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An Unusual Power Tool That Can Set Your Wood Designs Apart

We haven't seen anyone use the Braun Handbürstmaschine on their furniture designs. You should pony up a couple grand and be the first

By Rain Noe - April 15, 2016

in Hand Tools | Holz-Handwerk

Something we saw a lot of at Holz-Handwerk are new ways to add visual interest to wood. Some companies have developed proprietary methods that they use in their factories to produce visually distinct wooden panels; others have developed tools that a craftsman can use on-site to alter the material's surface in a unique way.

One such tool is the Handbürstmaschine ("portable brushing machine") Rustika B-1800, a burly 1800-watt power tool armed with rotating wire brushes.

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It's manufactured by Braun Maschinen (not that Braun), and this U.S. distributor has it at USD $2,150 for the tool and another $370 for the heavy-duty wire brush option.

As you can see by the photos, the brushes rotate sagittally (i.e. like a ferris wheel) rather than axially (i.e. like a record platter or floor-polishing machine).

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That orientation allows you to work the facegrain of a board, following the direction of the grain to achieve this interesting effect:

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The sample pieces at the show felt rough, but not splintery, to the touch; I imagine they did some kind of light secondary sanding, but it definitely wasn't with a rotary or random orbital sander as there weren't any telltale marks I could see. I'm guessing they'd have used either a linear sander with a soft head or a young apprentice with soft hands.

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Here's where it gets crazy: As I'm looking at these samples, I come 'round to the side and see this:

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What the eff. I've too seen lumber-core plywood before, but it's typically five layers, where the core is sandwiched between two cross-grain layers which are each faced with a veneer. But this here is just a core and two thick-ass layers.

So who makes this stuff? I figured whomever produced it had to be at the show, so I went looking. Stay tuned.

More from Core77's coverage of this year's Holz-Handwerk Show!

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Ben Engel

8 years ago

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Makita has been making the same tool for quite some time for around 500 dollars. Honestly a lot of people use this tool to create "antique" furniture. If you build something, don't cheapen it with applied character. Don't be restoration hardware.

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- Jesse Kodadek
  
  Ben Engel
  
  8 years ago
  
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  Yes. In a former life, I was a timber framer. We used the Makita tool with a very similar wire brush extensively, usually with rough sawn (mostly band sawn) timbers as a way to make them nice to touch without being splintery. It is a very useful tool for this task.
  
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J L

8 years ago

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Same thoughts at Ben. I've worked with furniture factories overseas that often use this or similar tools to create a rustic/country or distressed look and feel. You need those thick veneers because you're actually removing a significant amount of material - though probably that is a bit more thick than actually necessary. The amount wire brush effect can be modified by changing the wire material, gauge, and how much force is applied with each pass. The pictures show what must have been a pretty very aggressive pass or passes, resulting in removal of almost all the wood fibers.

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To St

8 years ago

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At least in Germany this stuff is called "3-Schichtplatte" (three layer board) and is actually quite common. You can get it in every home improvement center, the wood species is usually spruce or fir.

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David Beck

8 years ago

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The average person takes a wire wheel on a drill to do the same thing. Leastwise, that's what I was taught 30 years ago.

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No Skills

8 years ago

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A modern take on block board?

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