Until now, if you wanted to brush a waterborne finish, you could use a nylon or polyester brush that holds a lot of finish but tends to leave brush marks. Alternatively, you could use a fine-filament Taklon brush, but these require frequent reloading (dipping).

Under the Gramercy brand, Tools for Working Wood (toolsforworkingwood.com) is now selling brushes with synthetic filaments even finer than Taklon and with perhaps five times as many bristles as an equivalent-size Taklon brush. The short filaments (1-3/4 in.) give the brush a solid, stiff feel. Also, instead of springing back straight, the bristles maintain their curve even when you lift the brush off the surface. This takes some getting used to. However, this brush holds a lot of finish, lays it down nearly devoid of brush marks, and cleans as easily as a Taklon.

I compared the 2-in. size ($30) to the equivalent Taklon brush ($25) from Homestead Finishing. Both brushes left smooth surfaces, but the Gramercy brush held more finish for fewer reloads.

The 1-in. and 3-in. brushes cost $16 and $50.