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

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). the seller tells me that the all blades he sells are honed and shave ready (which is fair enough). is it possible to have a 'honed and shave ready' razor that feels this way? i am relatively new to straights but i do try my best to make sure my angles and strokes are rather precise (it currently takes me about 45 mins to shave my face with wtg, atg and sometimes xtg). i know that HHT's may or may not be a secure way of telling a blades sharpness/shave quality, but i'm also making my decision on the shave. feedback?

The only way the HHT will ever be meaningful for you is if you do it on a lot of razors of varying sharpness to see how YOUR hair reacts to different edges.
Your hair might be a HHT-3 on a blade and someone elses could be a HHT-12 on the same blade. (I don't really know the number system, but you get the idea...)

As to the discomfort it could be that the blade is not quite sharp, it could be bad stropping, it could be bad shave-prep, or it could be your technique.

I can't speak to the HHT results because there are too many variables. One thing I will say is that the root of the hair should be pointed away ...... where the edge of the blade is cutting towards the root, rather than away from it. A clean hair, not greasy is best and a dry and clean blade. Some guys hydrate the strand of hair as well, though I don't go that far.

As to the shave, if you're taking 45 minutes to shave, I would suspect your shave technique is at the beginner's level. That can make a big difference in the feel of the blade regardless of how well it is honed. I can't say whether your razor is well honed and shave ready without seeing and feeling it for myself but I do know that nuances of skin stretching, blade angle and stroke play a large part in the success or failure of a shave. Just IMHO.

Shavette and straight razor are not the same animal when it comes to shaving. Disposable blades are much sharper, that being said a well honed straight razor should feel very comfortable when shaving. How shave ready the razor is heard to tell, a way to know is to shave with a pro honed razor so you have some baseline to compare against. As said above apart from the blade, there are other factors that can affect the shave, stropping, technique, prep etc.

Originally Posted by HNSB

As to the discomfort it could be that the blade is not quite sharp, it could be bad stropping, it could be bad shave-prep, or it could be your technique.

And that about says it all

What are these hht-x?

James

Originally Posted by Jimbo

What are these hht-x?

James

one of Bart's legacies

From Hanging Hair Test, from trick to probing method - Straight Razor Place Wiki.
Observe:

Standardization of the test.

1. Moisten the hair. This avoid all possible variations in outcome, due to fluctuations in humidity of storage conditions. A good way to do this, is to wet the thumb and index finger, pinch the hair and drag it through. Allow the hair a few seconds to settle.
2. When performing the test, hold the hair at the root side and slightly angle the edge of the razor away from you. This maximizes the possibility for the edge to catch between the cuticle shingles.
3. Scale of possible results:

• HHT-0 - shave The hair can be shaved immediately at the holding point. This is strictly spoken not a true HHT, but it does tell us that the edge is capable of shaving. [all other attempts must be made at least half an inch from the holding point]
• HHT-1 - violin The hair doesn't cut, but it "plays violin" with the edge. This is due to the shingles catching the edge, but it's not sharp enough to penetrate. On a full hollow razor, a faint ringing sound can be heard. On all razors it can be felt with the fingertips that hold the hair.
• HHT-2 - split When it is dragged across the edge, the edge catches the hair and splits it lengthwise.
• HHT-3 - catch&pop When it is dragged across the edge a bit, the edge catches the hair and pops it. The severed part will jump away.
• HHT-4 - pop The hair is popped immediately when it touches the edge. It still jumps away.
• HHT-5 - silent slicer The hair falls silently as soon as it touches the edge.

I see.

James.

I don't really use the HHT but is the number system to just let you know how keen the edge is or would goal be to always have it pass whatever the highest number is???

It reads to me like you are meant to aim for the higher numbers under this parametrisation. I've only ever seen it on the logarithmic scale previously which is why I was confused.

James.