Thread: okay, what kind of hair?

I have now been able to hone my razor to the point where it passes a HHT (hanging hair test), but only if I use a chest hair, or facial hair ( I have a goatee). If I use a hair from my head (much thinner, I guess) its more flexible and doesn't cut. Which is it supposed to work with?


Thanks

The one that corresponds to the more comfortable shave.

I have never been able to get the HHT to work. I do find that a test scrape on the back of my hand tells me how well the blade will shave. Clean to the skin & it is ready to shave. A few bristles & it is back to the strop.

i find if it is a really refined edge and sharp it will cut both. it took me a while to get my razors to the point where they would cut both. for me it was all about spending enough time on the 4k and then having a nice light touch on the higher grits.

how easy does it cut the chest or facial hair? do you have to hit the right angle and is there a slight ping? there was for me at first and this usually signifies that the edge still has tiny teeth that were made by the lower grits, thats why i started spending more time on the 4k before going up. this was all based off of post from other who are much more experienced then me, but it worked great for me.

good luck
Wes

Neither, you should not rely on the hanging hair test (HHT) as the sole determinant of the sharpness of your razor. Shave with it and experience the shave. If it feels comfortable with no pulling, etc, you have done a good honing job. Some razors do not pass the HHT even if they are very sharp. There are just too many factors that can derail the results of this test alone.

Al raz.

I quite like the hanging hair test, it gives me a good idea of how sharp my edge is getting. There are a lot of variables though so it may not be a good universal test due to hair type, technique etc.

The direction of the hair makes a difference, hair platelets face a certain direction making hairs easier or harder to cut depending on which end you hold them by, its much easier to cut against the platelets because they tend to snag on the edge. Coarser hair is easier to cut, my hair is quite coarse and I dont find it a particularly useful for hht tests. SWMBO hair is somewhat finer than mine but she quickly tired of me pulling hairs from her head! Ive finally settled on using fine hairs from my cat, for me at least these are the most difficult to get to pass the hht and when they "snick" without any effort I know my edge is quite sharp, there are plenty of them as well

I know that many people dont rate the HHT as being of any use in judging shave readiness but in my very limited experience so far my best shaves have been from edges that do pass my cat hair test CHT

Originally Posted by gugi

The one that corresponds to the more comfortable shave.

+1 on Gugi. Everyone's hair is different. If you get a good shave using chest hair go with that. If your looking to see how sharp you can get your blade go with the finest you can find. I would offer suggestions but...

I dislike the HHT. But even I have to admit that if your razor can pop facial hair on contact, it speaks volumes.

I just strop and test the blade on my forearm hair. If it is down to the skin, then it's ready.