Thread: Ironclad Shave Ready Tests... or Not!

Of the three factors I mentioned, sharp/straight/smooth, I can tell you that smoothness of the blade is increasing in importance for me. One affect has been that the sharpness (HHT) is decreasing in relative importance.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

So you acquire razors and you hone them and discover which side of the fence you're on with these things. I have found that I don't need to have a razor pass HHT for me to get a bbs irritation free two pass shave. YMMV. If it was the other way around I would say so. For another individual it may well be the other way around.

This is the proof of the pudding so to speak, I would be willing to bet if I took one of Jimmy's razors that shaved really well but did not pass "his" HHT that it would pass "my" HHT.... This is what I have been saying all along you have to develop YOUR tests once they are developed and you have some experience with them, they will work very well for you... But they will not work very well for others.... Case in point Randy's hair test it worked for him but not the other guy, however I bet the razor still shaved fine...

Myself I would say that the HHT is the shizit because my HHT is well over 90% accurate, BUT if I did not have the wife brush her hair with the purple brush in the shave den, and had to rely on only my hair the HHT would not be of any accuracy at all for me...

Develop your own tests....

I was talking to Lynn about the HHT. He pointed out a couple of things I had never thought of. Is there oil on the blade ? Is the hair freshly washed or oily ? In either case that oil is going to throw a monkey wrench into the works. Now I have extremely fine hair that flies in every direction if I don't use gel or greasy stuff. My thing was to pull a hair out of my hair brush. I'll be darned if I'm going to yank them out of my head. The older you get the fewer you have and I ain't wasting any.

I went to the beauty supply and inquired about a human hair wig. I figured that would be ideal as I would have a lifetime supply of the same stuff. The girl told me that they started at $150.00. It isn't that important to me. Also it would be a gamble because the hair might be finer than mine. Anyhow, like Glen says we figure out our own tests and then shave and that is the ultimate test when all is said and done.

I wonder why you would bother with human hair, unless you were 13 years old. I cut off the bristles from an el cheapo supermarket boar brush.

OK, so here is a question: Do professional honemeisters that continuously hone many razors test shave every one of them?

I do not have the time in this that many others do. I'm still learning. This is not meant to teach anybody, and I certainly don't have a corner on the "right" way to do this. This is just a description of where I'm currently at.

In my experience, a blade should cut hair once the bevel is set, and that is the test I use. I'm currently working on a Hope-branded Solingen blade with an irregular bevel. It did fine with the TNT as well as the TPT over two (honing) hours ago, but only the heel cut dry arm hair. Gradually the belly got sharp. But the toe still will not cut arm hair. I will not move on to the 4K until it does -- it would be a waste of time. Been there, done that. My point being that if I relied on the TNT or TPT, I would have progressed upward some time ago and wasted time and effort.

I shaved with a Dovo Best this AM and got a great shave. It feels like an unhoned blade on the TPT. Glides across with no bite at all. Very inconsistent on the HHT. But a great shaver. I honed this by getting the bevel set (cut dry arm hair everywhere along the bevel) then did a 4K/8K pyramid of 20/5, 20/5, 20/5, 10/10, 5/15, 12K X 100, then newsprint X 100. I'm being specific here because, in my experience, once the bevel is set and cutting dry arm hair, this progression produces a fine-shaving edge most of the time. When it does not, and depending on how much tugging I have, I'll decide on another, usually much more conservative, pyramid. 99% of the time this does the trick.

Boiling this down, then, I use one "test," to establish the bevel is set, then go through a progression that has proven itself (to me), then fine tune as required with conservative pyramids.

The other important factor for me, which isn't really included in this thread, is establishing the best honing stroke for a particular blade. Using a marker, I start with the "easiest" stroke (90 degree, full blade on a 3-inch stone). If that doesn't eliminate the marker on the bevel, I'll try an X, a 45 degree X, a rolling 30 degree X, or move on to a narrow (1 ") hone, in that order, until the bevel is responding to the stroke pattern.

Probably more than anyone wanted to know. Not certain it will be of help to anyone, , but offered here in the hope it might. I've received so much from this site and look forward to the day I can pay a little of it on to others.

Originally Posted by matt321

OK, so here is a question: Do professional honemeisters that continuously hone many razors test shave every one of them?

I do, every single one of them go WTG / ATG to make sure they slice nice... That is why I am limited to a max of 8 razors per day....I shave around a light beard, so I only have so much to shave..
The difference is the confidence in the shaving hand...

Read here...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/newbi...-services.html

As for my supply of hair for HHT, mine are short and my wife's are curly. This week, a Philipino friend with long hair stopped by. I felt like a pervert, but asked her for some of her hair! It was long and straight and beautiful to behold! And, black! No more losing the hair on the countertop. It was so enjoyable using that hair for my HHTs, I'm thinking... maybe I am a prevert! (Misspelling purposeful for Dr Strangelove fans.)