Sammer, you also missed this subtle line from the OP, it isn't just the HHT that is missing but the shave as well at least the way I read that...
The shaves so far are alright, but I feel like I'm not getting the most out of my razor.
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You really might want to read through this thread about HHT it is just the last big one, there are many more on here...
http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...-talk-hht.html
HHT is developed, only you can determine where, when, and if, it is going to work...
I'm just growing my fingernails really long.
But seriously. I imagine that a razor with a sharpish and really jagged edge is probably as good at the HHT as a sharper AND SMOOTHER razor, for the same reason those weed whackers have notched blades. I'm interested in Gull's question above, at what grit do people get passing HHTs? I guess I haven't tried it until I'm off the 8k stone. But maybe a light touch on the 1k could do it, just because the edge is still toothy.
To the original poster: As you work on this blade, stop after every step and re-do your HHT. That's the only way to make it really useful, is to calibrate it to your own honing, stropping, and use. Try one before you strop to shave, after you strop but before you shave, right after you shave, then once more after you give your blade its "putting-away strop." You'll notice very subtle differences, but they should correspond to what you've just done with the blade.
When you can afford to, treat yourself to a meister-honed razor to keep as a reference edge. I didn't really gain any honing traction until I did that and realized how much better shaves could be.
The answer may surprise you - at any grit starting at 1000. The caveat is that 'passing' means different things at different points of the honing process.
The big misconception of most people who don't hone, or use the test while honing, is that they think of it as a simple pass/fail test. It is not. The important part is how the hair interacts with the edge, and then the test is unambiguous and rather useful. But that poses a bit of a chicken-egg problem as one needs to be good at honing to calibrate the HHT throughout the process.
At this point my hair has about 4 different kinds of hairs, each of them interacts very differently with the same edge, but I know what to expect from each.
Forum discourse surrounding the HHT is fascinating indeed. The fact is that the HHT will vary from person to person, razor to razor, stone to stone. Shave, test, shave, test, shave, test = Success.