Thread: pyramid duration

Just a quickie,

The pyramid. I understand the brief explaination, and how it works, but if your trying to pass the hht, how many times can you do it?

I mean, can you pyramid numerous times, and does the number of passes increase, Or do you do a set pyramid, then repeat until it slices a hair?!

This is a rubbishly laid out question, and i'm not sure it makes sense. The pyramid on the home page, explains a set pattern. Still not sure i'm getting across what i want to say?!

3 strokes on the 4k followed by
3 strokes on the 8k
1 stroke 4K
3 strokes 8K
1 stroke 4K
5 strokes 8K .

Ok this is the thread i'm talking about. Would you repeat this again untill hht success or follow on from the 5 strokes on the 8k, like 1 on the 4k, then 7 on the 8k, then 1 on the 4k , then 9 on the 8k?



i need help!!!!!!!!! that hurt my brain

pea

I don't know, I can never pass the HHT Test. I use the thumb pad test, and the shave test. if it dosen't pass the shave test, back to the hone if real bad or the strop.

Pea,

This is a bit of a complicated question, for a couple of reasons.

The first is really the killer for guys who are new to honing: You don't know how close or far away from "sharp" your razor is.

Once you have a good bevel and a well-set edge, one pyramid starting at 5-5 and ending at 1-5 is probably enough. (That's assuming your honing technique--the way you make your strokes, and how much pressure is applied--are good, and at the beginning they probably aren't quite there.)

If you're still a long ways away from sharp, you can do the pyramid many, many times.

The tricky thing is, if you're close to a good edge, an extra pyramid, or even just part of one, can be enough to send the edge over the top. That's overhoning, and it sets you back.

So you could be really far off of sharp and just working your way toward it with the pyramids, or you could be really close and going from not sharp to sharp to overhoned (which takes you back to not sharp).

Does that make sense?

I'd suggest doing a couple of pyramids, testing the edge periodically. If you don't feel like you're getting close, try one or two of the aggressive pyramids. Keep testing along the way. You'll need to learn to evaluate the edge at each stage, and testing is a good way to do that. Do a search on "hanging hair test," "thumbnail test," and "thumbpad test."

Good luck,
Josh

I like to go up and then come back down.
4k/8k strokes illustrated below:
1/3
3/3
5/5
3/3
1/3
1/3
That's a very small pyramid for me. Up to 10 or 15 strokes on the 4/k would be medium and will usually be the most agressive I need to approach a razor. I tend to use extremely light pressure most of the time so I can benefit from going the extra distance. I find more pressure on the 4k than the 8k is best, but still find that doing the recommended number of 8k strokes with that pressure works better than trying to do fewer with the same pressure as the 4k. You'll have to find your way. Do your TPT & HHT very frequently as you are finishing the pyramid to understand and chart the progress of developing the edge. Overhoning is a real issue if you are only doing the tiny pyramid. I suggest leaving that small thing aside and using the full pyramid up to 10 or 15 4k strokes as laid out in the Permanent Archives of the Help Files for now. Once you understand the template you can start mucking with it to suit yourself and your razor.

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