Thread: Hair test

When diong the hair test to check the sharpness of a blade does the hair need to be longer than 1 inch and is grey hair harder to do the test with?
It is probably more that my blades are not sharp enough due to poor stroping.

Originally Posted by woody743

When diong the hair test to check the sharpness of a blade does the hair need to be longer than 1 inch and is grey hair harder to do the test with?

Well, the venerable Bart left us with Hanging Hair Test, from trick to probing method - Straight Razor Place Wiki - probably the most comprehensive compilation of HHT knowledge ever.

I recently acquired a boar brush, scalped it, and have been HHT'ing happily ever since. Mind you, not everybody's facial hair resembles boar bristles.

Originally Posted by woody743

It is probably more that my blades are not sharp enough due to poor stroping.

Is that a question.

If so, the answer is a definite maybe. The HHT is considered voodoo by many, and the shave test remains the ultimate sharpness test, obviously. If in doubt, have your razor honed by one of the members advertising the classifieds.

As the owner of lots of gray hair, I can tell you that my gray hairs are more brittle and easier to cut with the HHT than the dark ones. Hope my arteries are not in the same brittle condition! YMMV.

Originally Posted by Croaker

As the owner of lots of gray hair, I can tell you that my gray hairs are more brittle and easier to cut with the HHT than the dark ones. Hope my arteries are not in the same brittle condition! YMMV.

When shaving your arteries, always remember, it's down, not across.

A member of this forum told me the only real way to test if a razor is ready to shave with it is to lather up and shave. My straight razor teacher tells me the best way to tell is to attempt to cut paper with it.

Originally Posted by jbcohen

My straight razor teacher tells me the best way to tell is to attempt to cut paper with it.

Pray tell, does your straight razor teacher sell hones as a sideline?

Originally Posted by jbcohen

A member of this forum told me the only real way to test if a razor is ready to shave with it is to lather up and shave. My straight razor teacher tells me the best way to tell is to attempt to cut paper with it.

Originally Posted by fccexpert

The only test that counts is the shave test.

Make that two members!

Actually, here are just a handful of others some of whom are professional razor sharpeners who have sharpened thousands of straight razors

Originally Posted by majurey

The only reliable test is the shave test, of course.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

The shave-test is the only test that matters.

Originally Posted by Bruno

In the end, the shave test is the only test that matters. If it feels good, it IS good.

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

The shave test is the only test that matters.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The last test is the shave test and really the only one that matters...

Originally Posted by Lynn

For me, no other tests up to the point of shaving are really meaningful.

Other tests can have some value depending on what you are looking for as far as improvement to the edge during honing, but none do nearly so well as the shave test for determining whether or not it will make a good shave

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

When shaving your arteries, always remember, it's down, not across.

Good one! ROTFLMAO! Wish it was as easy to remove arterial plaque, as it is to plane off gray whiskers with a straight razor.

If you are talking about the hanging hair test, it is more of a parlor trick that a real test. I have a number of razors that fail this test and shave great and some that pass the test but give a horrible shave. The only test that counts is the shave test.

Originally Posted by fccexpert

If you are talking about the hanging hair test, it is more of a parlor trick that a real test. I have a number of razors that fail this test and shave great and some that pass the test but give a horrible shave. The only test that counts is the shave test.

This.... I have 4 razors passing HHT that i am taking back to the stones....