Thread: Testing Sharpness

A few weeks ago, I bought my first straight--a brand new Dovo Tortoise 5/8. I DID NOT order the pre-honed option, since I've been sharpening tools and knives of all sorts for years and there seems to be a wealth of information on the web detailing honing/stropping straights. So I studied up and stropped it myself. Without too much effort, it passed the HHT, but this leads to my REAL question:

Once your razor passes the HHT, how can you tell what effect any further stropping is doing? The shave is pretty comfortable and I have yet to cut myself to the extent that a styptic pencil was needed. There is a little more resistance than with my DE, but the blade is 2X as wide as well, so this makes sense to me.

Thanks for the input.

The real test is in the shave. That's the only way I've been able to test my blades.

HHT is the best gauge initially( and you will eventually alos be able to discern different levels of HHT sharpness: popping hairs, cutting hairs, silently severing hairs...), but as has been said the real test is on your face.

Sometimes a razor will HHT OK, but will leave you with stubble on your face, that razor needs a bit of a bevel re-set probably (could be other factors as well, of course...)

Anyhow, sounds like you're off to a great start! And yes, a straight will always present a bit more resistance as the blade is significantly longer.