Thread: test results - positive or negative

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

We really need to see a test shave and its results. It doesn't need to be your whole face. You have a lot of testing going on.

In order to simplify I would stop testing all the time. I'm not really sure you know what your looking for in all these tests.

If in fact you have a good bevel on one side and little bevel on the other you need to assess why your applying unequal pressure while honing. Change the stone orientation to prevent this if needed.

If it doesn't shave well this would be a big contributor.

You can set the bevel with the 4k and move to the 8K and smooth everything out on the bevel and get a great shave; without performing a single test. Use your microscope to get your bevel even and smooth and drop the thumbnail test all together. Use your 8K with for 40 passes as I suggested, 20 light pressure, 20 no pressure (even better is to lighten the pressure as you go). Do this and you can effectively eliminate the thumbpad test and the PPT all together and go right to shaving.

After the 8k use the strop to draw out and smooth the edge.

Almost half the battle of honing is knowing when to stop! The other half is learning a perfect stroke.

Well, I did get a good shave today. In fact, I almost got my chin completely smooth in just one pass and same goes for my upper lip (which almost never happens). No razor burn is evident either. Basically, I'm very happy with the results, it was one of the easiest and most enjoyable shaves to date.

As to stone position. I've tried honing with the stone in a N-S and a E-W position and seem to get better results with the N-S position. At least its easier for me to make smoother strokes.

As to the testing, I am stopping them all, at least for now and probably indefinitely, because I believe you are right and because I'm getting tired of having made this more complicated than nuclear science. I most certainly am either not calibrated to the proper feeling for the tests and/or am focused so much on them that I move to an almost over honed situation. At this point, I'm leaning on the former. Because I'm happy with the shave today, I'm simply going to drop everything else and get to the business of regular shaving and stropping. One thing for certain has happened: I've tried to learn too much too quickly and lost sight of the goal, which is enjoying the shaving experience.

Justin - yes a uniform rasping sound with a drawing feeling on each stroke back and forth is a regular occurrence for me now.

Excellent! Glad you got a good shave. Sorry if I came across as a little pissy. I think simplifying a little will help.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Excellent! Glad you got a good shave. Sorry if I came across as a little pissy. I think simplifying a little will help.

Hey, no problem at all. Sometimes I think it helps to get a blunt dose of common sense thrown at you. That said, I did post that I'm suspending myself from SRP for a while (as soon as TGQ posts the sales items, I'm off). I had made a post on a different thread that I think it's necessary to get back to basics sometimes (hone, strop, shave) and I think you just basically reminded me of my own advice. So, I'm taking an SRP vacation to take care of other things and just let all this stuff settle. When I come back, I should be a little more common sensical(new word??) about things.