Thread: Taping the EDGE

Many folks have thought that bread-knifing was a "taboo" subject so here is another I'm guessing.

Taping the edge.

as we all know the a steep angle form edge to sine gives a more durable edge but not always a very good one.when it is too steep you might as well use your pocketknife.

from time to time i find myself, especially after "bread-knifing" that i need to thin the spine a bit to achieve an optimum shaving angle. Well this means "hone wear" but to preserve the remaining width of the blade i find that taping the edge works.

so my question for you all is have you ever tried it or are you all content wit ha steep angle that while durable does not cleave the hair as cleanly as it should.

anybody else try this or am i simply a heretic?

HERETIC!!! Some one get a stake...You there, get a rope...You... yeah you, get a torch, we're gonna burn this demon!!

Geez man - you are one sick puppy, do you know that?

I have taped the edge before, but only as protection when I am working on a blade. But what you say makes some sense I guess. I have never been in a position where I needed to worry about the spine width and angle, fortunately. But if I ever am I will remember this thread.

James.

A good burning yes, i see, but will that not endanger the temper of the blade?

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

What I haven't heard a definitive answer on is how exactly spine width is designed when making a razor. Do makers of razors design the spine width exactly proportional to blade width to produce a specific angle for the bevel? If so, wouldn't you expect the bevel angle of all razors of a general type to be very similar?

Let's assume all the above to be true. Do you think that, due to the large surface area of the spine that's in contact with the hone relative to the edge, that the edge will always wear faster than the spine decreases in width (with respect to the bevel angle)? If so, how far do you think that would be before you might want to adjust the spiine width?

well i better dig out the calipers and start measuring.

I only have 3 different razors to look at but all three have a sort of "edge" or taper to the spine where it would contact the hone. Are they all that way? That would also be consistent in that it would wear a bit faster than if it was a relative large flat area (although still no where as fast as the edge) and the bevel angle wouldn't change as fast...

from my experience the spine, edge and entire bevel should all lay on the hone and thus be thinned equally but i have razors that i tape and some that i have "bread-knifed" but in the end i wonder if these will eventually destroy the blade geometry.

Ok... I thought some more about that last bit. (and now my brain hurts and I'm disoriented and confused).

I was thinking about a single particle on a hone. It cuts a groove in the steel passed over it right? Now if you pass a 0.5 mm wide piece of steel over it, it should cut a 0.5 millimeter long groove across the entire width. If you pass a 1 mm wide piece of steel over it, it should cut a 1 mm long groove.

If a particle cuts a groove through the entire width passed over it, wouldn't it decrease the depth of that piece of steel the same amount regardless of the width? Anybody get what I'm trying to say? Anything to it?

So maybe it shouldn't matter that the spine is "thicker" where it contacts the hone than the edge. It should still decrease in thickness proportional to the edge decreasing in width?

(I think I've been up too long. I'm going to bed)

by thicker are you meaning how wide the wear area is? ( much like the bevel area) or actual thickness of the blade at the spine.

I'm referring to the thickness of the spine itself, which with proper honing will wear away symmetrically wot the edge thus in theory maintaining the angle throughout the life of the blade.

but my question was does anybody else worry about this and what sort of angle is ideal?