I don't tape, except in the above stated circumstances of a fancy spine. I also might tape to avoid eating into a blade etching or if a razor is extremely dull and will take forever to hone. I also taped (a toothpick onto) a microtome because the flat side was truely flat from the spine to the edge.

I don't tape for many reasons: normal for me is non-taped and it makes things easier to remember, hone wear doesn't bother me, I don't usually set bevels and take razors all the way to shave ready in one sitting (so I'd have to put on and take off and put on and take off tape to avoid rust - yes, I've had a spine rust under tape before I knew to take it off), and I hate the way it feels on a hone when the spine is taped (and the residue that gets left on some hones).

As far as the geometry question - I don't think it's relevant for me. Once a razor is shave ready, I can't imagine how many touchups it would take to noticibly decrease the size of a blade. I also don't shave frequently with any one razor (I hardly use my own because I'm always trying to find new ones to add to my rotation... which I hardly actually use), so touchups are few and far between (I've never actually had to touch one up, except when I got my new Asagi).

I'm actually curious if anyone has used and re-honed any single razor to the extent that it has noticably decreased in width (excluding say, dinging the edge or damaging it in some other way). Maybe I'll make a poll about that... Would that go under honing or razors?