Thread: Sharpness tests for beginners

Originally Posted by mjhammer

Now if we could just get every beginner out there to read this, hehehe.

I totally agree - I wish I had

Im glad I understood this when I first started shaving. I didn't worry about the razor passing ____ test, instead I just shaved with it and everything worked out great.

Originally Posted by tfrod

Im glad I understood this when I first started shaving. I didn't worry about the razor passing ____ test, instead I just shaved with it and everything worked out great.

Agree, I wasted a lot of time trying to get HHTX differences when the baseline varies with each persons individual hair. Still, it is nice to have some measurable form of comparison.

My hair will NOT pass the HHT. Period. It's like silk. It's maddening because I have a full head of it. I have no arm hairs to speak of... not any I can see with natural light. I can take off my shirt and find a few wild hairs on my chest... but I'm not doing that! LOL!

If I'm wearing shorts I have a few hairs on my legs I can shave to check for a bevel. (Spare me, LoriB)

When I'm closing in on it... I wear a white goatee and mustache... I can pass the blade, hovering over my goat hairs... they pop and I get a HHT.

I don't really have to do that, but the "ping" I get from those restored hollows of mine is quite good.. and I didn't have to shave the 4 hairs on my chest.

Early on, reading the tutorials, I used the tests a lot while honing. The longer I honed the less I used them. Now, once I've looked at the edge under magnification, and I'm satisfied that there is no damage, I just go to honing. In setting a bevel I will still do a TNT. Every once in awhile I may do a TPT or pop some leg hair, as I progress, but not often. I sort of intuitively know when it is 'there' and the shave becomes the test.

Sticky this under the title NEWBS READ THIS.

Wish I had seen this a few months ago lol. Well said.

As a beginner I've just accepted that I will probably get some good shaves and some bad shaves for a while. My average shave keeps getting better! I'm experimenting with honing, stroping, soaps, preparation, etc and I'm learning what I like and dislike. My strategy is to have one of my razors professionally hone after about 20 shaves to keep a baseline. I hone the others and compare.