First, the honing process does not need to result in a different wear rate. It depends on where pressure is applied. The spine is mean to be an angle guide but it doesn't need to have a lot of pressure applied to it. If the razor is torqued during honing, much less steel is removed from the spine. Next, the taping of the spine is a recent phenomenon, as is the Hart razor. If they honed with tape, then you CAN touch up with tape. If you don't use tape, the very apex of the edge will not touch the hone, but only a minimum amount of steel needs to be removed from the bevel to alter its angle to allow normal, tapeless honing.