Thread: How to tell if it is honed enough. Razor is splitting single hair.

Unfortunatley, New guys put way too much stock in HHT. Take guys like Lynn and Glen. They'd be bald honemeister's by now if they used the HHT to test ever razor they honed. I posted the Dovo video before. At the factory, they have synthetic test hair they use, so each and every hair is standard. Like Hi Bud Gl said, each and every hair is different, even on different parts of our body. Learn the Tpt, and finally, just shave with it....
That's the best test...Don't worry about "Spliting Hairs"

Originally Posted by capirucho

Hi all,

I have been working on a CV Heljestrand
..snip...
As I pulled down, a "peeling" effect occured where the razor seemed to make 1 strand of
hair into 2 as I pulled the strand across the blade.

Has anyone seen this happen and does that mean my razor is sharp enough?

I have seen this and it tells me that it is ready to shave test.

I have also seen it from a burr. Since a burr is fragile the shave degrades
very quickly and lots of nicks. A burr can also tell you that the bevel is coming
together and it is time for light finish hone strokes with a much finer hone.

In my experience, an Arkansas stone is famous for building up a burr
what you want for a razor is the 'pre burr' condition if you do
not have a barber hone or other finisher to switch to.
Soft Arkansas stones are not the best choice for a razor
but some folk with experience and a light touch do fine.
I would shop for a Norton 4K/8K combo... or if you wish to
stay with Arkansas hones look for a hard black or translucent
Arky.

Even though I know that every comment about the HHT inevitably starts a general HHT discussion like this one has become, remember that my only purpose in starting this thread was to mention an alternative way of holding hair during the HHT.

You guys have fun though...

If the hair splits & doesn't cut you're close but no cigar... However stropping may do the trick

Originally Posted by onimaru55

If the hair splits & doesn't cut you're close but no cigar... However stropping may do the trick

_______________________________

Onimaru makes a good point about stropping. I have taken a razor that didn't want to shave and stropped on linen and then on a good leather strop with a good amount of draw and the blade shaved quite nicely. Stropping is just as important as honing.

I have never been succesfull with the HHT. I tried my hair, my wife's, the cat's. It just won't happen. Just to be fair, I have blades honed by Glen, Lynn and Sham, whom I hear may know a thing or two about this steel on stone thing.

Eventually I gave up on "tests" that are subjective and bought a set of loupes. Now I can look at an edge and I know what's going on. Whether you have a burr, and uneven bevel or a jagged edge you can see it. Maybe in time I'll learn some of them tests, but maybe I'll just spend time riding or play the guitar or shaving or something.

I'm not saying they can't be useful or learned, but for the noobs like me it's pretty rough to do something that has an uncertain outcome at the hands of experienced honers and interpret the results properly.

Just start shaving lol.

I've seen this happen quite a few times. On my hair it usually means things are Ok, but I usually dont see it until 8k+. I think it caused by the fact that the hair is usually being cut about an inch from where its being held at this stage, so the blade is cutting into a slight bend in the hair.

It usually isn't consistent, though, one hair will get split, but another will cut. From your post it looks like your talking about what happened with a single hair, once. For a blade to pass a HHT it needs to consistently cut hanging hairs, just not a single hair, one time.

Forget the HHT.
Just shave. -> Does it feel good? Yes or No...
It is as simple as that.

What Otto said. It really is that simple.

All the tests are used for is to gauge how an edge is progressing as you hone. It won't tell you what the shave is like, only shaving with it will do that!