New honing already?

**moorej7** · 01-07-2010, 04:39 PM

I ordered a tortoise dovo from SRD on 12/31 and got the free lifetime honing. When the razor arrived I tried the HHT on it. It worked on 1/3 the length of the blade from the heel, and about 1/10th of the blade from the other end of the blade. Most of the blade would not pass the test. I assumed it was sharp because it comes honed by Lynn, right? I have another razor I bought shave ready from Altima55 on ebay and it had absolutely no problems the lenght of the blade. Same hair, same process. I just can't get the new blade to pop hairs.

I was planning on using my dovo to familiarize myself with what a very sharp blade is like. Is there any chance that it just wasn't that sharp when it came to me?

**OldSchoolYoungin** · 01-07-2010, 04:41 PM

Just because it doesn't pass the HHT doesn't mean it isn't shave ready. Shave with it to see if it's shave ready or not.

**lilotaku** · 01-07-2010, 05:32 PM

If its honed from SRD, then its fine and should shave perfectly fine from the get go. Try it and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

**moorej7** · 01-07-2010, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by OldSchoolYoungin

Just because it doesn't pass the HHT doesn't mean it isn't shave ready. Shave with it to see if it's shave ready or not.

I have shaved with it. I didn't notice any difference between it and the one that passed the HHT test easily. It might have worked better. I just wonder why it doesn't pass that test. I really wanted to have it as sharp as possible so I had a good frame of reference for sharpness in the future.

Thanks for your reply.

**Luc** · 01-07-2010, 07:03 PM

Originally Posted by moorej7

I have shaved with it. I didn't notice any difference between it and the one that passed the HHT test easily. It might have worked better. I just wonder why it doesn't pass that test. I really wanted to have it as sharp as possible so I had a good frame of reference for sharpness in the future.

Thanks for your reply.

The best test is to shave with it, if you're not sure, try shaving some hair on your arm or leg and see how you go. If I get a clean patch, I know it's ready.

And yes, me legs are patchy!

**FiveOhNine** · 01-07-2010, 07:17 PM

Originally Posted by Luc

The best test is to shave with it, if you're not sure, try shaving some hair on your arm or leg and see how you go. If I get a clean patch, I know it's ready.

And yes, me legs are patchy!

I've always wondered about the guys who hone a ton of razors - do they have any body hair left?

**danstar250** · 01-07-2010, 07:24 PM

If I'm wrong, hopefully someone will correct me but I think that some mediums used to finish honing a razor either leave no teeth or very very fine/rounded teeth that don't catch a hair and pop it, but the resulting edge is very smooth as well as sharp. I hope I'm not barking up the wrong tree but if so, it wouldn't be the first time.

**richmondesi** · 01-07-2010, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by danstar250

If I'm wrong, hopefully someone will correct me but I think that some mediums used to finish honing a razor either leave no teeth or very very fine/rounded teeth that don't catch a hair and pop it, but the resulting edge is very smooth as well as sharp. I hope I'm not barking up the wrong tree but if so, it wouldn't be the first time.

Yeah too a point. A razor that pops a hair away from the edge when doing the HHT is not as smooth as a razor that cuts the hair and silently falls straight down. In fact, some guys a lot smarter than me believe that the keener an edge, the harder it is to get a "passing" HHT. I've recently adopted Bart's HHT scale from Coticule.Be. Every time I have gotten a HHT-5, I've been quite pleased with the shave tests.

**moorej7** · 01-07-2010, 09:45 PM

Originally Posted by richmondesi

Yeah too a point. A razor that pops a hair away from the edge when doing the HHT is not as smooth as a razor that cuts the hair and silently falls straight down. In fact, some guys a lot smarter than me believe that the keener an edge, the harder it is to get a "passing" HHT. I've recently adopted Bart's HHT scale from Coticule.Be. Every time I have gotten a HHT-5, I've been quite pleased with the shave tests.

That's the kind of thing I was really hoping to hear

Thanks guys!

**leighton** · 01-07-2010, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by moorej7

I ordered a tortoise dovo from SRD on 12/31 and got the free lifetime honing. When the razor arrived I tried the HHT on it. It worked on 1/3 the length of the blade from the heel, and about 1/10th of the blade from the other end of the blade. Most of the blade would not pass the test. I assumed it was sharp because it comes honed by Lynn, right? I have another razor I bought shave ready from Altima55 on ebay and it had absolutely no problems the lenght of the blade. Same hair, same process. I just can't get the new blade to pop hairs.

I was planning on using my dovo to familiarize myself with what a very sharp blade is like. Is there any chance that it just wasn't that sharp when it came to me?

Did you shave with it? Shave half your face with one, and half your face with the other. Problem solved.

I'm PMing you with the answer to your question because I'm not going to post it in the open.

**Slartibartfast** · 01-08-2010, 09:18 AM

I would not bother with the HHT test unless you are honing yourself. And then only after you have honed a few razors and calibrated your HHT.

If the razor shaves fine, who cares if it passes the HHT?

**richmondesi** · 01-08-2010, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

I would not bother with the HHT test unless you are honing yourself. And then only after you have honed a few razors and calibrated your HHT.

If the razor shaves fine, who cares if it passes the HHT?

I agree. I only recently started incorporating the HHT because of my switching to coticule honing. Now that I know "how" to do a HHT, it means something to me, and I use it to confirm what I already know about my other razors that shave really well.

**Slartibartfast** · 01-08-2010, 09:41 AM

Is it one of those honing secrets passed down from honester to honester?

Originally Posted by leighton

I'm PMing you with the answer to your question because I'm not going to post it in the open.

**Redhead** · 01-08-2010, 03:41 PM

HHT is good when your razor is "almost" there. It is not the definitive test by any means, the shave test is. Often, a razor will pass the hht test but give a lousy shave because it isn't smooth enough yet. As someone alluded to the razors teeth are still jagged enough and the edge is thin enough to catch a hair. Don't spend too much time trying to pass this test, it can really lead you in circles.
I much prefer running the razor along the tips of my forearm hair. After awhile you'll be able to discern the sharpness by how quickly it cuts these hairs and sometimes(depending on razor) the sound it makes whilst cutting.

Best,
Red