Questions About the Articulated Hands

somewhereincanada · Post by **somewhereincanada** » Wed Jan 19, 2022 7:04 pm

seagull wrote:Either the coffee was cool enough not to steam or that cup is sensibly empty

Oh it's hot - and empty.

ChaXen · Post by **ChaXen** » Wed Jan 19, 2022 8:13 pm

Wire fingers are easy to deal with--I wish I knew this in the beginning!

Take your dominant hand, pointer and thumb, and tightly clamp the finger you wish to bend above the knuckle.

Do that with all fingers that you wish to bend, and do the same in reverse to straighten the fingers back out again.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Wed Jan 19, 2022 9:49 pm

And after a number of times, the wire fatigues and snaps

For those into photography, articulated fingers are a much more practical solution as far as longevity is concerned

ChaXen · Post by **ChaXen** » Wed Jan 19, 2022 11:33 pm

Thankfully, I don't bend the fingers every day, and after a year, doing just fine

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Thu Jan 20, 2022 6:04 am

ADHERAQ777 was looking at Nitinol properties as a more flexible finger replacement wire and Mishka1965 also liked what it could do

viewtopic.php?p=1999321#p1999321

Sadly the last post was October last year

Bunnyboybob · Post by **Bunnyboybob** » Thu Jan 20, 2022 6:31 am

Yes I now have a 157cm wmdoll with articulated fingers. I agree the tpe is thinner due to the bulkier hand skeleton.

I caused a few tiny abrasions around the wrist on the first few days of getting accustomed
to moving the wrists. I could almost feel the skeleton trying to pierce through the thin tpe of the wrist as I did so.

Nothing a heat wand won't smooth out though.

Another repair on the "dolly to do" list.

Because of this, I now keep a piece of sponge handy to place over the wrists whilst turning them as well as wearing my white gloves.
Problem solved.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Thu Jan 20, 2022 6:29 pm

Early days with articulation, longevity of articulated fingers will be interesting to follow
So far, the finger joints appear to be hinged, although Zelex have taken a more techie path

viewtopic.php?f=569&t=147810

DocWen · Post by **DocWen** » Thu Jan 20, 2022 9:42 pm

My "new" 157b has articulated fingers. I can only compare it to my memory of my "old" 157b (which I sold over a year ago) which had wire fingers. My conclusion is that...

After hearing all the horror stories about broken wires and such, I am no long afraid to pose Ilsa's fingers.

To me, that's worth the price and whatever downsides the articulated fingers may have in the future.

Canvas · Post by **Canvas** » Thu Jan 20, 2022 11:42 pm

It sounds like over all you get the durability of the skeleton itself, but still have to deal with TPE being what it is. There are some good tips here
Which is still a huge plus as opposed to the wires, hand surgery is one road I hope to never cross, the recent tragedy we had over last weekend was almost too much to see as is.
Can't wait for my new doll to get here so I can check things out myself

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 12:41 am

Definitely getting better quality from manufacturers

Michaelangelo · Post by **Michaelangelo** » Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:18 am

Doll Canvas wrote:Aside from needing a body for my second head, and significantly damaging my first WM, the articulated hands were a huge selling point to get another
While I wait for the new arrival, I'm curious about a couple things:

- Do the wrists turn any easier than the old finger wire hands? I've never been able to turn the wrists, it seems similar to turning the back - I feel like I'm putting too much pressure on things to budge and that something is going to snap.

- The fingers seem fairly thicker than the old ones, is it a significant difference, enough to increase the dolls ring size?

- Is there a stiffness to the joints in the fingers so they hold form, or are they slightly loose?

- Would you still recommend gloves while the doll is not in use?

I'm glad you mentioned the wrist turning thing since I've had my girl 2 months and haven't risked turning her hands for that reasons. Everything still AOK with her joints and fingers, but I will use the advice given in this thread to see if I can't turn her hands now.

Articulation is the way to go though - have been watching an old MF articulated hand replacement vid on YT and still wonder why manufacturers haven't all switched to resin + articulation rather than metal wires...

WEAPONX42L · Post by **WEAPONX42L** » Tue Jan 25, 2022 2:06 pm

I just got a brand new WM doll with articulated fingers and they move no problem. The writs are tight but not to the point they feel like they will break

Canvas · Post by **Canvas** » Tue Jan 25, 2022 10:33 pm

Michaelangelo wrote:
I'm glad you mentioned the wrist turning thing since I've had my girl 2 months and haven't risked turning her hands for that reasons. Everything still AOK with her joints and fingers, but I will use the advice given in this thread to see if I can't turn her hands now.

Articulation is the way to go though - have been watching an old MF articulated hand replacement vid on YT and still wonder why manufacturers haven't all switched to resin + articulation rather than metal wires...

It helps to look at the WM manual that comes with the dolls.
At the end of a Birthday photoset I took with my girl last night I finally got the wrists to budge after thinking they wouldn't for so long.
Not only do the wrists turn on the old hands but there is also what looks like a plate that the fingers connect to that feels more secure to bend the fingers with...someone correct me if that's wrong, but it's around where the metacarpal bones would be before the wrists...

I think a couple of them are getting more into it, I saw 6YE now offers articulated hands, but they seem to have been quiet about it.

WEAPONX42L wrote:I just got a brand new WM doll with articulated fingers and they move no problem. The writs are tight but not to the point they feel like they will break

Good to know I just hope they are a tad more flexible than the hold hands are at the wrist

A couple photos taken on the side from yesterday's shoot after figuring the wrist movement with Penny. It was nice seeing the old hands can do a little more than I thought they could: