Thread: To HHT or to not HHT? That is the poll...

You guys know my vote

Again, when a new person enters the group and feels that they won't get a good shave with a razor just because the HHT fails, we have created anguish for that person that doesn't need to be there. If it works for you as an idicator, Great.

A shave will usually tell you if not sharp enough, how close to being there or if over honed. I realize that you guys hone a lot of razors and may feel the need for these tests. That is good when they work for you. If I use any test, I like Glen's test that when a razor will shave arm hair off the 4K, it's ready to go to the 8K and polishing stages. Even with this test, I usually keep it to when I'm doing old ebay type razors that need a lot of work.

So if a razor won't pass a HHT, does that mean back to the hone until it does?? That could end up losing a lot of metal and time.

This is such a personal sport.......gotta love it

Lynn

ChrisL, Glen, and others said what I would say.

That if you self-calibrate it, it can be a very good indicator of razor readiness.

The difference in shave qaulity between a "pinging" HHT and a ninja silent HHT is the difference between a not so great shave and a great one.

For me, anyhow.

After the shave with the silent HHT razor, perhaps it may have left a weeper or two? Or felt a touch harsh? Fine....I can then hit up the canvas to dial in the comfort level. But if it was a "pinger" HHT razor, the comfort can't be dialed in without further edge work to make it pass the silent test.

I want a test that will tell me BEFORE the shave what I can expect. If I have to shave with the razor to see if it is ready, then that's a crapshoot, and perhaps a waste of what could have been a nice shave!


Yes, perhaps there are razors that don't pass the HHT test that give a nice shave.




But you won't find them in MY shave den!

Originally Posted by gssixgun

[ Now I can standardize my HHT, but it only means something to me....]

Exactly, Glen. I would never say that HHT is the only way to go and if others aren't using it then they're not honing their razors correctly. I've standardized the HHT using my hair for MY razors. It works for me and very well. Others have different methods that work for them. How could I tell them that my way was better than theirs?

Chris L

Originally Posted by xman

Well, I'm going to disagree with Glen. I don't care whether HHT works for everyone. It works for me. In the confines of my parameters, it is reliable and I voted so. YMMV.

X

I do believe that you are agreeing with me X

rant_on:
"Not sure. Sometimes works and sometimes not" is IMO equal to "No, I do not believe it's a reliable measure."
rant_off

i have recently realized that i have more or less been using a modified HHT and not known it. i hold the hair with my left and try to cut it about 7-10mm away from my fingers. this is similar to when people talk about running a blade on their arm with the edge about 2 spine widths above the skin and having it pop hairs. so i really haven't been doing it the right way but it does give me consistent results. i do note when there is a ping noise or it takes some effort for it to pop the hair that it isn't right yet. i haven't mastered the TPT test yet as far as getting consistent measuring results though so my HHT works for now.

i am not stubborn in wanting to stick to one way or the other though. ease of use and consistency of result is all i care about. i feel that if a blade won't cut a hair using my way of the HHT then it probably isn't sharp, but beuond that it is trial and error to get familiar with things just like anything else.

BUT!!!! i am in no way an expert and don't want anyone on here who is (and there are quite a few on here) to think that i think i know everything. i read a lot of post on here and always try to apply what i read in them, and that is what i will be doing with this thread also.

I have found that a good shaving razor will pass the HHT.

A razor that passes HHT is not always a good shaving razor.

So... not a reliable indicator to me.

I'm really pleased with the feedback I've gotten from this poll/thread!!

Thank you all for participating. I know by starting a poll on the HHT I would be opening a can of worms, but am not surprised by the outcome so far. From everything I've read on the site so far, I thought it would be about 50-50 in terms of who uses and who doesn't. Although it's not half and half, there seems to be supporters of both sides.

This thread has given me a lot of fun reading!

Dave

Damn', seems like I missed most of the fun...

For me the HHT is a tool. I would never declare a blade shaveready, based on the HHT. Neither would I do so based on the TPT or the SAT (shave arm hair test). Shavereadiness can only be based on a shave, and THAT might be a personal observation, variable to skin- and beard type and personal shaving style. I am sure there are people happily shaving with razors that I would put aside as not sharp enough. (that doesn't turn those people into worse honers, but it might expose me as a worse shaver). There once was a thread started by a new member that had been shaving for half his life with a straight razor. He honed once a year and had never used a strop. And yet he was an avid and happy shaver, till he found SRP and (for a short moment) lost his self-confidence. I believe he ended up buying a strop, but I don't recall if he found it beneficial...

That said,
After I washed my youngest daughters hair, I took a pair of scissors and cut off about 2,5" of a strand of her hair. (She has long, pretty stiff hair, and she gladly contributed to the improvement of my honing results). I stored the dry, clean hair in a small box, that I keep in my hones drawer. There's enough for many years of honing. I find this important, for the sake of calibrating the test. Whenever I do a HHT, I wet my thumb and index finger, and run a hair through my pinched fingers. That hydrates the hair, and it surely influences the results. I have two uses for the HHT.

My main use is to check if a razor has a keen bevel at an early honing stage (DMT 1200 or Coticule with slurry). For some honing progressions, I find it important to aim for maximum keenness at this level. With a progression on fast synthetic hones, you might be able to make up for neglected keenness, but if using slow natural polishers, you might not. The first thing I notice at a bevel-correction stage, is that a razor starts to pass the SAT, but only later on, after a number of additional, ultra light passes, it'll start to pass a crude version of the HHT. Crude means that I have to drag the hair accross the razor a bit, before it pops. Prior to that, I can also hear the edge sing, as it is voiced like a violin string by the microscopical indentations in the hair shaft. If the hair passes, I know I 'm ready to move to the next hone.

My second use of the HHT, is when I finalize the edge. I usually get a popping HHT, without fumbling, off the finishing hone. Then I strop the blade on leather, for about 60 laps. I expect a distinct improovement, typically a more silent and swift HHT, after that. I believe this is caused by the formation of a fin or a micro-bur or whatever you might call it. If normal stropping doesn't provide me with a good fin, I file out a CrO pasted loom strop and do 10 laps, test again, repeat if necessary. If that doesn't give me the HHT-improvement I'm after, I will still test-shave, and almost certainly will find the blade shaveready, but just not a holy-grailish as I wished for. Rarily I go back immediately to the hones, cause I have found too many times before, that redoing the whole same exercise always yields the same results. I'll make a note in the razor's log and try a different approach on the next honing job. Maybe finish on a Nakayama instead of on a Coticule, maybe use a natural only progression, or a synthetics only, or some hybrid variation. Sometimes a microbevel.
I second ChisL's experiences. If my honing methods give me a completely silent HHT, with the hair simply falling down, without any tendency to jump away, I know the shave will not disappoint me.

Bart.

I've been shaving for the last two months on a razor that does not pass the HHT. I guess its a pity but I won't hold it against the blade.