Thread: New Dovo Razor Question

So i just bought a basic Dovo razor from STD along with their natural strop. After hand rubbing the strop for about a week I felt it was sufficiently broken in enough to use. Long story short I stripped and shaved with the blade and all went well. However the blade never passed the HHT. I'm wondering why if it was professionally honed that it wouldn't pass this test. I attempted pre and post stropping.

Sorry I bought it from SRD not STD.... auto correct on phone does funny things sometimes!

Ahh tests.... You gave the razor the best test of all... a shave test. And, from the sound of things, it went fine. I personally wouldn't sweat it. Everyone's hair is different, so the HHT may not be the best "test" for you, at least until you figure out what the test means for you

If you bought the razor from SRD there is nothing to worry about. I haven't heard of anyone having trouble from one of their razors. If for some reason you do just contact them and they will take care of you.

Don't worry about the HHT. I haven't done a HHT test on any razor in over a year, the razors shave just fine. As stated by Crzylizard, the utimate test is shaving. I don't care about cutting a hanging hair, I care about cutting the hairs sticking out of my face.......

If you don't hone it yourself, HHT means absolutely nothing. Simeple as that.

No need to hand rub a strop for a week before using it. It's usable right out of the box.

Welcome and congrats!

All I can tell you is what "I know," and that is that tests like that are best left to guys who have been doing this for some time. The best test there is - is the shaving test. If the blade pulls on your face there is a problem. But when you are new, you never know if that's technique or edge, so it can lead to frustration. There are a ton of variables and... I can understand that obsessing about your edges sharpness will come naturally if you are anything like me : ). So I get it.

What I would recommend is that you take that obsession and focus it on learning to use the blade on your face... if you can : ). Learning to shave is way more important. To do otherwise is like trying to figure out what ammo is best for your gun but not having the gun "sighted in."

Once you get the shaving down the sky is the limit with respect to edge maintenance and product love lol.

I wish you all the best of luck and a speedy learning curve.

HHT oh how I loath thee!

I have had blades from 3 seperate honing gods (including 3 done by Lynn) that never passed a HHT. They shaved like dreams. I put no stock in HHT as it is not compatible with my hair....

Originally Posted by Barber2012

... shaved with the blade and all went well. However the blade never passed the HHT.

Whose hair did you use? What hair did you use? What is the diameter profile of the hair? Had the hair been recently shampooed? Was conditioner used? How did you do the test? How humid was it during the test? How much experience do you have at doing the test? Have you ever done the test with this razor before - how many times? Did you strop before the test? How well did you strop before the test? How do you define "pass"?

There are a lot of variables to consider in this so-called "test". Not the least of which is an honest assessment of our own ability to use it effectively on our equipment. If as you say all went well with the shave (that is, assuming the edge is actually shave-ready), then the only conclusion we can draw is that your HHT gave a "false negative" result (ie it incorrectly told you the edge was not shave-ready).

Tests can produce false negative results for a variety of reasons, all of which can generally be categorised into two (not necessarily mutually exclusive) groups: (1) user error; and (2) Test error. User error is self-explanatory. Test error usually relates to its sensitivity to inputs. User error can usually be reduced with more experience (data). Test error is often intrinsic and thus difficult to reduce without actually making changes to (improving) the test itself - however, often experience can at least tell us the rate at which this kind of error occurs.

So the big question for you, therefore, is: "Was my result due to (1) or (2), or some combination of both?" The answer, I'm afraid, is not an easy one to obtain, as it depends on many variables that you have not told us, and might not actually be able to quantify or qualify yourself. However, if you do not have much experience with using the HHT on this particular razor (and I suspect this is the case given you recently bought it), then I would humbly suggest 80% category (1), 20% category (2) as a first approximation.

James.

The razor didn't study hard enough.

rinse the razor with hot water , dry it with towel, rub the leather strop with palm until the leather feels warm
do stroke about 30 or more and you should be able to pass the hht.
try do the violin way on hht is easier