Drybonz said:
Firstofall, I have a friend who is full blooded Turk and he let me know that there are no spelling bees in the Turkish language because all words are spelled exactly as they sound. What a concept.
Secondofallandtherealpoint, you really could benefit from sharpness markers in the honing process. Honing with the stone in the hand provides much better tactile feedback as Paul was suggesting. Thumb pad tests are good for those who use them a lot, but the Mac Daddy is the hht, and you should really find a way to make it work with a consistent sample of medium to coarse, clean hair. We have talked about it so much that it is easy to forget that someone maybe hasn't researched here to get the finer points, but some are:
---hold the tip end of the hair so you slice into the shingles of the hair. Turn it around if you don't have success and maybe keep a known very sharp edge handy to test the test hair
---moisten the hair slightly
---clean the edge with tissue before testing
---use a little speed in the cut if you don't get results by laying the hair on the edge. I hold the hair vertically and slice away from me in a slightly upward angle, adding speed if necessary to see if I am getting close
---if right off the hone, you will need to do some light strokes, maybe a bunch, or five or six laps on linen or similar to further clean an edge that is close.
---try close to the point of hold first
In the dilucot method, I can get a good HHT at the final dilution, before straight water. Of course it gets better further along.
I am sure there are more hints, but that is all I can come up with at the moment. The key is a consistent hair sample that you are familiar with, and even then you will run into small variations. The first time you get a successful HHT it feels like a real breakthrough.
After saying all that, the true Mac Daddy to me is just as Paul has said and knowing when to stop by the feel of the honing process. This really does take time to master and the HHT might slow the acquisition of that skill. It is all experience and you will get better and better. You have no choice if you stick with it. Of course, Chris is excluded.
D