Thread: Loosing hht as hone gets finer

Haha, I kinda feel like a caveman with the way I do things . I just hone until it shaves forearm hair (the underside of the forearm that has the really fine hairs) as smoothly and comfortably as I want it on my face, then go test shave.

Funny how many different methods will lead to the same great edge.

Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge

Haha, I kinda feel like a caveman with the way I do things . I just hone until it shaves forearm hair

Don't feel like the lone stranger there Russel, I always have a bald left forearm....

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Don't feel like the lone stranger there Russel, I always have a bald left forearm....

+ 1 I am forced to use my right leg now.

I wouldn't put too much stock in the HHT. I have a TI that never passes that test after being honed and stropped properly yet gives the best velvety smooth shave I've ever had.

I think the HHT has too many variables (hair thickness, moisture content, etc) and only true test is to shave and see how it feels. And don't be discouraged if it doesn't pass the shave test...I've got one razor that sometimes takes 2 or 3 trys before I like the way it shaves.

Good point i personaly think i get a bit obsessed with the hht. I usauly find tpt if passes is normaly a good enough indicator I'll stick to that and just test shave.

My personal view is the HHT is only of value after you calibrate it with your shaving results. A blade that passes MY HHT, may not pass yours..... hair differs from gent to gent as does the method of testing. For me, I don't get to carried away with it, but I do use it to tell me where I'm at in honing and no, I don't do it properly... I just pass the blade over my head or use my mustache and based on how it catches or tugs I can tell exactly what I need to do to get it to where I want that edge to be.... for me. Hey... my mustache needs regular trimming anyway!

Kaptain "Mustache regularly, top of head.... uhmmm quite rarely anymore" Zero

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

My personal view is the HHT is only of value after you calibrate it with your shaving results. A blade that passes MY HHT, may not pass yours..... hair differs from gent to gent as does the method of testing. For me, I don't get to carried away with it, but I do use it to tell me where I'm at in honing and no, I don't do it properly... I just pass the blade over my head or use my mustache and based on how it catches or tugs I can tell exactly what I need to do to get it to where I want that edge to be.... for me. Hey... my mustache needs regular trimming anyway!

Kaptain "Mustache regularly, top of head.... uhmmm quite rarely anymore" Zero

Can any of the true honemeisters chime in here and answer a question that's puzzled me for years.

Since no two people have the same kind of hair and some of us are cursed with hair that can't produce a true HHT is there ANY other substance that offers consistency and repeatibility that can be substituted for hair?

I'm down to my last few wild bavarian yak pubic hairs that I use for testing the sharpness of my razors and am starting to panic.

I'm a newbie but I think the best way to test the sharpness is to learn what a sharp razor feels like on the thumb test and always try to recreate the feeling.

Originally Posted by napoleon

I'm a newbie but I think the best way to test the sharpness is to learn what a sharp razor feels like on the thumb test and always try to recreate the feeling.

Talking about a true subjective test...
I use the TPT, probably even more often than I do the HHT.
Nevertheless it annoys me a bit, that the HHT is by some (that don't use it?) continuously dismissed as neat trick, great to impress friends on parties, but inapt as a true sharpness test.

Of course, one needs to learn how to read the HHT, and find some way of personal calibration with it. This is much the same as with the TPT.
But in the end, a HHT tells you how easily a razor will cut a hair. If done properly, it 'll even tell you how well a razor can sever a grease-free, well moistened hair. That is the closest thing to actual shaving I can think of, and for my shaving, there is a solid analogy between how I read the results of my HHT and how well that razor performs during my shave.

Furthemore, IF the hair is clean -meaning not just pulled out of a scalp that was washed 12 hours earlier, but taken from a strand that was harvested immediately after a thorough shampooing-, and IF the hair is remoistened a bit, many of you would be surprised how little difference there is performance-wise between various hairtypes.

Bart.