Wrist movement

Hello all,

I've read quite a few threads on "wrist movement" (or lack thereof) when stropping. I have stropped using both a moveable wrist and a locked wrist, flipping the razor with my finger and thumb. I've noticed that when I lock my wrist and flip with my fingers that it just doesn't "feel" right. Maybe it's in my head, but I have this notion that I'm getting better edge results using a moveable wrist. In the end, does it really matter? Should I continue to work with a locked wrist, and assume that with more practice that it will eventually feel correct? Or...do I take a hedonistic view of stropping, and just do what feels right?

Thanks for the help. Every time I post a question, I get great feedback that helps me get just a little more proficient.

Maxi

You know the old saying, the right way, the wrong way and my way. :) I started out bending the wrist and seemed to be doing alright with it. A local SRP member was sort of a mentor to me with honing and stropping. He watched me and told me that I shouldn't bend my wrist. Then I read the 1961 barber manual excerpt here , on stropping and honing.

I found that doing it as they suggested gave me a better feel through my fingertips for how much pressure I was applying and I had better control of the whole process. So with great difficulty I broke my habit of bending the wrist when I stropped and glad that I did. YMMV.

What Jimmy said. Training the memory of these muscles was the hardest part, but long strops certainly help. The results are well worth it.

Regards,
Robin

Maxi,

After a year of succesful stropping, I found that I was having great difficulty stropping correctly - I couldn't keep the blade flat on the strop on the towards-me stroke. The worse it got, the more I worried, the worse it got ! In the end it got so bad I stopped shaving with a straight for a couple of weeks. Mr Neil Miller gave me some advice to look closely at what I was doing. I found that I had started to hold the razor slightly differently - only about 1/8 inch difference, and was holding too tightly. Not very tightly, just too tight for the job in hand,

When I corrected this, the good stropping returned, but it felt wrong.

Some 6 months later, it still feels wrong, but at least I can strop succesfully :)

So the point of all my waffle is that even though it may feel wrong, if your stropping is good then don't worry :)

Have fun !

best regards

Russ

I think the most important thing is to do what feels natural to you and gives you the right results.

If you strop well by bending the wrist, then bend your wrist. If you find you can strop better with a locked wrist, lock your wrist.

As long as you are making good contact with the strop, the razor is flat and all the edge is getting stropped, then you're doing it right! Everything else is just how you get the right result.

The traditional way of "Correct" stropping is to make sure your wrist moves as little as possible. Some tips old barbers had were to keep a coin on the back of their hand to build muscle memory. It's hard, but I think it would be effective. Also your thumb should be on top of the shank while stropping the razor, this is what I have seen in old manuals and it helps the stropping of the blade, imo.

I must agree with Stubear.

Having said that, I will say that I do use proper stropping techniques and I consider my stropping very successful. I keep my wrist flat and I do not turn it. I use good techniques, but I do this because I feel that by using correct form, my stropping is better. BUT, I would never criticise another due to improper stropping techniques - as long as he was successful. This is key!

Lets offer up Mastro Livi's stropping techniques. No, you would never teach his methods! Is he successful? I don't need to answer that.

You would never teach Arnold Palmer's golf swing, or Billy Casper's putting stroke. Are they successful? Most certainly!

As a teacher, you will teach what seems to work best for all concerned, but not necessarily for everyone. Take a look at Babe Ruth's swing. He sometimes moved around in the batter's box. That would never be taught, but, hey, would you criticise the Bambino? Sorry to get off track.

So, whatever works......, IMO!

Steve

Once i forced myself to stop using my wrists and retrained myself to just flip the razor with my fingers, I noticed an improvement in my edges.

It is second nature to me now, but at one point I thought I would never get the feel for it.

+1, take the time to retrain yourself to do it without moving your wrist, and you will see improvements in your edges, most likely.

Just take your time, and you will get more comfortable with it. Honestly, it still feels awkward with certain razors for me, but it's getting much better :D

Good luck!

This thread has got me thinking that I need to examine my stropping technique. I "think" I turn my wrist but to be honest it's become short of like tying my shoes, i.e., I really can't say exactly what I do.

What I do know I do is three-fold. I listen to the blade as in passes over the leather. I've found that kind of a "sizzle" sound vs. no or a dull sound is good. It seems to be a good measure of pressure and whether or not the edge is meeting the strop correctly. Next I watch the very slight, almost unnoticeable, impression the blades leaves on the leather checking that it is even across the width. Finally I feel the draw, not too light nor too heavy. I'm happy with the results but there's always room for improvement.

Pelkey

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.