Thread: Hess 44 failed the shaving test.. miserably.

Well, my NOS Hess 44 failed the shaving test. Kinda surprising, really. It was passing the HHT test, and I stropped the crap out of it before shaving. It pulled and tugged like crazy. I took a look under the microscope. Wow, was I surprised to find micro chips all along the edge of this "NOS" blade. No wonder it was passing the HHT test so well... it was grabbing on and not letting go... just like it did to my face!

On the bright side, I had just put the scales back on a Puma 85 I had just finished sanding/polishing today, so I sharpened it up and was pleasantly surprised at how well it shaved. From my limited experience, Pumas sure seem like nice blades. This one was very easy to sharpen, and so smoooooth on the face. One kind of odd thing about that blade, though... It "grew" a barber's notch. Over the course of several days in the vibrating polisher, a notch developed in the end of it that looks just like a barber's notch. Removing it would mean taking it to the bench grinder, so I'm just gonna leave it alone, since it's a razor I'm not gonna resell anyway.

Well.. think I'll go sharpen up that Hess for tomorrow...

When I get them now I always look at them under 30X and see what the edge looks like. I bet that will be one heck of a shaver when you get it honed up. I have never owned a Hess ...... yet...... but I have read that those that have them hold them in high regard.

You just illustrated why I always look at my razors through the microscope before even thinking about using them. Not only is it pretty fun it sometimes saves us from our own excitement when wanting to use a new razor. I'm sure you'll ahve it shaving in no time.

Just picturing all of those little chips along the edge scraping along my face makes me cringe.... Certainly not what you would be expecting from a NOS! I'm sure it'll be a great shaver once you hone 'er up properly and get rid of those evil skin-tearing chips.

Dave

p.s. What kind of a microscope do you use?? I've always wanted to look at the bevel more closely, but I don't want to invest a lot of money in a microscope. Would those little jeweller's microscopes provide enough magnification?

Radio Shack has a handheld for ~$13.00. 60x - 100x with a led light from above. 60x is probably a little more than you want and it's a bit tough moving it along the edge being handheld at that magnification but it does the trick and you just can't beat the price.

Originally Posted by Quick

Radio Shack has a handheld for ~$13.00. 60x - 100x with a led light from above. 60x is probably a little more than you want and it's a bit tough moving it along the edge being handheld at that magnification but it does the trick and you just can't beat the price.

Sweet! I will definitely look into that. Thanks for the lead,

Dave

Thank you for also pointing out quite well that passing HHT does NOT mean it will shave !!!!