Choosing A Brush
While a seasoned finisher can apply a stain or topcoat skillfully with virtually any brush, most people are better off buying a good-quality tool. There are two kinds of brushes on the market: natural- and synthetic-bristle types. Natural-bristle brushes are made from boar, sable, camel, ox or badger hair. Boar bristle(“Chins hog”) brushes are ideal for applying varnish. Other natural-bristle brushes are best suited to lacquer and shellac. They are a poor choice, however, for spreading water-based finishes because they may cause the finish to foam up.
Synthetic-filament brushes are made of nylon or polyester, or both. These brushes are your best bet for applying water-based products. Durable and flexible, they can also be used with varnish and penetrating oil stains.
Tips on Brush Selection
- Pay a little more to get a superior quality brush; a better brush will improve your results.
- Avoid brushes with hollow bristles. Unlike solid bristles, hollow ones do not spring back to their original shape when bent.
- For a good-quality, all-purpose brush, choose a chisel tip model with long springy bristles-soft for thin water-based finishes and stiff for heavy-bodied products such as shellac, lacquer and varnish.
- If you want a brush with flagged bristle tips, check for branch-like split ends.
- If you are looking for a tapered bristle brush, make sure that the bristles are thicker at the ferrule end than at the tip.
- Buy brushes that have good spring. Squeeze the bristles with your hand and bend them; they should feel full and spring back to their original positions.
- Confirm that the bristles are different lengths by running your hand down one side of the bristles from the ferrule to the tip; the shorter bristles should spring up.
- Make sure that the bristles are firmly set in the ferrule, which should be securely fastened to the handle.
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