Thread: Paper testing razors

I really don’t see what the problem is.

We all agree it is a destructive test, so is the TNT. Some have calibrated their TNT and use it to good effect.

I do not recommend TNT or Paper test, but if it works for you… go for it.

A lot of us do some crazy, non-conventional stuff, as I know Glenn and Lynn and many other do. It is how we push the edges of the envelope… and we all learn from it.

I've been around here for quite a few years and I've seen them come and go. Folks coming on the scene with this new method and that new method and 90% of them fade into the sunset never to be seen or heard from again. The old tried and true methods are still with us and I guess they are because they work for everybody.

Having said that, there are always people who break all the rules yet they get perfect results. That's fine for that person however for the masses it's usually something to stay away from. Sometimes some new method does catch on but that's the exception.

In many ways we're like the scientific community and this is the place for peer review to decide of something new will fly or not.

Whether it becomes mainstream or not depends on what we all think of it after evaluation.

This is something that occurs on every forum, it's the "other people are dumb and they came to their method because they heard it from someone else, and nobody has ever thought about it like we have" rule.

And that is, to me, the notion that you can just mentally engineer something that is better than a method that has come about as a result of incremental improvement over time. Usually someone who sticks in a hobby or profession long enough realizes sooner or later that the experts in a specific area tend to know more than the people who are experts in another area attempting to hammer square pegs in round holes.

It's especially prevalent in woodworking hand tools, too. I call it the "engineering" solution, and that offends engineers (I am in a related field, though, so it should offend me, too, if it offends them). That is, that engineers or notorious for getting into a hobby and before they learn why things are the way they are, they say "I could easily engineer something better than this from scratch". Exposure to the hobby brings the realization that millions of hours of incremental improvements built into something makes it fairly hard to actually just "improve" on such things off the cuff.

+1 for the before and after paper test 500x pics.

Also in public writing (or speaking), if you use an outside reference, aren't you supposed to "cite" the specifics of the reference so that all may search the validity and value of the reference. I for one would enjoy reading that study and reviewing the 5000x photos.

I'm sure my $.02 is wothless here, but I am enjoying the show.

Originally Posted by ChopperDave

+1 for the before and after paper test 500x pics.

Also in public writing (or speaking), if you use an outside reference, aren't you supposed to "cite" the specifics of the reference so that all may search the validity and value of the reference. I for one would enjoy reading that study and reviewing the 5000x photos.

Other than basic courtesy, I don't think there is much that we are "supposed" to do here.

Yes, citing an outside reference or source certainly is helpful but I don't think everyone is aware of even the need.

Im NO expert here, I work in the filter industry, and the company buy's in special paper for making the filters (DAM expensive) made to much higher tolerances than a phone book or a cheap set of note pad paper, and yet there are imperfections and quality issues.

My point being, with all the things added to the paper you are cutting, you will be cutting a different composition each time you cut, even in the same piece of paper, there is just no consistency.

(I am NOT saying it wont work) just saying I dont feel its a consistent method

"Cutting paper is not harder to learn than the HHT. Like the HHT results improve with experience, and interpretation. I buy cheap 5x8 notepads, available in a 10 pk, that will last most well over a year. Much more consistent than random hairs. Much more consistent from user to user, than random hairs."

(The above paragraph was quoted from Bigeasy1 from page 4)

I dont understand how it can be more consistent (Please note Im also not saying it will be any less consistent either)

I doubt that paper cutting will ever be a standard method of testing. As I said, I tried it at the bevel setting stage and found that it correlated well with my TNT. I may never use it again, but I'm certainly glad I gave it a brief try. Nothing ventured.

I'm finding the thread very interesting though. I think different tests work better for different people. I can't tell anything with a thumb pad test for example.

One of my two earthy fathers taught me to hone a pocket knife when I was 14 or so. He was a carpenter, had been raised on a farm, and was very knowledgeable as far as pocket knives and other tools went. I remember him taking a brand new Case XX HC folder and cutting a notch between the edge and the tang with a triangular file. That was so you could hone the edge all the way to the tang.

Then he told me, "Some people say, don't never put a file to a pocket knife, but I can get a bevel a lot quicker with a file so I do." He then would use a flat file, on that brand new knife, and set a bevel. Then came the oilstone. He would get it to where it would easily shave the hair on his leg. It was a good serviceable edge, and I've been doing them that way for 40 years +.

I've tested many an edge on a freshly honed pocket knife cutting paper. It tells me if it is smooth end to end, and if it is sharp enough for 'government work.' I've long since got my pocket knife sharp enough, but not as sharp as it could be, and called it good. So I haven't tried cutting paper with a razor, and I probably won't because it brings to mind fingernails on a chalkboard.

There have been threads suggesting that slightly dulling a Feather DE blade by running the edge through a cork a time or two, will give a better shave than just going for it without that treatment. I never tried that. Figuring it will dull soon enough if I just shave with the thing. OTOH, as my father said, many say don't touch a file to a pocket knife, yet it worked for him, and still does for me. So different strokes and all that. We'd still be living in caves, and carrying clubs, if people didn't try things ...... but back then shaving wasn't a problem either .

And so sayeth Jimmy the peacemaker!

Now see, I’ve seen old knives with that notch in them and always wondered what that was for…

Thanks Jim.