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French Brushes and Window Trim
Paintbrushes in North America are usually flat brushes. In many other parts of the world, they are round. This makes sense from a manufacturing viewpoint because it is easier to secure the bristles in a round paintbrush.
In France, all trim brushes are tapered to a point as well as being round. You only have to use one to understand why this design is so effective. When you are doing the trickiest bit of window painting (laying down a strip of paint next to the pane) you come to appreciate this unique design. Obviously, a conical point makes it much easier to avoid the window streaks that come from an errant brush fiber. The conical tip pulls all the fibers together and you eliminate that concern.
What you also quickly learn is that a conical tip encourages paint flow to the tip. Surface tension of the paint will encourage it to migrate from the larger diameter portion of the brush to the smaller diameter portion. Combined with the tapered fibers, which function in the same way, this works like a charm, letting you lay down a strip of paint 2 or 3 feet long without laying it on too thick or having any skips.
Another trick you soon discover is that you can stretch your brush load by rotating the brush slightly as you move it along, extracting the maximum amount of paint from the brush between dips. For large flat surfaces, the North American flat brush is preferred because it reacts better under pressure, laying down a more even thickness of paint film. But light pressure, a steady hand and a round tapered brush are the answer for window trim.
Article is courtesy of Lee Valley Tools Ltd. - www.leevalley.com
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