Thread: Shaptoneers, please confirm something for me...

Originally Posted by Bart

IF THE HHT JUST KEEPS IMPROVING TILL IT MAXES OUT, THEN THAT MEANS "TOOTHINESS" IS NOT AFFECTING THE WAY HAIR SHAFTS ARE PENETRATED BY AN EDGE.
IF, HOWEVER, THE HHT DISSIPATES, AFTER A CERTAIN GRIT LEVEL, TO IMPROVE AGAIN AT A MUCH HIGHER GRIT LEVEL, THEN THAT MEANS THAT TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF EDGES ARE CAPABLE OF POSSIBLE SHAVE-WORTHINESS.

Bart.

My normal full on progression is DMT 1200, Norton 4K, Belgian Blue, Belgian Yellow, Escher, Nakayama. With my hair, which is thick, the HHT starts to work at the DMT/Norton level and then quickly improves at every step. I get the same results with different types of badger and boar hairs from brushes. With my girlfriend's hair, which is very thin and long, only good razors at least at the Belgian Yellow stage and above will perform well (or at all). In my experience with the hair that I have used, the performance of the HHT does not deteriorate as I move up in grits; rather it improves. Stropping the razor will also generally improve the performance of the HHT. Therefore, in my experience using the different types of hair that I have used a sharper more polished edge will perform better in the HHT than a more toothy less polished edge. I agree that the HHT is just a test, and passing it well will not guarantee that you will be happy with the way that the shave that the edge provides. On the other hand I have never had a razor that I thought shaved really well that did not pass the HHT really well. Every time I have ignored bad HHT’s (and/or TPT's) and test shaved a razor anyway have not been good experiences. Therefore, the test does provide me with useful information so I will continue to use it. I'm not sure if this helps you or not but at least it's another data point.

David