Hello there Im wondering if I should cut my brush since Im new to this stuff I need to know how to cut my pinstriping brush? Or better yet how much should I take off?? any pics of before and after and the process would help me out greatly. Thanks Alot Jon
Just to make sure we are on the same page here, do you want to shorten it, or trim it. Trimming the brush doesn't make it shorter, it makes it more flexable, for tighter curves. This would be done by running a razor along the flat end of the handle at the base of the hairs so that you would end up with less of the short hairs. I hope that made sense. If you want a shorter brush, look into an Excaliber, they are Macks shorter line of brushes, great for detail work. Hope this helps.
Why are you cutting it? If you don't know the answer to that question, leave it alone and practice with it as it came. If you cut the end, you will just get square tips on your lines. If you prefer square tips to pointed ones, by all means hack it off. You can make tight curves without trimming anything, just get up on the tip of the brush. If you want really tight curves, use an outliner.
Hey man, Don't listen to 'em. I know what you're asking. YES you should cut, unfortunately, I am no good at it, and have resorted to just buying pre cut brushes; But, don't give up your search, and don't try to paint without cutting it. I use Excalibur pre-cut brushes and I recomend them, they are great! I'll keep my eyes open for some info on how to trim "un-cut's" for you though.
I don't know if this is considered "correct" by the others, but the ones I have seen being trimmed were laid out flat on a cutting board while wet with some oil like Neatsfoot oil that is used for leather, in such a manner so as to keep the bristles hanging together like a wet brush would, but also make the bristles "display" themselves a bit on the table, if I can actually describe that, and a very sharp razor was slowly and carefully dragged across the tips of the uneven bristles that stuck out apart from the others so the brush bristle ends laid out smoothly on the cutting board/table to make a smooth curved look that tapered to a point as you neared the brush-end. Anything that stuck out from the others would get the ends trimmed off. I am not sure how to describe the procedure better, but the guys I saw doing it were trying to get a finer line while keeping the paint holding capacity higher for a long thin line. Removing the tips of the "straggler" bristles were also supposed to keep them from making the edges of the stripe uneven or fuzzy. I think it also probably helps when you want to do some tight curves, but I am not sure about that part. Good luck. I want to try doing some someday too...
Thanks alot fellas youve pretty much answered my questions and made me feel dumb hahahaha yea I ment trim my brush not cut it. Your advice helped alot and Im just triming one of my brushes to see the difference because Ive been using an untrimmed 00 and I couldnt roll a real smooth curve but then agian Im just starting out and yea i know it takes pratice. The way I see it is in 10years I may be able to do some nice work hahaha heres a pic of a little piece I put on my tt door panel let me know what you think. thanks Jon
hahaha skratch I like your way of doing it man "learn first then play around". You do amazing work bro your shit is so clean one day maybe I will be able to do work like the pieces you mess up on and throw away hahaha
un-trimmed brush probably isnt your problem when doing tight turns...I only trim the brush if it has a few longer hairs at the top..Thats when i trim it back about a16th like Mrwolf said.. Skratch and the rest are right...if you dont know why you trim a brush then you dont need to...because you are new enough that you probably wouldnt be able to tell the difference... Practice turns..take a cup and trace the circles and practice with the brush...ride the tip and twist the brush while you are tracing the brush.... good luck practice...stripe anything that will sit still for more than five minutes...if it does...fuck it! stripe that too!
hell yea man lots of great advice shoot Ive been doing anything that I can get my hands on but the cup thing is a great Idea thanks alot for that piece of advice
Listen to Roscoe Fink, he knows you should do it, but he can't. Whatever you do don't listen to the old farts that have been doing it for 50 years, they don't get it.
Learn to use the brush.Technique is everything. Trimming is for fine tuning,AFTER you have developed the ability to control the brush. Unless you want to wreck $100 worth of brushes learning the heard way.In which case,go for it.
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