Originally Posted by
Bart
The Modern Mechanics method of optical magnification might very well have lacked optical resolution to show any teeth. Verhoeven's scanning electron microscope is capable of much better resolution than any optical device, so his pictures are beyond suspicion.
They show us that micro-serrations are not per definition present, which is counterintuitive, because one would expect that any scratch pattern running perpendicular to the edge would end up in a sawtooth pattern, regardless how fine the hone. These pictures show us, that such expectations are not necessarily true for finely honed edges. But they don't rule out the possibility of it. Every one who's ever been HHT-ing, knows that coarsely honed edges perform rather well on that test. That is due to the sawteeth at the edge. They concentrate the weight of the hair on a few spikes of the edge, raising the local PSI till those few spikes penetrate the outer layer of the hair shaft. Those edges also grab skin better, as can clearly be felt at the TPT. As soon you remove the sawteeth with a finer hone, this HHT-ability dissappears, only to emerge again when the edge becomes keener and a new teeth pattern at higher frequency has formed. In the end, the razor has no teeth pattern and needs to be extremely keen to sever the hair. I personally believe this will yield the smoothest shave, but it is not ruled out that you couldn't shave with a micro-serrated edge, only that is is not needed per se, and that they're often not found on edges that shave very well.
Bart.