Thread: Long time reader, First time honer

Please note that the HHT is also harder to pass if you have thinner hair (at least I've found this to be true since my razors pass the HHT wit one if my girlfriends hairs easily but one of mine only very rarely one the first try.

Well, I went back at it today trying to get a sharper edge and I'm actually pretty impressed/surprised at how much sharper I got it. I did get it to cut the hanging hair this time around. The real test will be tonight when I actually shave with it.

Great to hear. I often find that the first pyramid tells me what I really need to do to get the shaving edge, eg. more 4k less pressure on the 8k ... whatever. Just a reminder to prep your beard and face very well. First straight shaves can be intense on your face. Good luck!

X

If you guys are leaving the root of the hair hanging out in order to pass the hanging hair test, you're cheating yourself in the test. A razor doesn't have to be well honed to pass the test that way and a well honed razor will pass the test with the natural tip of the hair hanging. My experience has been that a razor may still shave OK if it won't pass this test, but it won't shave at it's best until it can. A razor can pass the test with the root hanging out and shave very badly, indeed.

I want to add again it is the shave that is the real test!!

Originally Posted by PapaBull

If you guys are leaving the root of the hair hanging out in order to pass the hanging hair test, you're cheating yourself in the test. A razor doesn't have to be well honed to pass the test that way and a well honed razor will pass the test with the natural tip of the hair hanging. My experience has been that a razor may still shave OK if it won't pass this test, but it won't shave at it's best until it can. A razor can pass the test with the root hanging out and shave very badly, indeed.

Some of us have hairs which are quite fine and almost never pass the HHT without the root hanging out even after stropping. Also, it's not the FACT that the razor passes the HHT, but HOW it performs the test. If the hair is reluctant to pass, it will be reluctant to give good details.

X

Xman, the problem with the "roots out" hanging hair test is that it defeats the very purpose of the hanging hair test. A hair has scales on it and your razor MUST cleanly grab and cut that hair with the root held firmly by your skin in order to give you a good shave. If the tips were anchored by your skin and the root hangning out of your face, then it would be a different thing, entirely.

When a razor can very, very easily bite into the hair without the aid of scales stopping and forcing it to dig in, it will shave easily and cleanly. We weant a sharp razor to immediately bite the hair WITH the grain of the scale as close to the skin as possible with the least amount of "sliding" and the least resistance as it cuts. I've got some very fine arm hair but a truly sharp razor will still cleanly cut the tips of that hair off without pulling, popping or having to touch the skin.

Here's a closeup of a hair and you can see what I mean by the scales and why we want a blade that will cut and not slide along them. You'll also note that if you pinch a hair between thumb and forefinger of your right hand AND your left hand and pull, the root will stay in your hand and the tip will be very difficult to hang onto because the barbs go the other way.

But...... how sharp a raor really needs to be depends entirely on shaving expectations. I expect a lot out of my razors. If it won't shave closely against the grain on the first pass with minimum face prep, the razor isn't keen enough, in my opinion. To me, a truly great shave leaves the face so smooth that you can't feel any stubble or "grit" no matter which direction you move your fingertips - or a light stroke with a paper towel. But I get a bit obsessive about it, admittedly.

Papa Bull

That is some photo.. Great for your explaination. But I don't see how cutting across a scale will matter whether you hold from base or tip.

Rich, the scales grow out - on this image, the root would be at the bottom. If you hold the hair by the tip, the scale grabs the blade immediately and you cut it and it doesn't require a particularly sharp razor to do that. Holding it by the root, the razor will slide across the scales like water runs off a shingled roof if it isn't VERY keen - and that's closer to what the razor will have to do on your face in order to give you a clean, comfortable shave, too. If the blade slides across those protective scales isnstead of immediately biting, then it's not going to give you a very close shave. It will eventually grab with enough pressure, but the hair will then be at a steep angle, which means it will have to cut the hair on an angle - a longer section of cut with a duller razor than one that would cut cleanly as the hair exits the follicle.

Ok that makes sense to me. Good explaination. Thanks