Thread: My uncle the barber and TNT

As the title suggest this will be about my uncle and of course honing. I was over at his house for the holiday and showed him one of my razors. He began what looked like a TNT. He emphatically stated that. "It ain't right." Meaning that the edge was not right. He went of to describe that the edge should have 'teeth' that would cut the hair. He also explained that when you test your edge with a nail the edge should catch. At least the way I understand it, the edge should cut into the nail but pass through it smoothly. Correct?

Basically, I did not want to start an argument with my Uncle on Christmas Eve about the usefulness of the TNT. I did imply that I could shave with the razor just fine. Anyway, I know my edges are far from perfect but just trying to make sense of the discussion with my uncle. Any info would be helpful. Thanks. Btw, I am not trying to burn my uncle either. I respect his knowledge. I know he learned from seeing and being taught by other barbers. I also have read the WIKI on the various test.

Hi, and happy new year! If your uncle did a TNT on your blade, your blade is not shave ready now, even if it was. Ask me how I know! But your uncle is right (if I understood correctly). When you run the edge on your nail, the edge should dig in, but keep on sliding without skipping or catching, some kind of an even smooth resistant thru out the edge. That's how I know that my bevel has formed. After the test you need to reestablish the bevel with very few strokes and move to polishing. If you do it on a shave ready blade, like I did, you would send the edge back to bevel setting honing. Double O

Double O, Happy New Year to you too! I think I should clarify. I inferred from my uncle that the razor should catch and not want to let go. So I assumed he meant that the blade would not smoothly pass through the nail. He checked the edge at the heel the middle and the toe looking for it to 'grab'. Of course my uncle was hitting the sauce at the time.

Also the teeth theory is old school, it was believe (I think), that the edge needed some kind of microscopic serration in order to cut hair smoothly. Under Microscope you can see that it isn't serration but more like very fine scratch pattern on the side of the edge.

Originally Posted by Mephisto

Double O, Happy New Year to you too! I think I should clarify. I inferred from my uncle that the razor should catch and not want to let go. So I assumed he meant that the blade would not smoothly pass through the nail. He checked the edge at the heel the middle and the toe looking for it to 'grab'. Of course my uncle was hitting the sauce at the time.

Well, yes it feels like a grab, that you need to keep coaxing for the edge to move along the nail. The feeling of the edge passing thru the nail, most be smooth and not toothie or skipy.

On a moistened thumb nail, if the razor glides across the surface without resistance it is dull. If it has inconsistent resistance it needs more on the bevel setting. If it has resistance but feels rough in spots it probably has micro chips. When the resistance is smoothly consistent from heel to point , feels like, with just the weight of the blade, it could cut on through the nail, as you pull it across, it is 'ready.' At that point I do another 10 round trips on the 1k, just to offset any degradation from the TNT, and move on up.

I've seen many barbers, when I talked razors with them, grab theirs, or mine, and do a TNT. It is just what those old guys did back then I guess. IMHO it won't necessarily ruin the edge. IOW it would probably still shave. Those guys .... again IMHO ..... didn't want scary sharp edges , like a Feather DE, on their straights. They were looking for an edge that worked but was reasonably 'safe.'

Btw, I went back to a bevel reset too. When I handed my uncle the razor I about sh!! myself when he did the TNT. Inside I was having a conversation with myself about having to reset the bevel or do a pyramid.

I'm currently in barber school, and my two head instructors are in their late sixties and late eighties, respectively. Anyway, the TNT is the only method that these two gentlemen will use to test the edge of a razor. I've tried showing them the TPT, which I personally have the most success with, but they don't like it-- it must just be an old school barber thing.

Anyway, DoubleO explained exactly what I look for in a TNT, and how I use it. I personally never do the TNT past the point of bevel setting, after that, it's TPT then the shave test. Hope this helps.

There you go, Jimmy explained it better than I did! Thanks Jimmy! And Happy new year, from San Pedro Sula, Honduras! Double O

Originally Posted by chay2K

I'm currently in barber school, and my two head instructors are in their late sixties and late eighties, respectively. Anyway, the TNT is the only method that these two gentlemen will use to test the edge of a razor. I've tried showing them the TPT, which I personally have the most success with, but they don't like it-- it must just be an old school barber thing.

Anyway, DoubleO explained exactly what I look for in a TNT, and how I use it. I personally never do the TNT past the point of bevel setting, after that, it's TPT then the shave test. Hope this helps.

This is very true, ive read barbers manual from the US, France and Uk, and all the description in honing use the TNT. Never even met a barbers manual that talks about bevel setting just refreshing the edge.