PCA Articles
Rechampir Brushes — The Paintbrush for All Those Difficult to Reach Areas
Some background information…
On any job you have, there are those more difficult areas to paint, those corners or borders that you need to tape before being able to cut in without painting over anything you are not supposed to. The French came up with the perfect brush for the job… the Rechampir Brush.
So how is this professional brush made and why is it that it is so exceptional at performing these detailed jobs?
The secret is in the brush head; these round heads are hand filled and the knocked and vibrated on the flags into a tapered cone to give them their special pointy heads. By knocking them on the flags, you ensure reducing cut flags to a maximum and thus giving you that fine finish.
Having this pointy shape gives you a much larger brush surface to lay off paint than you would expect for a brush this size, as most of the tapered head is flag and can be used for painting.
On the job…
Ok, you now have to paint some window frames, some cornicing or even the edge between wall and ceiling and what brush should you use? ……well, I would 100% recommend using our Spirit ‘Rechampir ‘ brush and here is why;
The Rechampir brush is a round brush with the brush head finished in a pointy tip, which makes it an ideal painting tool for those more difficult and detailed areas such as for example those window frame.
It is absolutely not meant as a brush to paint large surface areas, although it comes in various sizes from 15 to 32mm, where you should go for your oval or flat larger brushes which can load more and cover much larger areas.
However, when you need to paint anything from window frames, skirting boards, mouldings – basically anywhere you need a brush that can cut in precisely then the ‘Rechampir’ brush is your go to brush and to get the best out of it you there are a couple of tricks.
How to use the brush…
You load the brush head with paint, dipping in the paint can or tray, making sure not to reach the ferrule edge (if you would do you will overfill the brushhead and the paint will drip down the handle instead of on the wall) . Subsequently as with all other brushes we remove any excess paint on the edge of paint can or tray and we are ready to start painting.
There is a very specific way of holding these brushes, as if holding a traditional fountain pen. The painting is done with the whole tapered end of the brushhead and while pulling the brush along the surface to be painted we slowly turn the brush on its axis – this way taking full advantage of all the paint we loaded into the brushhead.
Additionally, we will try to paint as much as possible with the brush pointing down to further encourage the paint to flow from the brushhead naturally – and to further avoid the paint trickling onto the handle and your hands, instead if you were to hold the paintbrush the other way up.
When used as explained you will find this to be a very precise painting tool, useful for many complementing paint jobs such as edging, detailing, cutting in and furthermore you will be amazed by how much you will be able to paint with one paint load using the turning around of the brush when laying off.
Professional opinion…
Here are the comments from one of the leaders of the PCDA craftsmanship Forum, Steven Adickes after using our Spirit Rechampir brushes:
Finally tried this style and it was great. I have old 2 in brushes that are worn down that I tape that I no longer will need to do after using this.
I ordered 5 more Spirit Window Paint Rechampir brushes. They come in different sizes and will add more value than most brushes to my bottom line.
I just helped a homeowner repaint the taller areas in their home that they had no idea how to tackle. The Spirit Wood cut in bullnose perfectly along the original tape line without me having to tape.
Really no tape needed…
The finished job.
In summary…
The rechampir brush is a proven paint tool for any difficult to reach, detail job; the special tapered heads makes for a brush that can be so precise that taping off is not even needed. Also with having a soft flag all around the tapered head, and with the turning technique, you can achieve an incredible layoff when comparing to other similar sized brushes.
It really should be part of your selection of paint tools; as per Steven Adickes´s opinion above…. “they will add more value than most brushes to your bottom line”
Please visit our website to check them out: Spirit Window Paint Brush Rechampir > Pioneer Brush USA
Happy painting…
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