Thread: TNT

Brand name of a permanent marker pen.

“Felt tipped” marking pen.

You can also lightly drag the felt tip along the edge from heel to toe with the weight of the pen and feel any imperfection, chips or where the bevels are not meeting. It should glide across the entire edge without snagging.

This will mark both bevels and give you edge feedback at the same time, nondestructively. A Q-tip also works well for this test, easily snagging on any rough spot.

A razor edge is surprisingly fragile, so even if you pass TNT… you have failed by destroying the edge.

If it does not snag does that mean you have a good bevel?

Well just finished testing my own theory about me and the TNT. Got one of the razors I'd honed previously which I'd tested on the Naniwa 1000 with the TNT and it grabbed my thumb nali really hard all the way along but as mentioned previously when I shaved with it it wasn't that comfortable. So back to the 1000 and continued with the 40 circles and 25x strokes after marking the edge with a marker (this really helps by the way!)
I kept going until when I tried the TNT it grabbed a little but slide across the thumb nail a lot smoother than before, checked the edge through a loupe and was able to see that the marker had been removed from where the distinct bevel started right to the edge. Also the tiny scratches from the 1000 were visible so i now know what they looked like.
Continued with the Naniwa's 3000; 5000; 8000 and 12000. Then 6x on diamond felt at .5; .1 and .25. Then Crox 15x.
Finally 40x on a linen strop and then 100 on a leather strop (Thank you Mr Miller).
Tried a quick ear to chin and YES!! I think I may be somewhere in the ball park with this now. Full shave with this razor tomorrow morning for a complete test. I'll post a quick reply just to finalize this thread of mine. Hopefully it may help someone else, but it's now obvious to me that when I thought I'd set the bevel i hadn't gone quite far enough

This thread with all it's mention of "TNT" must have the supercomputers at the NSA overheating.

Originally Posted by hillbillyhession

If it does not snag does that mean you have a good bevel?

Hillbilly,

No snag is usually good to move on, but I would look at it like on the video, it will take a few times to get used to the feel. What I am looking for is 1. Are you honing all the way to the edge? 2. Are the Bevels meeting? and 3. Micro chipping.

If chipping, you will have to get to good steel. Joint the edge on the stone corner and hone a new edge some times 2-3 times.

If you are inking the bevels anyway you can kill two birds with one stone. All you really need to ink anyway is just the very tip of the bevel at the edge. I like colored ink, it is much easier to see even with the naked eye, black can sometimes be confused as a shadow.

Originally Posted by Anthony1954

Well just finished testing my own theory about me and the TNT. Got one of the razors I'd honed previously which I'd tested on the Naniwa 1000 with the TNT and it grabbed my thumb nali really hard all the way along but as mentioned previously when I shaved with it it wasn't that comfortable. So back to the 1000 and continued with the 40 circles and 25x strokes after marking the edge with a marker (this really helps by the way!)
I kept going until when I tried the TNT it grabbed a little but slide across the thumb nail a lot smoother than before, checked the edge through a loupe and was able to see that the marker had been removed from where the distinct bevel started right to the edge. Also the tiny scratches from the 1000 were visible so i now know what they looked like.
Continued with the Naniwa's 3000; 5000; 8000 and 12000. Then 6x on diamond felt at .5; .1 and .25. Then Crox 15x.
Finally 40x on a linen strop and then 100 on a leather strop (Thank you Mr Miller).
Tried a quick ear to chin and YES!! I think I may be somewhere in the ball park with this now. Full shave with this razor tomorrow morning for a complete test. I'll post a quick reply just to finalize this thread of mine. Hopefully it may help someone else, but it's now obvious to me that when I thought I'd set the bevel i hadn't gone quite far enough

Ok so last post on this thread from me. shaved with the razor this morning, was it perfect, no not quite, but it was comfortable and loads better that the first time I tried it after honing from bevel setting (which I found out wasn't set) to 12000 SS.
I'd say that I'm probably 95% there and so I'll be using my version of the TNT in all future honing excursions. I also think that no pressure from the second hone on the 5000 followed by the 8000 and 12000 all with no pressure is really important. I've change from two handed honing, when it's easy to put pressure on the blade even without knowing it to one handed, little finger under the handle and elbow raised. I also ignored the apparent lack of progress on the Naniwa's after reading of other peoples comments and waited for the ultimate test of shaving with the blade. I'll also be using the marker pen tip until I know when the bevels set just by instinct, this is such a simple tool to use.
I'll admit that my edge isn't up to the standard of the blades that I've had professionally honed, but 4 bevel setting honing sessions in I know that I'm getting there and I'll keep practicing.
So thanks to all who have offered encouragement and guidance any further comments are as always appreciated.

isnt the blade still supposed to grab the thumb nail even after u go threw the fullprogression??

Originally Posted by Airportcopper

isnt the blade still supposed to grab the thumb nail even after u go threw the fullprogression??

Since the TNT is an edge-killing test, I wouldn't want to use it after the bevel is set. After a good TNT, I'll do a round if additional light strokes in the bevel-setting hone, then continue up without any TNT.

Originally Posted by Airportcopper

isnt the blade still supposed to grab the thumb nail even after u go threw the fullprogression??

Yes you're right but initially the grab was too much when I compared it to a blade that had been honed by an expert over here. If you keep testing the blade on your thumb nail it will eventually start to grab as the bevel nears the setting point but will not slide over the nail with a slightly increased push it seems to dig in. This is the point where previously I thought the bevel had been set continued up the hones and tried a shave it wasn't that good. So I went back to the 1000 with the aid of a loupe and marker and continued to hone the blade until when I tried the TNT the blade just grabbed the thumb nail as it slide across not the same slide as a blunt blade but as though I'd spilt some glue on the nail. It's really difficult to explain when you try to write it down!!
I originally thought the same as you but I think when I tested the blade it was sticking to much on the thumb nail. Anyway this mornings shave was much better than when I last used this razor so things seem to be moving in the right direction.
I now think that my technique needs to improve on the hone progression after the 1000.
Any comments or advice still welcome by the way