Thread: HHT on a new Dovo razor bought from SRD

Welcome to SRP.
Coming from SRD, this razor should have been professionally honed and shave ready. Not even stropping is necessary. The best test in this case should have been the shave test. You should be able to get a feeling of what a shave-ready razor is like. Future shaves will require stropping but leave all sharpness tests for later until you learn how to hone it.

I was in that same boat a little while ago.

I always kept checking for that HHT test that everyone was talking about and some of my straights passed it and some didn't but all still gave me great shaves.

So it was always frustrating for me so i used to go back and hit the stones all the time.

I then started honing wedge or near wedge type straights that used to drive me bananas as to hone as they could not even pass the test were they would cut arm hairs midway so i just put them on the side and gave up as they didn't even seem to be sharp by feeling them with my thumb.

Then one day i decided to shave with one of those wedges i thought were not sharp at all.

To my surprise i got the best BBS shave with them that i have ever gotten.

There was no tug pull or nothing,just like a hot knife going through butter.

I have never tried that HHT test any more and the only way i know if it is shave ready,it is how Gssixgun said is to try one side of your face going down and seeing if the beard is cut smooth and well.

That's it for me.

Bought my first razor from SRD recently and the first thing I did was practice stropping with it which was a big mistake. I should have shaved with it first just to know exactly what shave ready is and then try to get back to that point with stropping. Now, I'm constantly wondering if my stropping is doing any good or did I just dull it the first time I stropped. I may not find out until I send it back to SRD with my honing coupon...

Originally Posted by mainaman

The one thing you have done wrong that I can see is that you are expecting some crazy HHT , when you sad the razor gave you the best shave to date.

When I switched from Gillette Fusion to Shavette, I thought I was getting the best shave ever, so I guess everything is relative to the last best thing we have experienced in our lives... just saying...

Anyhow, for the time being I will concentrate on stropping and shaving and will get back to HHT when I hit the hones (I am planing to invest in a Coticule).
I am very grateful for all comments and advices, after all it is the experience sharing that keeps us from re-inventing the wheel. This new adventure keeps getting more exciting, and I am happy I gave it a try!

Originally Posted by Gotdzel

Hi Cros! I'm also in Dubai, thought I would introduce myself! Small world...

Hey Gotdzel! It is great to know I am not the only one on this forum who lives here)) Now there is officially a growing SR community in Dubai!

I always think of a test in two ways: 1. What is it's purpose?; 2. What's its fidelity to reality?

From the purpose perspective, in my opinion the purpose of the HHT is to give honers an idea of where the edge is before they test shave it. From that point of view it's not really something a user of a straight should care about but of course we all do It's a weird test because you can get a successful HHT on an edge that really shouldn't be shaving anyone as well as on a "good" edge. You can also get an unsuccessful HHT on a "good" edge. So you really need to know other bits of information for the HHT to be useful, and that information is often unknown to the end user but is known to the honer.

Second, fidelity to reality is quite important for any model-based test which is exactly what the HHT is. You don't shave by wafting your hair over the edge of the razor. Your beard whiskers are not head hairs, or dog hairs, or your wife's hairs etc. Your beard hairs are shortish, coarseish, and most importantly embedded in your skin. When you shave the edge rests on that skin. Is this even remotely modelled accurately by holding a hair in the air and seeing if it gets cut on a stationary blade edge? I don't think so, but others may disagree.

The only way such a divergent-from-reality test can even remotely hope to help you understand if an edge can shave you is by repeatedly, over time, noting the test results and correlating (not the best word, but will do) that result to what happens during the corresponding shave. That is the only way.

So really, the HHT test has two parts, and people either forget or ignore or don't know about the second and most important part. First you waft the hair over the edge (this is the bit people mistakenly think is the HHT). Second, and this is the most important part of the HHT, you test shave it and relate the results of the first part to the results of the second part.

Do this test several hundred independent times under varying conditions to get a decent sample size. Then you are in a position to know what the HHT is telling you.

James.

One day, long time ago, I have started probably longest HHT discussion on this forum.

Today I even do not check razor for HHT. I hone my razors and I trust my work and I can always get at least HHT3-4, however I do not perform HHT anymore. My test is my shave. I look for smoothness. When razor is not sharp enough will pull anyway, regardless of HHT results. Sometimes good HHT is results of bad blade...
I do HHT test for razors sent to friends or if someone requested honing as I`m sure they will do HHT anyway, once razor is received.

That`s all.

Originally Posted by traps38

I was in that same boat a little while ago.

I always kept checking for that HHT test that everyone was talking about and some of my straights passed it and some didn't but all still gave me great shaves.

So it was always frustrating for me so i used to go back and hit the stones all the time.

I then started honing wedge or near wedge type straights that used to drive me bananas as to hone as they could not even pass the test were they would cut arm hairs midway so i just put them on the side and gave up as they didn't even seem to be sharp by feeling them with my thumb.

Then one day i decided to shave with one of those wedges i thought were not sharp at all.

To my surprise i got the best BBS shave with them that i have ever gotten.

There was no tug pull or nothing,just like a hot knife going through butter.

I have never tried that HHT test any more and the only way i know if it is shave ready,it is how Gssixgun said is to try one side of your face going down and seeing if the beard is cut smooth and well.

That's it for me.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

So really, the HHT test has two parts, and people either forget or ignore or don't know about the second and most important part. First you waft the hair over the edge (this is the bit people mistakenly think is the HHT). Second, and this is the most important part of the HHT, you test shave it and relate the results of the first part to the results of the second part.

Do this test several hundred independent times under varying conditions to get a decent sample size. Then you are in a position to know what the HHT is telling you.

James.

Now that is the really funny part of the HHT to me, having to do it several hundred times to get a rough idea of what it is telling you in real life terms. By the time you have honed razors several hundred times I think it becomes a moot point how necessary a tool it is to you by that time. Not disagreeing with you James one bit at all though.

Bob

Well, the several hundred times bit is just the statistician in me coming out. The bigger the sample, the tighter the standard error. There's probably some small sample approach that applies here, but I've always been an asymptotics junkie

James.

You know I don't stick my nose in on subjects dealing with honing too much around here not having done it for too long and the way I hone would likely freak most people on here out. That said, the only test I do is shave arm hairs off a 1K Nani then go from there with the aid of a black marker. I found using the black marker more useful than tests. Anyway everyone finds their own way eventually.

Bob