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Hi all
Just got a new dovo 6/8 bismark solingen razor and have honed and honed and honed it but I cannot get it to pass the hanging hair test. It passes every other test (thumb pad, seems to shave the top of my leg okay) but it won't cut a single floating hair. Could it be just my hair (or rather my fiancé's) is too thin or that my technique for this test is off? I'm new to straight razors so it could be anything. Don't want to shave with it until I can be sure it won't leave a rash. Thanks.
A few thoughts:
1. Honing is a steep learning curve... as is shaving with a straight. I would stick to learning to shave until you are totally comfortable with the process before trying to figure out what a shave-ready edge is like.
2. The HHT really isn't a good indicator of shave-readiness.
3. Your shaving technique will be more likely to give you a rash the first few times than the razor...
4. If you live somewhere where 1st class USPS shipping is cheap, I'd be happy to take a look at the razor, correct any problems that novice honing might have instilled, and return it to you in shave-ready condition, so that you have one less variable to worry about. Drop me a PM and I can send you my shipping address.
5. If the above doesn't work for you, see if you can find an experienced member in your area. They'd probably be happy to meet with you and help you out!
Good luck, and welcome to SRP!
Thanks for the offer but I think it'll cost a bit much to post it across the pond. I'll attempt a shave in the morning (what's the worst that can happen?) and if that's a disaster I'll have a look for someone in the area. Thanks:)
Sounds like a plan!
If it pulls a lot or is really uncomfortable, and you're doing the angle and lather to the best of your knowledge then don't force yourself to do the whole shave.
There are quite a few UK members who should be able to help, and a good handful of capable honers in continental Europe as well.
Could you please be more specific regarding how you honed and honed and honed? What did you use and how did you use it?
Honed and honed and honed might have been a slight exaggeration. The razor came "shave ready" and I polished it up on an 8k stone, checking the razor after every 10 laps. After about 4 shots of this it seemed to pass every test bar the HHT without a problem. To the best of my knowledge there's no blunting in the slightest on the razor.
You made a common mistake and tried to fix a razor that did not need fixing. The first thing to do should have been to shave with it, not test or hone it. Was the razor oiled when you got it? No oiled razor will pass the HHT.
gerry9793,
You could send it to Mr Neil Miller (www.strop-shop.co.uk - hand made straight razor strops, razor pouches, shaving accessories, vintage razors, razor honing and restoration) who will do a superb job of honing it.
Mr Gary Haywood does excellent honing on his cotis (please PM him here at SRP).
Mr Steve Dempster (www.theinvisibleedge.co.uk) does excellent honing as well.
There are also a number of other UK SRP members who do excellent honing :)
This will give you a reference point for sharpness which you can then compare with your own honing.
In the end the shave is the only test that matters :)
Good luck !
Have fun !
Best regards
Russ
I get so frustrated at hearing a newer person to straight shaving thinking a HHT is a definitive test. The ONLY test that is 100% conclusive is a shave. The TPT, TNT, HHT can be used...if you know what you are doing...which means experience. It's not your fault, but I would like to know where you newer guys get this from so that it can be addressed & those following your footsteps will not have to go thru the same frustrations you have.
I've only been straight shaving for a bit over 6 months. If I trusted the HHT I'd never have put a razor to my face. I've just never gotten it to work on any of my razors but I get a great shave out of all of them.
1. It's on YouTube.
2. Uncertainty leads to a quest for "objective" tests.
3. When you don't know what "shave ready" even means, you'll take any port in a storm.
Just shaved with it this morning, no problems and the right side of my face is the smoothest it's been since I was 10. Left out the left side for another day. Thanks all
This is spot on! Been using the straight for a little over a month now, and this is EXACTLY the course I ran.Quote:
Originally Posted by ace
Why would you only shave one side of your face....?Quote:
Originally Posted by gerry9793
It was my first shave lol it was recommended in the beginners guide to only shave with your dominant hand and get the other side when you're more comforatable, which is understandable. I got the other side with an electric razor
That is a perfectly reasonable approach, except for the electric razor. :)
If the straight doesn't work out for you, seriously consider trying a double edge (DE) safety razor. You can get fantastic shaves from them and they are much easier than straight razors.
