Thread: Is the HHT and mirror finish on the razor absolutely necessary ?

The brand one is a restored razor the other a new Ralph asten both fail

Not necessary, but if you can get it to this point you WILL feel a difference.

Patience and lots of practice.

I watched that first video you posted.

To answer your question, no, I do not think mirror polishing on bevels is anywhere close to as important as that video implies. In fact, I would suggest that some of the things mentioned in that video (100 laps on CrOx, for example) would NOT be recommended for preparing a razor for shaving.

Still a little confused with your answers but let's go with them

First you said it didn't pass, then you clarified that it did with a new blade..

Does that mean it did not pass the HHT on a used blade and then did on a new blade ???

Why is this important ???

This tells us a bit about you hair and more importantly that you can actually do the HHT also I am assuming that you know that the HHT reacts differently depending on if you are holding the root or the end of the hair..
Basically use the DE edge to learn and qualify the HHT that is the first step to making it useful in the least..

An HHT that can't pass or passes to easily is of no good, I can tell you a story about mine, that if I didn't have the wife mine would be of no use, my hair pops at 1k pretty easy... Her's won't pop until after stropping ...

HHT passes on out of the box DE but on none of my straight razors. Sorry for the confusion

You might be able to get to a positive HHT on a straight razor then.. You are just going to have to work up to it, try after stropping also ..

Will honing longer on a 12k bring positive results

Originally Posted by lowks

Will honing longer on a 12k bring positive results

That depends on what has come before. If your bevel isn't set properly, more work on the 12k won't get you where you want to be.

Is there a way to tell?

You have to understand that honing is a slow process, the more you hone the better you get, hone for a comfortable shaving edge nothing else really matters.. Here is something that is a fact,, Honing for a HHT or Mirror bevel or anything else other than a smooth shave is going to achieve nothing positive... Grind the crap out the blade obtain a harsh foil edge and it will pop HHT with ease,, you won't wanna drag it across your face though..

Comfortable shave first, that should be the goal