Gents this is a long thread and I'm about to head up for some sleep soon so I hope this hasn't already been asked - but you've given to a question I've had for a few weeks.

If one does use tape on the spine when honing, then after some number of hones the angle of the edge will become measurably more angular and I think that's been proven out here pretty well!

However, if the tape is then removed for subsequent honing, would the original manufactured edge angle return? Or an angle fairly close to the original? It just seems intuitively that after removing the tape, that the "top" of the new edge angle would be the first bit of metal to connect to the stone along with the spine. After that edge "top" has been honed away, and once the stone is connecting to both the edge and spine again, the resulting angle of the edge would be damned close to what it was originally. Unless the width of the blade had been significantly reduced (say from 7/8 to 4/8).

It seems strange stuff keeps me awake at night!