What’s in the box?
I was kindly invited to the product launch of the Lucas Pro-Tools ProFinish paint brush back in December last year. It was a glittering affair at the McLaren factory and so certainly a memorable evening. I was also given a sample brush to try at the party and have been using it consistently for the past 7 months. This is the most field testing we have ever done for a review of a British made product.
The first thing to address is why is has taken me so long to produce this review. The issue is that the Lucas Pro-Tools paint brush is so damn expensive. At £60 each, I have to admit, I was struggling to justify the cost… but I think I now might be able to.
The first thing to note is that this brush is not really meant for enthusiastic amateur DIYers like me. It is a proper professional tool. My usual approach to paint brushes is as a disposable commodity. As such, if I spend £10 on a pack of 3 brushes I feel hard done by. So, I am really not the target market for this product and this is perhaps why I wrestled over the cost for so long.
The Lucas after 7 months use
The last few months have given me plenty of opportunity to test the Lucas to the limits. I have built a conservatory, added a loft conversion, redecorated the kitchen and touched up the paint in just about every other room in the house. The Lucas has been with me every step of the way and, while it is not looking as fresh as it once did, it is still as functional as when I opened the box.
The one thing I cannot quantify is how much of its current good form is down to the construction and how much is down to my reverence for it. I look after this brush better than any tool I have ever owned. Each brush comes with it’s own little comb which you are advised to run through your brush after every use. I diligently do just that, which actually makes cleaning far easier, and tuck it way in its supplied solid plastic cover. I am sure that this routine goes a long way to preserving the brush but let’s not underestimate the part that the quality of construction play in all of this.
Lets make no bones about it, this is the best paint brush money can buy (or at least I have ever used). It applies paint evenly, cuts in perfectly and never leaves bristles behind. It is a genuine pleasure to hold in your hand and it feels rock solid.
With a pure beech handle and seamless aluminium ferrule (the bit holding the bristles in) the ProFinish comes in a beautiful presentation box complete with a comb, guard cover and instructions.
So, is it worth the money? I surprise myself in saying this but I think it might be. It is only after all these months of use that I now understand the value of a good quality paint brush. If you are going to use it once or twice a year then the investment in the Lucas is likely not going to be a good one but if you are a regular user, or indeed a professional, then I can see how this would start to pay for itself after a while.
Ultimately, painting is my least favourite DIY job. The fact that the ProFinish has made it significantly less painful is actually worth a lot to me.
| Editor's Rating | |
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| Total British Family Rating | |
– James
Try Bee Gee Brushes.
They manufacture both cheap disposable brushes, and also high quality ones, in the UK
Thanks, I was not aware of them. There is another British manufacturer of paint brushes that I do know called Phoenix brushes. They are similar in style and price to Bee Gee.
Thanks for this info. Im just a DIY enthusiast myself and have always just throwed brushes away as they haven’t lasted me long and to be honest i find the cleaning tedious. If this brush is going to last a long time and make cleaning easier i wont hesitate to buy one and to be fair, when you pay over £60 for 5 litres of paint that you are going to paint over in a few years time anyway, if you still have the brush to use then its not so much of an outset. i wonder how many brushes ive used and thrown away in my lifetime. I bet its 4 times more than that brush.
Where do you get them from? its not a name i have heard of or seen in the shops
Dave – Your best bet it is buy online. Lucas are actually an industrial paint finishing firm that have very recently branched out into products. The brush in their first.
Bee Gee Brushes manufacture Sweeping Brushes mainly. But this is where we get ours made.
Your website is about being made in Britain? Can I suggest something. There are no Paint Brushes that will ever have been truly British Made. The reason being Filament. There are no Filament production factories in the UK. Therefore The Lucas does not warrant being so.
Tiger, it is all about perspective. Trading standards suggest made in Britain means ‘substantive change’ to the product within the UK. I understand that Lucas imports their filament but I would suggest that the resultant product has undergone more than the amount of change required to allow it to be called made in Britain. For instance, we don’t produce cotton – so, based on your reasoning, we could not have a made in Britain fashion industry at all.
Wow, the Lucas Profinish box so beautiful, impressive at first time. Thanks for this Reviews.
I recently bought a nice British made paint brush in B&Q, called “Never Buy Another”, made by Harris (note that not all Harris paint brushes are made in the UK). Another company that makes paint brushes in the UK: http://www.foxpaintbrush.co.uk/about-the-fox/fox-british-made-brush/