Quote Originally Posted by PuFFaH View Post
I would say that the razor is still stropable in the normal sense with the tape removed. Maybe a slightly relaxed strop could effect better contact with the cutting edge. I will try it out and edit this post with the outcome.

PuFF

honed an old sheffield full hollow on a 1200 diamond hone followed by norton 4k then 8k, all this with 4 layers of insulation tape on the spine. Not shave sharp but pops hair easy. Blued the spine and the cutting edge and left to dry ready for stropping.
With the tape off and all contact faces blued, I put it over a stiff horse hide strop at normal strop tension and did 4 full laps. The spine and the cutting edge showed the blue being removed. Under 200x it showed the edge was being stropped right to the cutting edge and across the full bevel.
My strop tension may differ form others so this is by no means conclusive.

PuFF
I just did another worn razor that needed 3 layers of tape and had the same result. I didn't colour the edge to check contact, but I looked at the scratch pattern closely under magnification before and after stropping (with NO tape) and there was a notable difference along the entire bevel. Disclaimer: I am no scientist so this test was by no means definitive and conclusive.

So I think a hanging strop more than accounts for any differences honing with tape may pose, even with 3 or 4 layers it seems.