely due to lens distortion in the photos I studied.  I admit to being stubborn when it comes to getting things right.  And the Style 2 project had Nancy seriously questioning whether it was worth all the time.  But I think it was.  The patron was -- and hopefully still is -- delighted.  Along the way, I gained an appreciation for the elegance, not to mention the fine ergonomics, of the Style 2 design.

Lee commented that the first handle is within one millimeter of the original 2/1 Rooney -- and kindly sent one of his last original handles to facilitate corrections going forward.  Bottom line:  we should have a couple ReadyMade Style 2 brushes back (hopefully) in about a month.  And if anyone is interested in a custom  order, we should be able to make further refinements to create something really special!

I’m excited to try the 19mm Style 2 I ordered from you, Brad. I’m really enjoying the size of my 22mm Yaqi (my smallest brush currently), and suspect I’ll like the 19mm even more. I know I’ll like the M&F knot!

(08-22-2021, 03:46 PM)pbrmhl Wrote: I’m excited to try the 19mm Style 2 I ordered from you, Brad. I’m really enjoying the size of my 22mm Yaqi (my smallest brush currently), and suspect I’ll like the 19mm even more. I know I’ll like the M&F knot!