Quote Originally Posted by Utopian View Post
I thought maybe we could discuss honing for a change...

I'm not sure if this belongs here or a new thread or an old thread but...

Is a double bevel actually weaker? I have barely played with it at all--really just enough to look at the effect under a microscope, so I don't have any actual experience with using a double bevel, but I don't understand why the edge should be weaker. The actual edge would be more obtuse and therefore should stronger. The shoulder between the first and second bevel would seem to be the point that would wear faster relative to the full face of a normal bevel but I would think that such shoulder wear would not have a significant impact on the edge.
For those of you who use a double bevel, does your edge dull faster?
The distance from the very edge to the shoulder of the bevel would be shorter than without the tape. I would think (but I have no proof) that this would cause the edge to be more fragile. It could also just be that I used a very soft blade for this experiment. One that I had not sharpened nor shaved with before, so it could just be that it is a particularly soft steel. I think I'll re-hone it without the tape, through a full course on the Shaptons and see if it still requires stropping during the shave.

Sheesh, the more I think about this the more I think you're right, Utopian... having the extra thickness further out should make it stronger..

On another note, I just got done honing three more blades on a different coticule using this method. This coticule is much faster than my other one, but usually doesn't finish out as well. For some reason, they do feel smoother than the finish I usually get from this stone. Could the extra angle added from the tape make a difference in the smoothness of the edge the stone gives?

The more I hone, the more questions I have, and the more I'm convinced I don't know anything... and I can prove it.