Beyond the hanging hair test

Hi,

I am new to this so I need a bit of advice. I have a Dovo 5/8 ss which I have managed to sharpen up to pass the hanging hair test but it does seem to still pull a bit when shaving. (some members have actually said that the ultimate test is the shave and not so much the hanging hair test). So my question is what to do next? Continue to strop (I stopped about 20-30 times to get to the hanging hair test stage) or to go back a step to my diamond paste or back further to a hone?

Thanks to all for all the great adice I have already picked up here.

I would probably go to the diamond paste then the strop again. You do not mention the grits of the pastes or the stones though.

That would help a lot in answering your question.

Thanks for the feedback. The paste I use is one made by Thiers Issard and the quote below is from a web site.

"Formulated using both Aluminum Oxide and Diamond Particles as the cutting agents which are suspended in a non-toxic paste bound together with tiny cloth fibers to prevent softening. The edge attained with routine use of this paste is comparable to that achieved with a 10,000 grit barber hone".

Cheers

As for the hone, I currently am using a Black Surgical Arkansas but hope to pick up a Shapton 12,000 grit (professional series) in the next few days. (It will be the Japanese version which may be a slightly different stone to the ones sold overseas)

Cheers

I would try shaving with it a couple of times before honing again. If it's moving smoothly on your face but you can feel the hairs being cut and you feel some resistance/vibration I think that is okay. If it is tugging and skipping, and or painfull then maybe it needs a little more work.


---------Michael

O.K. so what the heck is the hanging hair test??

Rich

“You ought never to take anything that don’t belong to you - if you can not carry it off” – Mark Twain

If I was in your situation and the razor was pulling and not being a paste user I would take the razor to the yellow coticule for a few passes and see what happens. A few trips on a 12K stone or even the Norton 8K might do the trick also.

If you want some details about the HHT come on over to SRP. There are many many posts about it in detail.

OK, I tried a few more times "as was" and still felt I was not near a "comfortable" shave. Tried some paste on my Thiers Issard paddle strop and shave tested but was still at the same stage as before. Went to my new Shapton (as mentioned above) and gave it about 30 passes on it. Felt like I had dulled the blade..

Went to the paste and took considerable time and effort to get back to hanging hair test. Stropped a little and shaved but with the same result as previous occasions.

I think that I have reached the limits of either;
1) My skill as a honemaster
2) My equipment (maybe need to buy a yellow coticule ?)
3) My razor (maybe this blade just does not have the potential?)

Its probably all three. One of the big mistakes new people make is thinking that shaving perfection is a step beyond the hanging hair test. That is not true at all.

I suggest you backhone the razor (hone it in the opposing direction) using a light touch with the highest grit hone you have (or think you have) and then re-hone it again on the same high grit.

Forget about the hanging hair test and test shave with it every 10 strokes, as you hone. Thats 10 strokes, strop, test shave.

Work your way up slowly.