Thread: Why HHT is important or is not?

Looks like you got plenty of hair to me !

Thats funny))

Originally Posted by proximus26

... And last thing…. There is so d**n much more to learn about straight razor that I`m starting getting headache...

If guys shaved with straight razors in homes heated only by a pot bellied stove, and did well, then you also can get good results with just rudimentary knowledge. Experience shaving... required! Rocket science knowledge... fun in acquiring, but optional.

I read this post a couple of times with a couple of different interpretations and answers.

Just because they didn't know what a rocket was they were not idiots. They had confidence in themselves and their abilities. Not recklessness but confidence. That is what is missing in the "Modern Man".

Tim

Originally Posted by LarryAndro

If guys shaved with straight razors in homes heated only by a pot bellied stove, and did well, then you also can get good results with just rudimentary knowledge. Experience shaving... required! Rocket science knowledge... fun in acquiring, but optional.

This statement is very interesting to me: I would like to say that the key to honing for most guys is just being patient. The hones are high grit and they take, and you should let them, plenty of time. When you get up to HHT it's the same game, but with a strop. And THAT game is really slow. But over time the edge gets really smooth and really sharp."

AFDavis11 do you think if I will spent more time with high grit hones I could perform HHT successfully? For long time I was thinking how long should I take to hone my razor on high grit. I can tell for fact that most of my razor I work now and shave with are mostly higher carbon steel but one time I have prepared SS razor for friend of my. Man ohhh man… this was long, long journey. I had to take a lot of time to even set bevel (and bevel was wrong as I think knife expert try to hone this razor) and finish blade. In fact I cut myself with this blade and I wasn`t sure why. It was really, really sharp and smooth razor . After when I read your statement I have realized that under assumption (which point #1 is correct) that this is SS it took much longer to polish blade which could lead to that blade was better prepared that my others razors. Does it make sense to you? It is like in old Czech republic… they try to mix and improve fertilizer and they come up with C4. Maybe this assumption lead me also to extended time spend with blade and I had went beyond my usual time which I spent polishing blade. Hmmm… Yesterday I finished one Marx&Co blade. I will do test and go back to C12K and also extend my usual #of passes on strop by 3. Wondering what will be the result of this test.

I have to agree that the hair makes quite a difference.

My hair is clippered short so I take hair from my wife's hair brush which my daughter also uses.

My wife's hair will catch and split (HHT2) on an edge that is a little rough and tuggy while shaving but a silent fall (HHT5) is almost never achieved and pop (HHT4) is almost always an awesome shave.

However

My daughters finer hair won't do a (HHT2) unless the edge is pretty much there and (HHT5) is easy to get but the edge may not be great.

So my wife's hair gives a much greater scale, having calibrated that I know how to read the test.

Proximus,

The razor "performs" a HHT against every hair it comes in contact with. Calibrated accurately, as Glen mentioned is critical. Razors shave really well before they get to HHT-5, but most people have a hard time achieving it on a stone. Glen can do it; Lynn can do it too. But I think it's better to just shave and let the strop work on the edge for a while. The same principles that apply to hones and their grits apply to a strop. The strop, used correctly, can both tear an edge and can sharpen an edge, smoothing it too. But you've got to go slow, be gentle at first, and be patient. The results take time such that when you try to strive for results you don't see them. With a hone you can see the results quickly. The average person; with an average stone, assuming a very high quality steel, will achieve a HHT better, and slowly progress up it's "scale" more effectively, with a strop.

Wow,

Looks like Glen and Lynn can show and teach as a lot... I hope we will have more meets to exchange and learn more about straight razors. For now I can say only one thing - "I`m challenging myself to at least get successful HHT3 for start". We will see if I can achieve it. On the side note I can say that I have spent more time and honed Marx&CO razor again. I have noticed when I spent more time on higher grit that blade behave quite differently. Checking test using arm hair is different what I seen before. Cutting hairs seems to not resist at all. Maybe this is because good steel performance but even take this factor under consideration and I have to say, that more time spend on high grit brings better results. Now I`m just wondering when I should switch to higher grit.

Anyway it was very interesting to hear from master in regards my question. Thank you everyone for answers and help!

Rhetorical question: What good is any test, HHT or otherwise, if you don't know how to shave properly? Now, I am not saying anyone here is in that category (although some might be), but what I do know is that the shaves I was giving myself with a straight even 3 years ago are nothing compared to what I can do today. Everything ratchets up and everything is interrelated: your honing improves which in turn allows your shaving to improve which in turn sets the foundation for improved honing which....bla bla bla....

**Warning!! General Rant Ahead. In no way is this rant directed at anyone in particular, and I apologize to the OP in advance, but here seems as good a place as any to speak my mind **

I think a lot of guys get caught up in the minutiae here (and lets face it, you cannot get more minute than arbitrary, categorical gradations of hair/edge interactions) and forget that it is actually about shaving your face (and maybe other parts). It is rather a simple thing, really: razors are tools with which to shave, nothing more and nothing less. So shave with them. If they don't shave well, do something to make them shave better.

HHTs, thumbnails, wafting, tunneling microscopes...these are all interesting things for sure, but none of them are a substitute for experience. Worrying about these things before gaining a lot of shaving experience is like worrying about heel and toe downshifiting before you know how to actually drive a car. There are no short cuts. Glen and Lynn (etc) don't know so much because they have spent all their time mastering HHTs 1.002-36.2341 and talking bollocks (although they both can talk bollocks ). They know so much because they are, every day, out there using straights. I suggest the rest of us should follow their lead.

James.

Obviously the best test is the shave test but not everyone likes testing razors on their faces. I'd like to know the sharpness (HHT) and smoothness (edge magnified) of the edge prior to shaving.