Quote Originally Posted by Kingfish View Post
One thing to consider if taping becomes the norm for you is to change it at the first sign of wear. Tape wears way quicker than steel, especially on lower grits. Not changing the tape especially in the end game of honing make most of your work pretty much useless as little if any polishing is done on the very edge where it is desired. I obviosly have a bias toward placing one layer of tape at the end of honing to max out the effect of my finishing stone. The same effect could be accomplished without it by experienced hands but this works for me right now all of the time.
A while back I was on the phone with Utopian and he brought this up. He actually uses different color tapes to avoid confusion on whether he has changed the tape or not from grit to grit. I have read guys say that they get tape residue on their hones and I rarely experience that. Maybe I'm not using as much pressure ?

Anyhow when using tape I might change after setting a bevel or if I observe much wear on the tape... and I do check... but I haven't found it necessary for me once the bevel setting is complete. Obviously on a case by case basis but I'm talking overall. YMMV.