Thread: New guy with a dull razor

Damn, beaten by the man himself!

If you are shopping for ebay razors just look at the photos carefully. If the photos aren't adequate ask questions. I always ask if there are any chips, cracks or pitting in the blade of scales that the photos don't show.

Stay away from the "hot" high priced items until you know what you are doing..... unless you really want one of them.

Here is the razor clubs forum where you can get an idea of what some members of the forum collect and shave with.

Ha lost that first razor in the auction, probably shouldn't have post it here! Maybe the winner can chime in. OK, instead I got this



It's a Bismark with a bone scale. Looks like it's in decent shape. Picked it up for $50. I have no experience with buying razors, so I figured the best way to get some is to buy something. I can see how this hobby can get addicting. All these razors have their own character. We'll see if I have luck honing this one. Thanks again for the advice guys!

get used to losing the auctions. NEVER (if you think it's a good buy, that is) show a razor on the forum before you win it. i'm sure that majority of us will cheer you on as you run around ebay with your wallet in hand, but as with any community, there are those trolls looking to yoink what you want.


enjoy shaving and be sure to pull the blade away before you sneeze

So youre the guy that beat me out of that! Ive always wanted to see one of you guys!
You got a good razor enjoy it!

Yeah, I really liked that first one though. Well at least I know now to post AFTER I've purchased. Bud I mailed my Dovo today. Thanks a lot.

Originally Posted by ben.mid

You really shouldn't go any coarser for a new blade. The HHT can be overrated. It should shave arm hair after the 4k (mind you, it should shave it after the 1200 if you were to take it back that far.) Since it's already touched the 4k there's no harm in trying the TNT. If it passes, give it 30 more very light laps & move on to the 8k, then try the TPT. Keep things very light as it wouldn't have been all that far off shave ready. I think that info should be fine, but if i'm a bit out, i'll be corrected soon! After that strop the hell out of it & see how it shaves.
Oh, & if you just can't get it, send it to a honemiester.

I agree with all that. I bought a Dovo En Vogue too, and spent more time honing than necessary because I didn't place enough trust in the TNT (at the 4K stage) and TPT (at 8K).

I had a stage where the razor passed the HHT and gave bad shaves, and later it failed the HHT but gave good shaves. This test is not truly objective, there are too many variables like what hairs you use and how you move the hair onto the blade. I'm not saying the HHT is useless, but it can be very misleading to someone new to honing. IMO it is only useful to someone with some honing experience under their belt. Other than the obvious fact that all other things being equal, it is better to pass the HHT than to fail it.

Whatever you do, don't let a failure off the HHT prevent you from stropping the razor well (50+ laps) and trying a test shave. It is amazing how stropping improves the edge, you must regard stropping as part of the final test to see if the blade is shave-ready.

When I was starting out I talked to Randydance and he gave me some good stuff to go with on the tests. When setting the bevel whether on the 1k or 4k use the TNT but also use the TPT in conjunction with it.

This will give you a feel for the TPT. Randy suggested that I take a new DE blade and do the TPT with it to get familiar with what a sharp edge feels like under the thumb pad. This helped me get the idea fairly quickly.

Most important was his admonition to stop using the TNT once the edge passed that test. As the edge gets more refined it can do more harm then good so once it has passed that test for the full length of the blade rely on the TPT.

Popping hair off the forearm can be tried at any stage. I don't rely on that much anymore. In my early honing my forearms were hairless before too long. Now I may pop a few at the final polish and then try the HHT after stropping. At that point pass or fail HHT I shave.

Yeah I've heard a few people say that the TNT can be harmful to the blade. Maybe do it once after the 4K and not again? I plan on doing the TPT after Bud hones that Dovo so I know what sharp feels like.

Originally Posted by AndrewBlack

Yeah I've heard a few people say that the TNT can be harmful to the blade. Maybe do it once after the 4K and not again?

It should be done however many times necessary until it passes the test for the full length of the blade.