Thread: TNT old school advice?

Originally Posted by Anthony1954

Now I thought that if the blade caught on the nail this showed the bevel was set and the edge had started to slightly cut into the nail. If the blade passes smoothly over the nail the bevel is not set.
I've used this bevel set test on each razor I've honed and the shaves are always good if the blade grabs slightly at the 1k stage.

I'm with you Anthony, this is my understanding and how I use the TNT also
I also am sure Livi on one of his videos actually intentionally sets the bevel then rubs the edge on a piece of horn to smooth it before moving to final honing stages to ensure a smooth edge.

I love the extra little bit of history hidden in the bottom of the box,
and the way it is confirming the argument not to play with your egde as the chances of damaging a finish honed egde is very high, and although it is steel it is very easy to roll or bend the fine edge.

You can use the TNT just fine guys. Just don't use it too far after bevel setting. The TNT can be done in different ways. The one some guys use is to rest the edge on the thumbnail at an angle, apply a tiny amount of pressure straight down and see if it bites and holds or slides. The other way is as described in the barber's manual above - dragging the edge across a wet thumbnail along its long axis, and feeling for defects that will show up as a gritty feel or a bounce or catch if there's a nick, etc.

Originally Posted by eKretz

You can use the TNT just fine guys. Just don't use it too far after bevel setting. The TNT can be done in different ways. The one some guys use is to rest the edge on the thumbnail at an angle, apply a tiny amount of pressure straight down and see if it bites and holds or slides. The other way is as described in the barber's manual above - dragging the edge across a wet thumbnail along its long axis, and feeling for defects that will show up as a gritty feel or a bounce or catch if there's a nick, etc.

The Barber's honing pages posted earlier is testing the edge at the final stage of honing.

Yes, they were far behind where we're at these days with microscopy and were probably quite unaware of the damage they were doing. I have seen the damage caused to a razor by cutting a few cm of paper in an electron microscope photo. I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure my thumbnail is quite a bit tougher than a piece of paper. If you want to run a razor with a finished edge along your thumbnail go for it, but please steer well clear of mine.

Originally Posted by eKretz

Yes, they were far behind where we're at these days with microscopy and were probably quite unaware of the damage they were doing. I have seen the damage caused to a razor by cutting a few cm of paper in an electron microscope photo. I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure my thumbnail is quite a bit tougher than a piece of paper. If you want to run a razor with a finished edge along your thumbnail go for it, but please steer well clear of mine.

We are not talking about paper here, thumbnail my friend made of keratin same as hair. Most of the knowledge we know about shaving and how to's comes from barbers. Microscopy is very interesting, but definitely not needed to hone a razor.

You're not seriously making such an argument, are you? Think of it this way, you might easily cut through a very thin copper wire with a knife without hurting the edge much, but do you think you'd get the same result trying to cut through a copper penny?

Also, if you think your razor's edge suffers no damage after a shave - cutting only hair - you're very mistaken. The edges can look quite beat up after even a single shave.

Originally Posted by eKretz

You're not seriously making such an argument, are you? Think of it this way, you might easily cut through a very thin copper wire with a knife without hurting the edge much, but do you think you'd get the same result trying to cut through a copper penny?

Also, if you think your razor's edge suffers no damage after a shave - cutting only hair - you're very mistaken. The edges can look quite beat up after even a single shave.

I was just bringing another view to the equation, you totally dismissed the idea right from the start saying "Instant edge roll" but somehow i dont believed barbers been shaving customers with razors with an edge rolled for many many decades...

Oh and by the way if you think for a second that microscopes and razors are a new way you're very mistaken have a look:http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...-use-hone.html

We must remember that this was back when words were taken quite literally and physical abilities were prevalent.
A barber testing his edge on a fresh-honed razor upon his thumbnail meant a bit different thing back then when people knew what a light touch was. Everything was done manually back then. People were literal, responsible, and had good mechanical skills.
Nowadays, somebody would cut his thumb in half and sue!

I feel the paper in the OP means that "This razor is shaving. Don't test it on the nail, willya?"

Originally Posted by Martin103

I was just bringing another view to the equation, you totally dismissed the idea right from the start saying "Instant edge roll" but somehow i dont believed barbers been shaving customers with razors with an edge rolled for many many decades...

Oh and by the way if you think for a second that microscopes and razors are a new way you're very mistaken have a look:http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...-use-hone.html

I didn't dismiss anything. The OP asked the question, will it damage the edge? I answered. How on earth is that dismissive? You can believe what you like, in the meantime I will do it my way and you can do it your way. And as you obviously did not read my post as regards the microscopy, I'll reiterate. I said they were far behind where we are today. I never said they didn't have or use microscopes. They sure as heck did not have electron microscopes though, and the tiny amount of damage caused by running a finished edge on a thumbnail probably went completely unnoticed by almost all if not all those who used them due to the lack of magnification level compared to what we have these days. If a finished edge is damaged and rolled by a piece of paper and by merely cutting the hair on your face, it doesn't matter how lightly it gets run along your nail, it will be damaged. These guys who ran razors along their nail were also stropping the crap out of them afterward as well, no doubt. So the damage was mitigated, but they still wouldn't have as good an edge as they could have had.