Thread: OK, let's talk jimps.

Besides being an interesting word to use in a Scrabble game or an interesting name for your pet gerbil, "jimps" do serve a purpose. A bit of traction for wet hands on an otherwise smooth and slippery piece of metal. A few questions:

1. When did jimps become common on SRs?
2. If they are so helpful, then why don't all SRs have jimps?
3. I can understand the purpose of jimps on the lower (edge) side of the tang/shank...but what is the purpose of jimps on the upper (spine) side of the tang/shank...sometimes only on the upper side of the tang?

Why file the spine or etch the blade?

I'd say the purpose of jimps on the top side is same as for bottom. To give traction, particularly if you are doing a WTG pass or an against the grain pass.

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Im sure the main reason many blades don't have jimps is to keep costs down. I like jimps on a razor but they're certainly not a necessity. I have seen barbers that will rest their index finger on top of the spine, but I figure jimps further up the spine are more cosmetic.

i actually was thinking of jimps last night as i was shaving with my 8/8ths WB hollow grind, made after 1891 (says Sheffield England). No jimps top or bottom. i think i have just as many razors with as without and only one with top and bottom. Can't say i've noticed that much difference, but i do my best to keep my hand dry too.

Cost is why some don't do it. Not hard to do......just a time thing that over a set period of time infringes on total production numbers. Why the top you ask.......I will sometimes have that area slip on my non-jimped top sides on some of my razors and the resultant factor sometimes is a cut. I like both top and bottom jimps personally.

Not sure when they first got implemented.

Hard to say when it started on straight razors, on swords the Dirk had "jimping done in the 18th century, some of the file work on straights can be very artistic and good looking. The purpose I think first and for most is for gripping. I like very deep jimps or file work, and to me the deeper the better. here are some examples.

Stropping….

Yeah, jimps help me stropping too.

I have some SR with no jimps, others with one or the other (top or bottom) and a couple with both top and bottom. I think I prefer those with both...for all the reasons you note above. Because many of my razors are antique store finds I do note, however, that jimps are a good place for moisture (and therefore rust) to collect.