OK, so I took another shot at sharpening the Hess today. I *very lightly* bread knifed the micro chips out of the edge with my Chinese 12k.
I then reset the bevel with 15 micron 3M film, using the very most gentle pressure I could. I hadn't taken much of the bevel out with the 12k, so this didn't take very long. About 40 laps, and it passed the TNT along the entire blade, with ZERO Microchips! Yay!
I then went to 5 micron 3M film. Again, using the most gentle passes I could. I did this until it was passing the HHT and shaving arm hair above skiin level. I didn't count, but I'd say around 100 laps. Again, no microchips!
When I ordered my 3M films, the place was out of 3 micron film, so I had to jump from the 5 micron film all the way down to 1 micron. Yeesh. It is very, very difficult to tell when 1 micron film is worn out, so I did 100 laps on one piece, replaced it, then did another 100 laps on the second piece. And yes, I was careful about "overhoning"; I stopped honing as soon as the scratch marks from the 5 micron film were gone. Plus I think you could hone for a year straight on one micron without overhoning.
The 1 Micron film was my final stop. I decided against the 12k chinese for fear of microchipping, and didn't feel like creating any sort of rounded edge from the diamond pastes on the paddle strop.
Under the microscope, the edge looks amazing. There are no visible scratch marks at 100x, and the edge is arrow straight. Narry a chip to be seen.
Guys, this is *the* sharpest blade I've ever seen. Whenever I've gotten a blade to do the HHT, there's usually a bit of a "catch" feeling, and a bit of a "ping" from the blade as the hair is cut. Not this time. The hair just lays over the blade like it had it's back broken. No catch, no noise, nothing. I know the HHT is not the end all/be all of sharpness tests, but for me to get the HHT to this level is a break through, especially since the edge looks so smooooooth. Often times, it seems that the HHT is passed because of a rough edge that snags, holds, then cuts the hanging hair. This results in a pulling, tugging shave, which is exactly what happened to me last night with this same razor. But seeing an HHT like this, makes me think that the HHT might be a valid test, if the "Pass" truly is that... a "pass", and not a ragged edge catching the hair and pinging the blade.
I can shave the very finest of arm hair with zero pressure with this edge.
If this doesn't pass the shave test, I'm gonna be at a total loss...