Can a Pakistan razor ever pass HHT?

I've been trying to learning how to hone. I have a 4k/8k norton that I lapped with a DMT D8C. To practice with I have been useing these Pakistan razors that I buy down the street for $2.50 each. I can get them to pass the wet thumbnail test and I mean pass it really well. like the whole length of the blade digs in. but I can't get one to pass the hanging hair test. Do I need to go to 12k to pass hht or is it even possible with a Pakistan POS?

Also whats the best 12k for the money and where to get it? I am going to buy one when I have the extra money. but am very unsure of what to get.

Thanks for the help.

Pakistani razors are said to be much softer than what we'd consider properly heat treated steel.
As such it will never take a good edge, and I doubt you can get it to pass the HHT.

Learning razor honing on a pakistani is like learning to become a doctor by using one of those plastic toy sets: you can go through the motions but it won't be real.

I don't know where you can buy a 12 K stone. Woodworking tools, supplies, plans, projects, accessories, articles and more - Woodcraft.com perhaps.
If you'd use a coticule I still recommed howard at The Perfect Edge
coticules are ideal high grit finishers, and relatively cheap as finishers go.

But the HHT does not really work on coticules. At least that's my experience. The 8K norton leaves a scratch pattern that grabs the hair and cuts it. the coticule erases those scratches, making the edge smoother, but also making the HHT useless.

And finally, the HHT itself is not the judge of an edge. Only the shavetest is. So rather than honing with the HHT in mind, you should also shave a bit of your face to experience what is happening to your edge.
When I was still new to honing I'd often go back and forth between my hone and the bathroom in order to know when the razor was sharp.

Classicshaving.com carry a 12 K Chinese natural hone.
The HHT never worked for me, not even on a Lynn honed razor. If you have thin hairs they just bend. I use the arm hair test which is for me the most predictive of a good shave.

And yes: my left arm is BBS :), as I have blond hairs nobody notices. Now you can work out whether I am left or right handed.

Just an answer to the OP,
Yes, a Pakistani razor can be made to pass the HHT, or at least mine did. One of my first straights was a SIMCO Pakistani razor which I worked on relentlessly with a Spyderco triangle sharpmaker and a barber hone when I was first learning, and it did indeed pass the HHT, and would even shave decently for about 1/2 of one pass, but the fun was always short lived.
No guarantees your particular Pakistani razor will pass the test, either. You already have the razor, however, might as well keep trying? I don't recall getting it to do to well with the HHT until after I'd stropped it, but it has been a few years since I saw that razor.

John P.

If God smiles upon you!

From what I've read any razor may or may not pass the hht, most will.

you can probably with enough precice work and some luck get a paki to pass the hht, but they'll never pass the shave test, 1/4 of the way through the shave the edge is gone as it's a soft metal.


thinking on it, the hht would probably be enough to drop it below shave quality.

Thanks everyone. I just wanted to make sure it was the razor and not me. I did try shaving with it lastnight. Man what a joke. But it did cut hair just not for very long.

Bruno you make perfect sense when you say "you can go through the motions but it wont be real". I am currently looking for a worthy razor to hone. I dont think my Lynn honed razor will ever go dull. I shave with it everyday and strop as recommend and it shaves like the day I got it. If not slightly better.

I do feel more confident about honeing now though.

Thanks again.

I know this is only my 2 cents... but i have been trying to hone one as well for like 3 days... now i'm a total newb when it comes to honing so i'm nothing in the area of expert.. but i never got it to pass HHT. I got it to pass the TNT and it was sharp - even sharp enough to cut hair.. but not on the whole blade.... not until I stropped it on some .5 micron paste... like 20 passes then like 20 passes on the smooth leather - it passed the HHT... hmm how to be 'delicate' with this.... lol none, anyway I couldnt get it to cut my 'silky smooth' hair from my head so I cut off a piece of hair from around my nipple :D and that worked... it was a thicker follicle and so it was chopped in twine more easily. lol

never tried to shave with it so I dont know about how well it'll keep the edge.

... my advice... I just got a shave ready razor - and the metal... you can feel the weight in it compared to the pakastani pos... find real metal and hone that ;) that's my advice i'm giving to myself too.

Well, if a Sanguine Cool Cut is Paki made then yes, it can be done as mine passes the HHT and gives me a decent shave.

Although I think that is may be Chinese made instead as there appear to be Chinese characters on the inside of the scales.