Thread: Different Sharpness Test?

Originally Posted by RezDog

I depend more and more on my loupe and the sight and feel on the hones. For a while I could not get my hair to work in a hanging hair test either. I could get my wife's hair to work. Over time I first worked really hard to get it to work and then worked really hard at trying to figure out to not do it. Essentially what I have gotten to is, if the bevel apex looks perfect and then the bevel gets very well polished, it will pass a shave test. I put a lot of time and effort into the whole hanging hair thing, only to have it not really be a needed bench mark. There are some very good threads with very good pictures all about using a loupe to see what is going on at the apex and the bevel. I think it is probably worth exploring that route and abandoning the HHT.

I agree with this - the loupe, even some magic marker to make sure you've covered the entire area if you want, but I find the loupe, get it trimming arm hair at the 1k level, and looking through the loupe, you can tell if the bevel has made is evenly across the length of the razor and the sides have met in a perfect apex, if they don't meet, it isn't set. Using the loupe, look at the striations on each side of the razor, the striations should extend all the way to the edge on both sides, when they do, and you can see it - the bevel should be set.

Another trick, looking along the length of the blade, you should see no visible line. If you do, that means there is probably a flat surface, which means the bevels haven't met.

There is no easy answer other than practice, practice, practice, till you understand why you're doing the things you're doing. As Rez states, the objective at the initial level is to get the bevels to meet, easily trimming arm hair at the 1k level, with an even bevel, after that, it's just continuing to polish the bevel.

Stropping in between stones helps the polishing, but if you're bevel isn't set, you're just wasting time....the loupe IMO is indispensable for new and intermediate honers, the pro's can probably tell by the amount of time on the stone, even the feel of the blade on the stone, and flick it with their thumb and know....I'm a long way from that and when I take a razor to the stones for the works, it's a given for me that I'm prepared to spend 3,4,5 hours setting the bevel, anything quicker for me is a bonus, as the geometry of every blade is different.