best brush

[Troy Scott]

Folks,

I've been using high-quality foam brushes to tip LPU paint. But I'm wondering if I could do better.... So I need suggestions for the absolute nicest brush for tipping rolled-on LPU paint. I'm assuming it needs to be fine and soft, and probably chisel-cut. I need specific brand and model numbers. There are SOOOO many from which to choose; please help narrow the field!

[Steve Laume]

Troy, I am not so sure I can help you with a specific brush but your question might be a partial answer.

I know a lot of people love those foam "brushes".

My experience has been that there are sponges on a stick and then there are brushes. If you enjoy working with fine tools holding one of those dowels isn't very gratifying. The sponge might have it's place if you have a small job to do and just want to chuck the thing when you are done.

In my opinion a nice brush is a joy to use and produces much better results. The penalty is that you need to care for it in a loving manner.

I do have a coffee can full of some cheaper dried up brushes that I thought I would be using again right away. They are not feelin the love, Steve.

[Kevin Kaldenbach]

With the two boats that I rolled and tipped I started out with expensive brushes and in both cases I wound up using CHEEP foam brushes.

With the bristol brushes I found that the paint wanted to harden on the brush making streaks and leaving me having to stop everything to clean the brush. Meanwhile the mixed paint I had waiting to go on starts to cure in the dish and after I clean the brush, thinner in the bristles that I could not get all of the way out will make the next few passes run.

I fount that using a foam brush for about 5 or 10 passes then throwing it away when it starts to get funky does the best for me.

All you need is cheep foam brushes with a good straight edge on it. You know the grey foam on a stick you get at a hardware store. The key is to get the paint on while it is fluid enough to flow out, but thick enough not to run....Tricky to do!

[Como No Cruising]

Troy, excellent article in Good Old Boat, issue 71, March/April 2010, pg. 47 on rolling and tipping a 34 ft. hull flag blue. Lots of good information. The author used 5 3" Purdys.

[jbenagh]

I've found that the Poly Brush by Jen Mfg, available from Hamilton Marine and Jamestown are far superior to the hardware store foam brush. Admittedly, not the same as a good regular brush, but for tipping, they are probably superior to a regular brush. They cost each about what thinner costs to clean a good brush.

Just to continue with not exactly answering your question . If I went for a bristle brush for varnish, it would be 3-4 brushes, all genuine, split, badger hair.

Jeff

[Joe Myerson]

FWIW, I found that my local hardware store stocked some foam brushes made by Jen Mfg., and they were indeed superior to the no-name foam. In fact, the directions for the late, great Ultimate Sole varnish specified using foam brushes of that specific brand.
--Joe

[Carl Thunberg]

Jeff,

I can't find badger hair brushes anywhere. Do you have a source for them? I'm not a big on-line shopper, but for this I'd make an exception, since I can't find a local source anywhere.

[Sea Hunt]

Jeff,

I can't find badger hair brushes anywhere. Do you have a source for them? I'm not a big on-line shopper, but for this I'd make an exception, since I can't find a local source anywhere.

Carl:

Jamestown Distributors, Bristol, RI, sells them.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/us ... o?pid=2113

If I recall correctly, this board has generally said good things about Jamestown Distributors, customer service, etc.

[Carl Thunberg]

Robert,

One of the product reviews says these are knock-offs. Not sure this is the real deal, but thanks for the effort in looking.

[jbenagh]

Carl,

I would have looked at Jamestown and Hamilton Marine also. There was a good discussion on the WoodenBoat forum a while back about brushes but I can't find it now. If I do come across it, I'll let you know.

The other thing to consider (for good brushes) is a spinner that contains the spatter from paint thinner while cleaning, and some sort of container to suspend the brushes with the bristles in thinner/kerosene for storage. Seems like too much trouble for my round of annual painting and varnishing.

Jeff

[John Stone]

Matt,
I have several but needed a new one 2 1/2" wide. I found it at West Marine of all places. Corona Europa. Recommended to me by Lin Pardey. Just used it for the first time to add another coat of varnish to the cabin sides. So far, I like it.

Best Regards,
John

[Sea Hunt]

Troy, Carl and all:

I know this post may be a little late but the April 2011 issue of Practical Sailor has a good article on brushes.

The article says that Red Tree Industries [ www.redtreeind.com ] is a good source for badger hair brushes and supplies to WM. They refer to them as the "Seafit Flagship" line of badger hair brushes. If not too late, you may want to check with Red Tree to see what is available.

If you want a copy of the entire article, you should be able to order from Practical Sailor at 800.424.7887 or customer_service[NO SPAM]@belvoir.[NO SPAM]com

[Russell]

I admit upfront that I am an impatient painter. I have done a lot of roll and tip, a lot of varnishing and I have used many kinds of brushes.

Foam bushes suck in general. They are usable with varnish with great care, but not with paint. They are cheap and very convient, but you have to measure the convience. They are disposable, so no cleaning involved at the end of the day. You also save money on solvents to clean. But honestly over the course of owning a boat for years the cost of a good brush will still cost less, even including the cost of cleaning solvents. I used to be a big fan of foam brushes thanks to Rebecca Wittmans wonderful book (she prefers them), but after using good brushes I hated foam.

Cheap syntetic brushes, they have their place. I wouldnt use my good badger brushes to tip for instance, since my good brushes were for varnishing and I didnt want to get paint pigment in my $20 varnish brush. And I dont care what others say, tipping with a foam brush just doesnt work for me. But cheap sythetic brushes will shed far more easy, and a brush hair in your perfect roll and tip job is tear inducing. So if you do use them, brush them and pull them really well to get loose hairs out before they ruin your life.

Natural badger hair brushes really do give the best finish with the least effort. Especially I think for someone like me who can be impatient. That first stroke just comes out perfect so much more often that the desire to go back over it (which likely makes it worse) is much less. My first set of brushes were Redtrees from west marine, and compared to my foam experience they were amazing.

But, I wouldnt recommend redtree. A few years ago I decided one of my redtree badger brushes (my 1", the most commonly used) needed replacing. I was in Tortola at the time, so I bought what was available. The brand was Europa. When I finally used it I was shocked at how much better it was then Redtree. Handfeel of the handle was a big part of it, but I sinceerly think the brush was better as well. When I sailed back to the states last year I was pleasently suprised to find this Europa brand is carried by west marine now.

I have tried them all, hardware stores, marine stores, foam, sythetic, natural. If you are willing to clean your brushes when done, Europa badger hair brushes are the best there is and an absolute pleasure to use.

[Troy Scott]

Russell,
Thanks for this very informative post!

[Bob Ohler]

Russell, the quality of your post is the reason I constantly check the CDSOA Board!

Fair winds,

rbo