Thread: pass the HHT with a 4K/8K, no strop?

I have a bunch of old razors in varying condition and I'm learning how to hone.

I've been reading the wiki and youtube-ing the hanging hair test. It seems like a magic trick. I do the other tests, the thumb tests, and I seem to be making progress. I can pop the hairs off of my arm fairly easily but I cant seem to do the hanging hair. It just lays on the blade and then I just pinch the ends under the spine and give it a little tug to cut it.

I have a 4K/8K Norton stone and no strop.

Is it possible to pass the test with my current equipment?

Thanks for any help

Mark

It is absolutely possible to do the HHT with your current equipment but a better question might be "is it possible with my hair?".

I myself have very fine hair and have a real hard time doing the HHT...even with a blade that Lynn has done. I never get a perfect test...the best I can do is a pop rather than a swish and then only after I've stropped the blade profusely.

Before I gave up on the HHT I elicited hair samples from friends and family until I found the right one that could perform this consistently...but be warned, you might get tired of those folks "protecting themselves from being scalped" every time you come around.

Originally Posted by markjm223

I have a bunch of old razors in varying condition and I'm learning how to hone.

I've been reading the wiki and youtube-ing the hanging hair test. It seems like a magic trick. I do the other tests, the thumb tests, and I seem to be making progress. I can pop the hairs off of my arm fairly easily but I cant seem to do the hanging hair. It just lays on the blade and then I just pinch the ends under the spine and give it a little tug to cut it.

I have a 4K/8K Norton stone and no strop.

Is it possible to pass the test with my current equipment?

Thanks for any help

Mark

Maybe. If you want to get the best shave you can out of your efforts you should get a good strop. It really does improve the edge and I don't think anyone would argue with that.

As far as the HHT goes I get it sometimes after honing and stropping. Sometimes I don't . I find that if the razor passes the TPT and further along pops arm or leg hair easily it will give me a close and comfortable shave ...... for my beard. YMMV.

I find i pass hht after stropping and like jimmy says get a good strop it makes a massive differance i my self have tm strops there exallant i have two. normally i get better hht after my bbw and yellow coti i use leg hair which is realy fine and it will pass hht. My chest hair is thicker if it does'nt pass hht on chest hair i rehone as i no i won't get a brill shave maybe will shave but not as well i find hht a good indicator.

Whether the blade pops the hair is of no real importance beyond a parlor trick.

What matters is how the hair reacts to blades you know shave well, and to blades that shave ok, etc. Observe this carefully, then when you hone a new blade you'll know how to interpret what the hair is telling you.

I use my armhairs for this test, and after awhile I learned how the hairs on the back of my hand react, how the ones on the underside of my arm midway up react, how the ones near the inside of my elbow react, etc react to the blade at different levels of sharpness, and different levels of smoothness. But this sort of experience does take some time to acquire.

(ok, truth be told there is this one patch of hair on my left arm that's about the size of a quarter that will reliably tell me if a blade will shave well or not. But the rest of the hairs on my arm are just liars.)

Originally Posted by mparker762

Whether the blade pops the hair is of no real importance beyond a parlor trick.

What matters is how the hair reacts to blades you know shave well, and to blades that shave ok, etc. Observe this carefully, then when you hone a new blade you'll know how to interpret what the hair is telling you.

I use my armhairs for this test, and after awhile I learned how the hairs on the back of my hand react, how the ones on the underside of my arm midway up react, how the ones near the inside of my elbow react, etc react to the blade at different levels of sharpness, and different levels of smoothness. But this sort of experience does take some time to acquire.

(ok, truth be told there is this one patch of hair on my left arm that's about the size of a quarter that will reliably tell me if a blade will shave well or not. But the rest of the hairs on my arm are just liars.)

So many tests I'm almost out of arm hair on my left arm now....it's getting so I can't wear short sleeves...

I think one of the reasons Lynn never mentions popping hairs off of the arm is that if you hone a lot of razors pretty soon arm hair gets scarce. I went to the leg a long time ago and now I am relying on the TPT and the shave. It's working out fine.

for some reason i can't use the TPT reliably (probably just inexperience, i'll get it eventully), so do rely on the HHT. the key is like was already said to know the hair you are cutting. for me i know that the thicker hairs from the top of my head are the same as my beard. once i am done with a blade it will pass the HHT with any hair, but i use the thicker ones for the test off the 4k. my g/f has fine hair so it doesn't work for my mid honing test, but its fine for a pre shave test.

also, be aware of how the blade cuts the hair during the HHT. if it pops it with a little pull and maybe some ping sound then its not ready and for me is usually coming off the 4k. if it glides thru the hair effortlessly then you are probably closer to being in business. i also try to cut the hair about 1cm from where i am holding it so my test isn't really a HHT i guess.

you need a strop for sure. after honing i do at least 100 laps on the strop. not to say this is a rule for all but it gets me the smoothest edge which means a smooth shave. in the end i think everyone agrees that the shave test is the only one that really matters.