DIY Custom Make Up Brush Handles

The following is how to create custom makeup brush handles for when they break or just look ugly to start with.

-Your choice of wood (I chose Wenge and Maple for this one)

-Quick drying epoxy

-For this brush I used two different woods so I had to glue the pieces together but otherwise I wouldn't need it

-Some type of brush (I typically pop the top off of a cheap one with a bad handle and replace it)

-Wipe on or some other type of Polyurethane (This helps to protect the wood and make the brush handle last much longer and for countless washes)

-Make a sketch of your desired handle

-Pull the brush head off of the original handle. This is easily done by hand with some wiggling like its a tooth.

-Measure the depth of the make up brush head to determine what size tenon your new handle will need.

-Figure out how long you want your brush to be

-Then cut it to length (be sure to cut it a little long for the lathe)

-Glue the pieces together using a water proof glue such as Titebond III or other

-Clamp or secure them (If you don't have clamps you can certainly use a big book or some rubber bands)

-Find the center of your brush blank then drill a slight hole to attach it to the lathe with a spur center

-Then lathe away

-Once you've made the correct shape sand the handle smooth (I went up to 240 on some and 800 on others)

Side Note: If you don't have a lathe (this one was only $150 dollars) or you certainly could file and sand down the blank by hand. Such as in my Hatchet Handle Instructable.

-After some trial and error I found that wipe on Polyurethane isn't as shiny as it could've been so I took a can of semigloss polyurethane and didn't shake it. I repeat DO NOT SHAKE IT.

-Then just dip it in trying to avoid the bottom of the can.

Suggestion: You can avoid this by just buying gloss instead of semigloss polyurethane. I also encourage you to seek out and try other finishes as well as materials.

-We used 5 minute epoxy but you can use any type of epoxy. I'm not so sure I would trust superglue here.

-Make sure you tape up your brush so you don't get epoxy on the handle.