Thread: What do you do if nothing will pass HHT

Originally Posted by nicknbleeding

(utopian) Im not blaming anyone who has honed for me. I have been battleing a Henckles. Feels super sharp then test shave and BLAH!!! Depressing because i havent found a test i can use while honing. It cuts my arm hair at skin level. Feels really sharp on my thumb. But fails when shaving.

Yeah, when I wrote that I was afraid you might think it was directed at you. It absolutely was not. I just used that as an example of how a beginner can mis-use the HHT. My point for you simply was to not worry about the HHT. I'd suggest you try to perfect your TPT instead. If you don't feel any improvement as you move up the hones, maybe your bevel is not fully set. That's by far the biggest problem for getting the hang of honing.

I agree with the common sentiment, the shave really is the only useful test but my question to most of the honers out there who do lot's 'O razors, how do you grow enough beard to shave test all those St8's????!!!! It seems to me that if you have a really stubern razor, you might run out of beard fairly quickly, wouldn't you???
Just a thought, may all your shaves be BBS!!

tinkersd of SRP!!

Originally Posted by tinkersd

[SIZE=3]I agree with the common sentiment, the shave really is the only useful test but my question to most of the honers out there who do lot's 'O razors, how do you grow enough beard to shave test all those St8's????!!!! It seems to me that if you have a really stubern razor, you might run out of beard fairly quickly, wouldn't you???

I lay out the razors and just do short strokes using the toe, the heel, and the middle for each razor doing both WTG and ATG strokes for each. I try to limit myself to 5 or 6 razors per shave. I'd love to watch Lynn do a shave test some time!

For a stubborn razor, meaning if I find one that doesn't shave right, I set it aside for re-honing; or I shave with it again after testing all the others so that I can get a better sense of what's wrong with it.

I just bought a new sportbike. It won't break 200mph. I still know that it is fast though.

I like doing the HHT but only because it is fun. As someone else said, it is a good parlor trick. The test I use, which works for me and has less variables than the HHT, after polishing the blade I run the blade over my lower leg, at about 3mm off the skin, or about half way the length of the hair. If I don't get tiny little pings and cut hairs on the blade, it is usually not there for shaving.

YMMV on this. I have just calibrated this test to suit myself. The HHT will always depend on the hair, where I hold it, etc, etc. My leg hair doesn't change much.

Originally Posted by nicknbleeding

So im still trying to learn to hone. Everyone says " Do the HHT" TPT. Ok so what do you do when All of your shave ready razors wont pop your arm hair. I think my arm hair is too fine. It just lays down as the blade passes. So if my sharpest shave ready razors wont do it then how can i test my honing?

shave ready blade not suppose to pop up the arm hairs.
shave test is the best test.
gl

Originally Posted by Utopian

I lay out the razors and just do short strokes using the toe, the heel, and the middle for each razor doing both WTG and ATG strokes for each. I try to limit myself to 5 or 6 razors per shave. I'd love to watch Lynn do a shave test some time!

For a stubborn razor, meaning if I find one that doesn't shave right, I set it aside for re-honing; or I shave with it again after testing all the others so that I can get a better sense of what's wrong with it.

+1 on "a presidential shave".

It works at a lot of levels.

nicknbleeding,

I had the same problem with the first razor I honed (my Dovo Best).

I was driven to distraction with it; finally I said sod it, I am going to shave with it regardless !

Guess what ? The razor shaved perfectly

As the previous posters have said, there is only one ultimate test

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

+1 on what Stu said. Can't add more to this

Originally Posted by Stubear

The shave test!

Seriously, thats the best way to see if a razor is both sharp and smooth.

Make sure you can shave arm hair at skin level off the 1k stone and then move up the grits, checking that you can shave arm hair at skin level after each stone. Once you come off your daily strop, test shave a very small patch of your face (no lather or anything) and see how the blade feels. Does it shave well? Does it pull or feel harsh on the skin?

If that test does well, lather up and do a complete shave and see how you go.

The HHT is really a parlour trick and is only any use when its been calibrated for your hair and you know what to look for using your hair.

My benchmarks are shaving arm hair at skin level off the 1k and being able to shave arm hair floating ~1mm above the skin off the 8k. I also use a loupe to watch the edge develop and I always make sure I can shave arm hair at skin level after each stone.

If you cant do that "1mm 8k" test I'd get an eye loupe, watch the edge develop using the loupe and rely on the test shave at the end to tell you how the edge is.

I always finish with a test shave of any razor I hone as thats really the only way to tell if you have a good edge. All the tests in the middle (HHT, TNT, TPT, arm hair tests etc...) just tell you how the edge is developing, but wont tell you how good the shave is.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

+1 on "a presidential shave".

It works at a lot of levels.

I have no idea what you mean.

What the heck is a presidential shave?