Thread: Martinez Custom 26mm

When I asked Miguel to commission for me a 26mm Silvertip in spalted tamarind, I rapidly gained a response with a picture of 4 different blocks of the material, asking me to select which piece I'd like.

I opted for the most yellow of the four which I liked the most and asked for it to be in the same style of another chess piece I had previously seen, somewhere here as it so happens.

About a week later I received pictures of the finished item, and sent the funds via paypal. Within another week I received the brush. I have to say for a custom service all the way to the UK this is certainly quick - I buy items for other sellers in the USA from time to time and they all have taken longer than it does to make and send a brush.

But anyway, I am very pleased with the final product. It is stabilised, a process which impregnates a resin into the wood, making it like a plastic. This means it is virtually impervious to water, which is great for me as I like to wash the brush thoroughly after use and don't have to be worry about getting the handle wet.

Craftmanship wise, I showed Miguel a picture of a chess piece and got exactly what I wanted, but of course these things look better in person, so I got a nice surprise upon opening the package. He's a talented man with a lathe.



The 26mm is great too, which I think is a golden nib knot. This is my first silvertip so although I've yet no others to compare it to, I can compare to AOS pure badger, boar and 2 other pure badgers and for me it is softer, more comfortable and easier to generate a lather with. This has applied to both creams and soaps, although my preferences are for creams these days.

At a cost of $130 shipped I am more than happy and will one day ask Miguel to commission me another brush as this is a great service at a very reasonable price. This would have been a fair bit cheaper had I opted for Walnut say, but I love the grain on that spalted tamarind..