Thread: Sharpness after Honing

Hello everyone,

I would like some insight into how sharp you experienced honers expect your razors to be in between honing and stropping. When I am finished with my Shapton 12,000 I can often shave arm hair pretty smoothly but the razor doesn't seem to be passing the HHT consistently. Do I need to spend more time on the Shapton? Or could this be my jumping too quickly from 8k to 12k? My progression is as follows: I do circles and x strokes on a Norton 4k, X strokes only with hardly any pressure on a Norton 8k, and then follow up with no pressure x strokes on a Shapton 12k. I'm pretty much just following Lynn Abram's video on Youtube using the Norton 4k/8k combination stone. My razor is a Dovo Prima Silver Steel.

Or, do you guys not expect to pass an HHT until after stropping?

Thanks for your help. Just a beginner trying to get my sea legs here.

my test is tree topping arm hair and it has cut really easy and along the whole length of the blade. I've never had much luck with the HHT

Same here as rodb. I thank Glen (gssixgun) for helping me not to bother with the HHT altogether. It’s the shave test that matters most for me when I am done honing.

If you are new to honing, I would suggest trying to get the best shaving edge you can off 8k. Once you've found it, then move up to the 12k. I generally do the HHT after stropping. The key there is to be consistent in how you apply the hair to the edge each time.

The HHT will tell you that the edge is sharp but it cannot tell you if that edge is smooth.
Either way to get an excellent edge you need to be passing that HHT test.

Probably your issues lie at the bevel setting phase.
You want it easily cutting arm hair all along the edge before moving on past the 1k or 4k if that's your bevel setting stone.

Hope this helps...

All great points.

Id not get too hung up on the HHT though, some can calibrate it well for them others not so much. As I mentioned in another thread I can tree top arm hair on the 1k but cannot for the life of me use the hair on my head.
I tried an experiment with a razor that shaved well, re stropped then tried a few different peoples hair ( family not random people! ) some worked better than others one or too not at all. Everyone is different including our barnets.

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

As I mentioned in another thread I can tree top arm hair on the 1k but cannot for the life of me use the hair on my head.

Keep this in mind. I am the exact opposite. So there is no definitive "one size fits all" test that i have found other than the shave test. There are very few "tests" other than the shave test that will be a lot different off your bevel setter vs once you've gone up your progression. In short, if you're having sharpness issues at the 12k stone, you're more than likely having sharpness issues off the 1k stone. And as such you need to check that bevel.
I am one of the few who does use the HHT. but I only use it with my own hair, and I've done it enough that I can evaluate the nuances in behavior against the edge. this takes time, practice, and reducing as many variables as you can. Keep it up!

My arm hair is so thin and lays so close to the skin that I haven't been able to use it as a sharpness test. I have tried HHT with some of my wife's/daughters' hair but that can be inconsistent as well. The only test that works for me is the shave test. If I can swipe the blade across my cheek, across the grain, and it doesn't feel harsh and cuts to the point I can't feel stubble following the same direction as the blade than it passes. If this test fails I grab a different razor that I already know is sharp and finish the shave. I am nine months into straight razor shaving and honing and I very rarely get a razor honed to pass this test on the first try, but I'm getting better and it usually doesn't take much additional work to finish the blade to full shave ready status.

So long as the blade will cut my arm hair easily all along the edge at the bevel set I am set to go up the progression. After the finisher I strop with Crox, linen and lastly leather before doing a shave. The shave tells me if I have hit the mark. Never could do a HHT. Everyone has their own way, there is no real set method of testing for shaving sharpness. You have to find what works or does not work for you through experiment and observation.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

So long as the blade will cut my arm hair easily all along the edge at the bevel set I am set to go up the progression. After the finisher I strop with Crox, linen and lastly leather before doing a shave. The shave tells me if I have hit the mark. Never could do a HHT. Everyone has their own way, there is no real set method of testing for shaving sharpness. You have to find what works or does not work for you through experiment and observation.

Bob

Same exact for me. The hair on my head (what little is there lol!!) doesn't work well. I lather up one side of my face and do a quick shave test of about an inch, that should tell you what the edge is like