I can only speak from my experience, but I 'learned' to strop, hone and shave with a str8 from You Tube and all the videos that I watched tout the HHT as the definative test of shave readiness.Quote:
Originally Posted by shooter74743
Clearly I watched the wrong ones!!!!
It was only when I discovered this site that I was educated.....thanks to all who contribute.
I was really hoping that it was here on SRP as I know we could get it taken care of. I understand your quest for knowledge and the internet is a wonderful tool. Unfortunately there is some mis-information out there as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by ace
You see, I could probably make a razor (it would go against everything I have learned though) pass a HHT off 1K. I would form a wire edge along the entire bevel. Just the sound of a wire edge sounds bad doesn't it?
Anyways, sounds like you are on the right track simply by asking a question. Keep on educating yourself off here or by users from here and you will be miles ahead...
This talk of the HHT brings to mind another thread that I remember reading on bevel setting where, if my memory is correct, it is agreed on that the razor shouldn't be taken from the 1000 grit bevel setting stone until the HHT is passed. I am aware that that the original post here is in reference to a razor that was said to be shave ready and the case is different, but if the HHT is such a poor standard measuring stick, wouldn't this also be a poor standard measuring stick in reference to moving up from the 1000 grit stones? I don't remember any talk of the subjectivity of the HHT in the bevel setting thread but here it is here and it's confusing me as to the standard (other than microscopic visual confirmation) for establishing your bevel is adequately set.
I'm asking becuase I still have no luck passing the HHT off a 1000 Shapton and have been mainly blaming it on my technique as I've done my best to eliminate variable factors the HHT. But if the test itself is not that reliable, what should I be looking for instead to to be happy with the bevel and move on the the polishing stones? (Sorry to get so off topic)
It's not that the HHT is unreliable, it's that you have to understand it and the results that it can give before it becomes reliable. Personally, I don't use it, but many do. Coming of the bevel setter, I want the edge to pop arm hairs all along the length of the blade (not least because I have many more hairs on my arm than I do on my head:)). A new straight shaver has to deal with a great number of variables anyway and to add to them by attempting the HHT on a razor that has come 'shave ready' is far more likely to confuse further than it is, to help.Quote:
Originally Posted by JosephG
I usually don't pull a razor off a 1K until it will cut a arm hair about mid-shaft along the entire bevel, maybe that's where you are getting it. Quite a few others use this test as well. This is another of those tests that has a lot of variables as my arm hair is different from each and every one of you guys: your hair may be softer/harder, more/less dense, thicker/finer, and so on. The most important thing I can tell you is that most tests are inconclusive and learned...the shave test isn't...unless you are new to shaving and don't really know how to shave...then it too is inconclusive.Quote:
Originally Posted by JosephG
What I am getting at is if you are new to shaving with a straight and the person who you received the razor from is a respectable dealer/seller, take them at their word that a razor is shave ready as you really don't KNOW what shave read is yet.
I would just like to add that if came shave ready from a reputable dealer it was probably finished on a hone finer than the 8K that you use which may have taken it back a bit. Just my 2 cents. However I'm no honemeister.
-dan-
I've a number of razors, and none ever passed the HHT... with my hair at least. A couple honed by Glen, both shave like a dream, one honed by Lynn and two or three that I've done myself. All shave at least fine, some really fine, but I can't get the HHT thing to work.
At this point I've discounted its usefulness (at least to me) and when I see it in YouTube I think of it as a parlor trick, or what David Letterman would call "Stupid Razor Tricks!"
This is offered without ill intent to those believers in the method and reflects only my opinion and experience with it. But truth be told, cutting one hair in mid air is not what I got the razors for. :)