Thread: The Dilucot and the Hanging Hair Test

Hello all,

I'm a new straight razor user. I have a Dovo 5/8 horn. Bought it in Belgium and it stated shave ready, i found it got rather dull after some beginner shaves and wrong stropping, so i bought a coticule and tried the dilucot method as shown on the coticule homepage.

I honed and honed and hond, and managed to get a halfway decent shave at some point, however I know that there's still much improvement that can be made, I just don't know how.

For example, I never ever passed the HHT, not after bevel setting, not after polishing, nor stropping, it won't cut a hanging hair, not even catch it or split it.

It might be that I hone the wrong way, for example it often arrives that after diluting the slurry, the razor passing over the stone makes a shrill noise (like scratching over a chalkboard and I don't think that's normal, or is it?

I also keep having trouble to keep the blade flat on the hone, any suggestions on how to keep it flat at all times?

I'd really like to pass that darned HHT, and I won't quit till i get it, but it would be nice to see some improvement (at least catch the hair).

Do you guys always pass the HHT when honing dilucot on a coticule?

Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by Absinthe

It might be that I hone the wrong way, for example it often arrives that after diluting the slurry, the razor passing over the stone makes a shrill noise (like scratching over a chalkboard and I don't think that's normal, or is it?

I also keep having trouble to keep the blade flat on the hone, any suggestions on how to keep it flat at all times?

These two things go together. That scratching noise you are describing sounds like you are lifting the spine and digging the edge of the razor into the hone, which will make it very dull.

I would not recommend a coticule to new honer; learning to use slurry is very difficult.

Given the likely damage to the edge at this point, I would highly recommend you send the razor out to have it rehoned.

Well, your solution is simple.

Learn to shave and strop with a straight first, then learn to hone.

Hanging hair test is different with each hair. If it is not passing, try different hair. Or stop doing the test alltogether. It is a nice trick, but useless.

Try shaving a part of your arm to test for sharpness.

The ultimate test is the shave, but if you have not learned to shave and are still learning, then you will NOT know if it is technique, or dull razor.

Have the razor honed by a pro until you have your technique down.

.

Practice.
Practice.
Oh, and practice.

If you are unable to keep the blade flat on the hone, then you are chewing up the edge when the blade is only touching one point on the hone. The only way that you will be able to accomplish a decent honing job will be when you can keep the blade flat on the hone.

If you are going to try your hand at honing, as a beginner, you should probably have more than one razor. One honed by a pro to compare your results with.

As already stated, learning to hone on a coticule is probably not the best way. I started with a full set of naniwa super stones and they basically made learning to hone easy.

Welcome to SRP. There are a lot of variables to the HHT. If you go to the SRP Wiki here you'll find the beginner's guide, a good place to start, and further in the honing section. The tests that are helpful in gaging progress in honing are explained to some extent in there. The TNT in bevel setting only, not to be repeated once passed and the TPT, which you can continue with as you progress.

The TPT has to be learned over time. If you have a known shave ready edge or a new DE blade that will be helpful in learning the feel of a sharp blade as opposed to a dull or lesser edge. There are degrees of sharpness that can be felt with an educated thumb pad IME.

I would advise you to forget about HHT for now. Focus on getting a comfortable shaving edge and return to the HHT at a later date after you are more experienced with your honing. As far as keeping the razor flat, take a black marker and paint the cutting edge. Do a few strokes and see if your stroke is removing the marker from the bevel. You may have to modify your stroke to achieve full contact.

That is also addressed in the Wiki. Learning how much pressure to use, how many strokes and the like comes with time and practice. As Randy and Glen frequently point out, torquing the blade so that the focus of pressure is more on the bevel than the spine is preferable.

Why you aren't keeping the blade flat on the hone is hard to say without seeing what it is you're doing real time. Watching some honing videos, also available in the SRP Wiki, may be helpful.

The coticule can be a tough stone to learn on, especially if you're starting from square one, setting bevels and the like. It can be done but it is probably a bit tougher than beginning with something synthetic like a set of variable grit Norton waterstones.

Diluting your slurry more as you go might also be helpful if you're starting out with a thick mix. Slurry removes metal more efficiently but can have a dulling effect on the edge at the same time. That is where the diluting comes in. Knowing when and how much is learned from trial and error.

A couple of things:

1. Welcome to SRP!
2. You shouldn't have started over from scratch using the dilucot method
3. If it came shaving sharp, you should have just done 30-40 laps on water only with no pressure, and that would have almost certainly brought the edge back.
4. Since your dilucot attempt failed, I'd bail out and do a unicot
5. HHT is not useless, and it's not a parlor trick... IF you calibrate it to something that's meaningful to you (ie, take a razor that you know shaves well, and play with the test and a consistent hair source so you can make it meaningful to you)

This is the last big discussion on the HHT we had on here... there are many more. This might help a bit a ton of opinions in that thread

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...-talk-hht.html

If by a shrill noise you mean the razor sounds like a blunt drill bit on hard steel.
it possibly has not been tempered & is excessively hard. If that is so you will find the edge is prone to chipping.

Wow wow wow! Thanks a lot for all your quick responses!

I forgot to say, I went through the dilucot because I had previously nicked the blade (don't know how it happened) so a chip was missing. I breadknifed it to start with and then honed on thick slurry. The shrill noise only appeared after the slurry was very diluted already. I'll keep on trying and keep you posted on my progress!

Thanks again!