Thread: The Almighty Hanging Hair Test (HHT)...

I don't do pastes so I'm not one to talk about them but with hones I think its safe to say and I think Joe will agree with me that any given hone will sharpen blade X to a certain potential and that degree of sharpness will vary with each blade depending on the material, grind and condition its in. After that you will not improve the edge but will continue to remove metal. So you go to the next higher grit to get that next degree of sharpness say X+1 (hey this is starting to look like my old algebra problems) but at what point do you stop. You could go from the 8K to a 12k to a 15K to a 30K and then you could go to extra fine diamond hones. Heck, you could have an edge so keen you could part the Red Sea with it.When you get to X+8 or so you might have a wicked sharp edge but it might be useless for shaving-too brittle an edge, too fragile. I guess this X+ will depend on the metal and all those other variables.

So my point is that personally I don't give a hoot about the HHT, I just shave. I hone to get an edge that gives me a shave of a quality that pleases me and has an edge with good durability which is a balancing act we all must reckon with when we hone our blades no matter the medium used.

The hanging hair test is just a starting point for me. Once I get it to pass on the hone I go to the pasted strop. It still doesn’t mean it’s going to be shave ready. I had two razors I sharpened over this weekend that both passed the HHT I shaved with the first one last night and the shave was horrible so I pulled out the other one and had a great shave. If this had been the first time that this has happened to me I would be worried about the razor but it’s not, from what I’ve found it will probably just take a little more work on the pasted strop and all should be right with the world again.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

If it ain't getting sharper, move onto a higher grit. I still prefer the pyramid for getting the blade shave-ready but this one's the best when dealing with pastes. Just do it in very small steps to avoid overhoning and make sure you have a good consistent sharpness test.

I'm just getting into the sharpening phase (I started with a Feather A/C [in retrospect, I would have trouble recomending that system as a starter set]), grabbed a bunch of eBay straights (some good, most not) and a Dovo loom strop, and, just recently, treated myself to one of Tony's excellent strops and a pasted paddle strop (what a difference quality tools make!)

I now have about 10 razors that consistently pass the HHT, and I thought that it was a consistent sharpness test, but yesterdays hacksaw shave with my newly sharp Henckles sent me scurrying to this thread and now I find that the HHT is just a pile of dreck and only good for finding razors that will pass the HHT and is no indication of whether or not it will give a good shave and my shaky world has just been rocked to the core.

What is a good, consistent sharpness test? or, other than just lathering up and going for it, is there one?

Thanks in advance -

-whatever

-Lou

I use the HHT off teh 8k. How well the razor responds tells me whether I should move on to the finishing stone and pastes. Most razors which pass the HHT will provide a shave for me. Some might want a little more work too though.

X

I notice that the HHT is often discussed without mention of the quality of the HHT. Something like, "my razor passed the HHT."

I think that is like saying a steak is done when it's brown....or is it?

Scott

Originally Posted by honedright

I notice that the HHT is often discussed without mention of the quality of the HHT. Something like, "my razor passed the HHT."

I think that is like saying a steak is done when it's brown....or is it?

Scott

"...quality of the HHT"??? I just assumed that either it cut the hair or it didn't.

What am I missing here?

-whatever

-Lou

Originally Posted by scarface

"...quality of the HHT"??? I just assumed that either it cut the hair or it didn't.

What am I missing here?

-whatever

-Lou

Hmmmmmmm....

Originally Posted by scarface

What is a good, consistent sharpness test? or, other than just lathering up and going for it, is there one?

Ultimately the only real test is the shaving test, every other test is just an approximation, a proxy for the real thing. You'll have to find your own test that works for you, and that accurately predicts shaving quality on your beard.

Doing this means calibrating the tests with a honemeister-sharpened razor. For myself, I took a honemeister-honed blade and stropped it well, then started in with every test I could think of, popping hair from different parts of my head, arms, legs, and dog until I found tests that blade would pass and my own would not, then I found some tests where that blade was marginal, then I found some that it would not pass.

And then I shaved with the razor, and noted how it shaved.

Sometime later I did the exact same thing with another honemeister-sharpened razor, just to make sure that what I had seen was consistent between the two. And every time I've gotten another blade from another honemeister, I've done the same thing.

Meanwhile, armed with this new knowledge, I went back to my hones working on my own honing technique, and every time I got a blade to where I thought it would shave I would do the various tests and compare to how the honemeister blades had done. I eventually settled on a couple of tests that I can use to track the progress of the blade, and a test that correlates very well with a good shave. But even then, sometimes every test you've got tells you the blade is ready but a shave tells you it's not, and ultimately that's the only test that matters.

mparker,

I think you are absolutely right, but going with my steak analogy:

The proof is in the eating, but one good poke into the steak with an experienced finger during cooking can tell if the steak is rare, medium, medium well, well, and/or overdone. Takes a lot of the guess work out of it, and lets you enjoy your steaks the way you want them more often.

Just food for thought.

Scott

Originally Posted by scarface

"...quality of the HHT"??? I just assumed that either it cut the hair or it didn't.

What am I missing here?

-whatever

-Lou

Well, I don't use the HHT but I do test on my armhair. How the hair gets cut tells you a great deal, especially in the final polishing stages. If the hair cuts partway through and folds over then it isn't quite sharp enough to shave without pulling, and probably needs to go back to the 8k and possibly the 4k (I'll generally do a short pyramid here). If the hair doesn't cut but seems to vibrate as you drag it across the razor then you may have microchips or some other roughness along the fin (this is similar to the thumbnail test but can be done at higher grits). If the hair actually "pops" away from the edge when it touches this seems to be a sign that you're approaching overhoned status, and may already have a wire edge. If the hair just topples over onto the blade without drama then this is a good sign that you've got a good edge. And if you can cut partway into a hair and turn and fillet it lengthwise then you've got an outstanding edge.