Thread: Thumb Pad Test After Stropping

Oh No! Not this topic again!! Ha!

Well, I went to the barber shop today and talked with a barber I hadn't met before. He's an older gentleman who graduated from the Los Angeles Moler Barber School back in 1959. As some of you may know, A.B. Moler started the first American barber college in 1893.

I wanted his opinion on the thumb test.

"Is it across the blade, or along the blade?" I asked him. "No! Not across! Along the blade," he said, and demonstrated with his thumb on the back of his barbers comb. "Very lightly," he said as he sort of lightly bounced, or brushed, his thumb along the comb.

I tried it with the comb.

He instructed me to move my thumb slightly diagonally and forward as I made short, light strokes with my thumb along the comb from one end to the other just as he had.

I said, "Brushing your thumb across the blade is how you test a kitchen knife, not a razor, Is that correct?" The barber said, "Of course!"

So I tried this with a couple of my razors when I returned home. What was new to me was the diagonal component. I had always moved the thumb directly parallel to the blade.

The sensation is rather different with the diagonal emphasis. It will take some time for me to get used to it, and make use of the sensation.

Just thought I'd pass this along to the group. I know this test has been a source of debate and confusion for some. I am not submitting this to re-open any debate. I'm just adding another bit of information to the data base for all to use and figure out how best to perform the test.


Scott