Thread: Thoughts on HHT...

Not having this issue but it was a thought i was having while doing an HHT.

Is it possible to have such a fine straight edge that its no longer toothy enough to pass an HHT? Or would it be that if an edge being that level of fine it would still find the sections between the hair and still pop it off?

Calibrate the Hair

Use a new DE blade to calibrate the hairs you are using..

This gives you as close to a known quantity as you can get, keeping in mind the even on the same head all hair is NOT created equal

Guess that would give someone an idea. But ive seen close-up pick of DE blade edges that look scarry toothy. As I said. It was only a thought.
BTW, I bought some hair extensions for my testing. Works so much better than the stuff I got from my granddaughter.

I have a hard time with the HHT. Unless you calibrate it its useless.
My hair wont pass a HTT for love nor money, I even had a razor honed by Neil Miller and it wouldnt pass!
My wifes hair will pass a HHT101 or whatever number you want very easily.
I did an experiment with a razor that shaved nicely and tried a number of different hairs (My wifes a hairdresser) and concluded that everyones hair is different, even certain types of shampoo can make a difference, some contain silicone thst will coat the hair making it harder to cut.

Hair makes a big difference. When my daughter didn't color treat her hair I thought I was King Kong with the hht. After? The horror..... Lol.

Yep, so many variables with HHT it is useless unless you calibrate to yourself. Over the years, my HHT has become the very fine hairs on my outer fore-arm. When I can tree-top those with ease all along the edge, I've usually got a velvety-smooth shaving edge. YMMV is very much in play on these final pre-shave honing tests.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Is it possible to have such a fine straight edge that its no longer toothy enough to pass an HHT? Or would it be that if an edge being that level of fine it would still find the sections between the hair and still pop it off?

Most dedicated finishers aim to create the smoothest possible, toothless edge. And stropping on clean leather delivers a manifest improvement of the edge's ability to sever a hair.

How finer the saw-tooth pattern, how keener the edge needs to be for the same cutting performance.

I believe the smoothest most toothless edge that's still keen and shaves well will pass the HHT, if it's "so fine" it won't pass a HHT I think the edge is ruined and has lost its keenness and won't deliver a good shave, nor a good HHT result.


So far I haven't found a finisher that delivers an edge that's too fine.

HHT was a bit of a fad in days past, but most found it is so fickle that it does not consistently reflect shaving ability.

Most of us, me included use it as a test (tree topping arm hair) during honing to insure we are continuing in the right direction across the whole edge, (does the toe or heel, need a bit more work?) and not a definitive edge test.

Your question about tooth, is probably valid. As butchers know well you can tailor an edge to the task and for cutting meat or skinning a toothy edge can be beneficial as opposed to a razor edge or folks would be skinning with straight razors. Scalpels are not that sharp, for cutting skin and tissue, skin is surprisingly tough.

One could easily test this theory, by creating a mirror bevel, laser straight edge with high grit .3um film, (about 60k grit) and sub-micron CBN or Diamond paste, up to .10 (200,000 grit) easily obtainable or finer to .005um 3.2 million grit, not so easily obtainable. Any thing over about 20k is near or mirror polish and very straight edge. An edge begins to get very straight at about 8k.

They will still cut my arm hair for me. But I will be damned if, I can tell the difference between a .10um CBN edge and a fine Jnat or Ark edge for cutting arm hair. Shaving is another matter, readily determined by smoothness of the skin, weepers and/or discomfort, for me. .25um is about the most my skin can handle.

What does matter is stropping. Try this yourself. You try an HHT and it does not pass, strop on linen and leather and it passes. Stropping on leather straightens the fin, the very thin edge, probably not removing much metal, stropping on linen depending on the linen can remove metal, microscopically and straighten the fin, but not like flatter, smoother leather.

Add to that different leather can vary in abrasive quality, depending on the leather, how tanned and cared for. There is a leather strop progression, but for the average guy whacking whiskers, is TMI.

What highly polished super straight edge produce are also super thin edges, that while they shave well for a while, shaving and stropping will cause the fin, the very edge to flex and break off causing Micro Chipping down the road.

Even a “mirror polished bevel has stria, and micro serrated edge, we just cannot see it at 400X. You can on an SEM.

Your mileage may vary…wildly but can be some fun for us edge obsessed.

To kind of put into perspective, I saw a video of a guy slicing a tomato with a Wooden knife. What does that say about those that swear about Tomato cut test, what would that shave like?

To me it says, he can cut tomatoes with his wooden knife. Yes, the tomato test can work for edge testing, but really it just means you can cut a tomato and or are headed in the right direction with sharpness.

What your question says, is you have stopped circling and are descending into the abyss…

Wooden knife video

Like @gssixgun advised use a DE blade to gage your HHT but I use an old badger shave brush for the hair instead of what’s in the hairbrush

descending into the abyss…

Yep, thats me. I got to quit thinking about these thing so deeply.
Its just sharpening, right?