Thread: Barber hone with or without tape?

So lets say you have a razor that starts to tug just a little mid shave. You strop and still no joy.

Most of us would go for another razor, but could you just grab the Swaty and hit the stone without taping the spine EVEN though you had previously taped the spine during the initial honing process?

I think I already know the answer I just want to get some feedback to see if what I am thinking is correct.

Originally Posted by singlewedge

could you just grab the Swaty and hit the stone without taping the spine EVEN though you had previously taped the spine during the initial honing process?

I could, but it won't improve the edge until the edge starts making contact with the hone

That is what I thought.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

I could, but it won't improve the edge until the edge starts making contact with the hone

Exactly. All you're going to do is to flatten out the shoulder of the bevel. The edge won't contact the hone so the shave will not improve.

I guess if the swaty was dished out just right it could be helpful without having to use tape again

Or if you can hold the razor's spine off the hone at just the right degree so that the bevel lies flat against the surface of the hone

But these are unlikely to hold true

It's funny because this is the exact reason I stopped taping the spine. I got a swaty and wanted to use it for touch-ups without having to worry about tape.

When a swaty comes around
you must tape it.
when your razor's gettin dull
you must tape it

Now hone it
Into shape
Shape it up
Get straight
Go forward
Move ahead
Try to detect it
Its not too late
To hone it
hone it good

This kind of bummed me out when I realized that I would need to retape the spine if I wanted to use my swaty mid shave. So I don't use it but that is okay because I haven't really found that I needed to use it. In thinking about it I could just hang a pre-cut piece of tape on the edge of the counter and put it on and use the swaty and then remove it and put it back. Not that big a hassle.

A very, very, valid reason to not tape, the good news is that it takes about 20 laps on a Norton 1k to eliminated the effect of the tape, maybe even less since the razor is in need of touch up....
What is even better is that the edge should be in excellent shape for a full touch up 1k 4k 8k -----> whatever stone you use.... then it will be set up for a Swaty re-touch schudule....
One thing I would recommend if you are going with a barbers hone re-touch, set up a schedule like every Sat, or every other shave whatever it takes to keep it sharp, not to sharpen it, there is a difference....

I think when I experimented with this it took about 40-70 laps on the Swaty to take the shoulder off.

Just tape it again

I don't hone anything without tape after honing a VIRGIN W&B FBU wedge
and after a very short honing session it had (what looked like) considerable hone wear.
It wasn't, but it wasn't virgin anymore either.


back on topic
do you not have pastes?