Thread: Hair test

Which end do you hold?
Hair surface 3D Image: Image Library [Biology : Hair]

The information I have on this is to hold the hair with the root end out, but if it doesn't work just turn it around and see what happens. This is an interesting subject here on the forums. Most feel this test is a parlor trick, and perhaps it is. The real and final test is in the shave itself. I do use this test after stropping just to confirm I haven't screwed the edge up. Other than that I don't think it has any usefull purpose. Just MHO.

_____________
Ray

Originally Posted by zepplin

Very well said! I still do the HHT - probably out of habit, and most of the time the test works even with my baby fine hair. I guess I like to observe "HOW" the test passes. Sometimes it's a crisp "pop" - but the best is the "silent" result - when you just touch the hair to the edge and the hair falls away "Silently". It doesn't happen often, but when it does, I know I'm in for a hell of a shave. But saying all this, there are times when it wont pass HHT, or I have to practically saw that hair in half for it to pass, and I will get a wonderful, great shave! ....Go figure!


I have a "John Barber" that is a very unusually shaped razor. It's a 5/8, and has an extremely thick spine for it's size. Usually a razor with a spine of that thickness is usually a much larger blade (7/8, 8/8, ect.). It like a man who is very short, but a very large man at the same time. Anyway, there is no way I can ever get that razor to pass HHT, and yet, it will give me my most best shaves in all the world.

Go figure, go figure, and go figure.....?????

Steve

I'm finding the same thing. I bought this lady at an antique mall, just to mess around with honing to see if I could get an edge on it. The scales aren't chipped at all. I realize the blade is stained, nothing a little TLC and some Brasso cannot take care of I believe. It's a 5/8...






The edge was horribly nicked up. So I ran it along the diamond stones on my Spyderco Sharpmaker a couple times (not in the flat mode, but vertically, to grind the metal down and put a 40 degree edge on it). Knicks were then gone.

I have a Norton combo, brand new. I used the agressive pyramid twice, then I ran through the conservative pyramid 3 times. The last two times on the conservative pyramid, I stropped 35 times (plain leather) after each session.

So the wind-up is, I am definitely cutting hair on my arm, to the point the underside of my arm looks kind of hilarious at this point. It chops hair off my arm big time. I did the TPT, I could swear it even took a tiny layer of skin of my thumb. I did the TNT, and it's definitely cutting into my thumb nail, not just zipping across the top of it. But I'll be damned if I can get the HHT to work.

I dunno, guess the only real thing I can do is give her a pass at my next shave and see what happens.

I know you've read it above, but one more time, the true test is the shave.

Please, don't cut paper with your straights unless you are looking to hit the hones again. The only thing you should be cutting with you razor is hair and sometimes skin if you loose concentration.

If you really want to do the hanging hair test and you need to ask questions such as how long the hair needs to be or is the hair too fine the test failed. I like to shoot for 100% on anything I do so cutting 60% of the hairs based on length or fineness is not passing the test. The hair test should pop or silently and quickly cut the hair to be a successful test. The razor does not need to be that sharp for a comfortable shave, but when it is and you don't have a wire edge or chips (micro or otherwise) you will enjoy the shave if you are comfortable with straights that sharp.

As I mentioned in a post a while ago, I used to perform the HHR test after honing every blade. The results became so predictable it wasn't any fun anymore. My son still likes to do it from time to time. I had a few straights with me once when I stopped at a gun shop to discuss metal finishing. THe owner and I got into a discussion around honing. I broke out a C-Mon I had with me 'performed' the HHT. I didn't know for sure if it would work because I didn't do the test on that straight. Got one of CarrieM's fine red hairs and was lining the hair up for the test but it touched the blade and split in two. Needless to say, the gun shop guy was impressed.

If your blade is not as sharp as it was two weeks ago it may be your stropping or other damage to the edge. Pressure of any kind from the side of the blade on the edge will damage the edge and bend the bevel. The trick is, no pressure while shaving, stropping and no pressure even when wiping the lather off the blade or wiping it dry.

Take a good close look at the bevel on the blade. Does it look wavy? Get a toothpick and lay it on the blade from spine to edge and slowly, w/o pressure slide it off the edge while moving it along the edge. Do you feel it catching on one side or the other? The wavy bevel may be caused by pressure while wiping the blade. The tooth pick would show if you rolled the edge while stropping.

Good luck.

I agree that the shave test is the most important test, but the HHT, in my opinion, is a good indicator of when you want to try shaving with the razor. If a razor I'm sharpening doesn't pass it then its going to be good friends with the hones till it does. If you have finer hair then you might want to get some from your SO, but then again, when you get good results with finer hair then you'll know that you've got a really sharp blade. Sometimes I like to test an edge with cat hair (I've got enough of that stuff around). If I can get a cat hair to pop on the edge then I know the edge should be pretty good-- but you do usually have to kind of finesse cat hairs.

In the Livi video that was referenced earlier, you'll notice that he tests the blade on a bunch of hairs that he has tied together before he tries the razor out on his face. Its a tiny bit different from the HHT talked about here, but I think the principle is the same.

Originally Posted by warpigs421

I'm finding the same thing. I bought this lady at an antique mall, just to mess around with honing to see if I could get an edge on it. The scales aren't chipped at all. I realize the blade is stained, nothing a little TLC and some Brasso cannot take care of I believe. It's a 5/8...






The edge was horribly nicked up. So I ran it along the diamond stones on my Spyderco Sharpmaker a couple times (not in the flat mode, but vertically, to grind the metal down and put a 40 degree edge on it). Knicks were then gone.

I have a Norton combo, brand new. I used the agressive pyramid twice, then I ran through the conservative pyramid 3 times. The last two times on the conservative pyramid, I stropped 35 times (plain leather) after each session.

So the wind-up is, I am definitely cutting hair on my arm, to the point the underside of my arm looks kind of hilarious at this point. It chops hair off my arm big time. I did the TPT, I could swear it even took a tiny layer of skin of my thumb. I did the TNT, and it's definitely cutting into my thumb nail, not just zipping across the top of it. But I'll be damned if I can get the HHT to work.

I dunno, guess the only real thing I can do is give her a pass at my next shave and see what happens.

TNT test is bad news once you get past the lower grit hones, the bevel setters. Once you get up to 4k and above, you can ruin your beautiful edge.

btw... i am officially done with HHT had 3 razors that passed hht no problem,but shaved like crap. Now they dont shave hht, but shave great. Maybe i just dont like a supersharp blade, who knows...