Thread: Wrist movement

Thanks to everyone who replied. I'll keep with the solid wrist, and hope/assume that everything will work itself out and become comfortable.

It's possible that I'm frustrated because I'm not a kid anymore, who can tackle a new task, and master it in a short period of time. As a primary teacher I see this phenomenon with kids every day, and I find their tenacity, resourcefulness, and determination both amazing and inspiring. They have also made fun of me when I've knicked myself.....thank heavens that's not happening anymore!

Cheer all,

Maxi.

The razor doesn't care how you hold it, or what you do with your wrist and elbows. It only cares to be guided with the proper contact, pressure and velocity over a functional strop that's correctly tensioned.

That said, there are tried an trued techniques that aim at avoiding things that may have a negative impact on the result.

Turning over the spine, while it keeps contact with the strop is one of those advised techniques. Yet I've seen people (Maestro Livi is one of them) turn over the edge, without any adverse effect, because they make sure to put the spine down before the edge.

Turning with your wrist raises the risk that you lower the scales during part of the stroke. As a result, the blade pivots ever so slightly on the side of the strop, giving the heel area too much pressure and the tip area hardly any at all. There are plenty of people who turn their wrist and manage to avoid this risk, but again: it's less likely to happen when you turn between fingers.

The "correct" way is just the best way to teach it to someone, with the most likeliness that he'll get it right.

As a final note: I'm often sent a freshly honed razor with the question to assess the owner's honing result. It regularly happens that the problem is not the owner's ability to hone a fine edge, but a lack in his stropping technique. We tend to talk about the minute differences between various finishing hones, but we often overlook the distinct difference between an excellent stropping an a mediocre one.

Kind regards,
Bart.