Thread: "honed" razor still failed HHT-3?

For those that are still worrying about this, here's something that might help:

Originally Posted by From the author of the WIKI article about HHT numbers

It is a widely spread misconception that how higher the HHT-score, how better the edge.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Your op:

i received a new razor which was supposedly honed and shave ready. i decided to do some HHT's and they all failed. following that i did my first shave with the blade and found it to be uncomfortable (vs my recent disposable single-blade straight razor).


Now read Post #25


See the problem ???

But to clear this up even faster, how did your HHT's work on your disposable blades ???? That should give you at least an idea, not perfect, but an idea...

let me try to understand what you mean... you mean to say that my disposable blades should be used for calibrating, and that a disposable blade would pass any HHT put to it? and for the last part of your comment, no there were no HHT's on the disposable blades, as i was focusing on the brand new razor. however i do see how it would be logical that, if i had a better shave with the SE, that that would mean the SE blades should be used for calibrating (i mention this cause you did quote my last post).

in relation to the above mentioned Lynn's post at #25, i now understand the process of PROPER and SUFFICIENT shave prep, stropping and technique. HSNB also made a very clear statement at #39 about this, and i further reinstated that in my next post at #40.

i think i understood your post correctly, however if i missed something you must excuse me its 5.30am here! =)

Nope

What I meant was why did you test the SR when you haven't tested your Disposable???

If you test your disposable then you would see how your hair reacts.. As mentioned in my first post I have actually asked some of the DE guys to test their blades and and found that there is no correlation to the blade being sharp and the HHT... Let alone how those blades shave

The trick or calibration to HHT is in knowing how your hair reacts to a known sharp blade, if you haven't figured that out then the HHT means absolutly nothing.. Once you have figured that out the HHT means simply "Next to nothing"

So you did what most newbs do, they blindly poke at the blade with a hair that they don't know jack about, and come to the conclusion that the edge is either good or bad from this test..


I cannot make it any more clear than that and I mean no offense by being blunt, keep in mind I am only discussing the HHT nothing else here

I just spent some time reading the article about the HHT numbers.

Calibrate, in the context of the numbers means to know for your hair which number it is off of each stone in a honing progression. It is just to know that the edge off of a given stone performs similarly to other edges off the same stone. The numbered HHT is only useful to the person honing the razor. (I guess some people find it more useful than I do...)

Calibrate, in terms of the regular numberless HHT means to test your hair against numerous razors that are known to have good shaving edges and razors that have subpar shaving edges to see how the hair reacts.

See the problem here for a beginner? You have to have several edges to test, AND you have to know if they are good shavers or not. Even then, the test can be misleading.

I've always honed my own razors and I find the HHT to be useful. I enjoy these types of threads because the HHT appears to be one of those things that is so cautioned against by experienced honers. I have a few thoughts:

Of course the shave test is the only thing that technically matters; you want a razor to be able to comfortably shave your face.
I submit, though, that by the time you've put razor to face, you've left the realm of "tests" and entered the realm of shaving. Let me make a crude analogy. To see if your supposedly-repaired printer is working properly you don't click "print" on a 275 page article, you first print out a test page. The HHT is the test page, and the process of prepping, stropping, and shaving is the printing of the article that you ultimately need.

You want a good indication, before you've gone to all the trouble of shave prep, that your edge is ready to go. A well-calibrated HHT will tell you that.

Even if I would consider my first shave with a newly-honed razor to be a "test" I'd have to shave my entire face with it. Doing a vertical WTG sideburn pass is not very informative, certainly not moreso than an HHT. What separates the men-razors from the boy-razors is the ATG chin and moustache areas. By the time I've shaved my moustache, I've shaved my entire face, and thus it's not much of a time-saving test.

I can understand why Guy 1, who hones a razor for Guy 2, doesn't particularly want Guy 2 to rely too much on an HHT. Maybe it's a bit like looking a gift horse in the mouth. I could see that being especially aggravating for Guy 1 if Guy 2 doesn't know much about horses in the first place!

Originally Posted by Jimbo7

... To see if your supposedly-repaired printer is working properly you don't click "print" on a 275 page article, you first print out a test page. The HHT is the test page, and the process of prepping, stropping, and shaving is the printing of the article that you ultimately need. ...

Sorry but I don't completely agree with this statement and it's reference to shaving. True, you wouldn't test print all 275 pages but you might print the first page as a test. This would test all the software, OS and drivers. A shave test does not need to be your whole face, just a small part to start with, say your left cheek, or just your sideburns.

I really can't believe this thread is still going. Thank you GSSIXGUN for your patients and effort in this thread to maintain a true course. The issue As I see it is the noobie using this test to gauge someone else's honing or the factory edge on a razor. The test will not give good results in a noobie's hands. For the rest of you that have calibrated the test, have fun.

Originally Posted by Joed

I really can't believe this thread is still going. Thank you GSSIXGUN for your patients and effort in this thread to maintain a true course. The issue As I see it is the noobie using this test to gauge someone else's honing or the factory edge on a razor. The test will not give good results in a noobie's hands. For the rest of you that have calibrated the test, have fun.

I apologize for taking this off its true course. Thanks to everyone for their patience!

You know a "test" that I have found slightly more universal than the hht? The "waft a few mm above the skin" arm hair test. I've even come up with some gradations but I guess now is not the time or place...

Honestly I have no problem with the hht or with people using it. (the entire forum breathes a collective sigh of relief at this announcement I am sure. ) All I'd like to see is an honest and informed self appraisal of your ability to garner pertinent information from it, that's all.

James.

thank god for avatar pictures b/c Jimbo & Jimbo7 in the same thread with out the pictures would have confused the H**L out of me!!! Now back to your regularly scheduled HHT debate!!!

Originally Posted by Jimbo

You know a "test" that I have found slightly more universal than the hht? The "waft a few mm above the skin" arm hair test.

That is also one of the primary tests that I use. :-)