Thread: Honing with/without tape... Testing the theories

Facts = doing actual tests instead of just doing theory and typing

First let me say I could not care less if you tape or not, they are your razors doesn't make any difference to me

But what I hate reading is statements from people that haven't tested things themselves..

One of the statements that gets me is this one, that comes up in every single tape-vs-no tape thread...

"If you hone with tape it will change the angle of the razor that is built in by the maker over time"

That statement is true, I am not saying it isn't....It is very simple, as the edge and spine wear down (key word here) equally the angle should stay the same over time..
The trick comes in with the equally and the amount of time part of the statement...

Enter The Test Razor:







I bought this 5 years ago right before I joined SRP the razor was honed by it's first owner without tape, it has been my goto test bed razor for most every dumb thing I can think of and most every new stone I buy.. It was my test razor for the Diamond Paste stropping experiment and it is being tested right now on the WHIG's,,,, in between the Purple WHIG and the Green WHIG it hit 30 honing cycles by me..

I decided to use it to test the "Tape Theory"
Since I am not going to have the years required to do this I used the "Excessively Honed Razor" instead..

The razor has gone through 30 full honings since I have owned it so maybe 31 or 32 total, it has always been honed with tape by me, 1 layer of Scotch #700 3M electrical tape. When I say "Full Honings" I mean from a new bevel set, so these are not what the normal user would do with just refreshing it lightly..

The numbers are after 3 times measuring with my good calipers using the same method we used back here many thanks to Gugi for the math

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...zor-angle.html

(2 * asin(.181 / (2 * .620)) * 180) / pi = 16.786646

So after 30+ full honing cycles the angle hasn't even gone over the 17 degree mark yet... Just how long does it take when honing with tape to wreck the angle??? Considering we had razors in that old thread that shaved from 12 degrees to 24 degrees I probably won't be finding out because after 30 honing cycles I probably have not even gone through 1/64 of an inch So let's go forward 60 more honing cycles at this rate and say it goes to a 4/8 which is a bit of a stretch considering the wear so far, but lets just do that..

So after 90+ honing cycles with tape we might have a 4/8 razor and here is the math

(2 * asin(.181 / (2 * .500)) * 180) / pi = 20.8560248

That is still inside the working angle limit we proved in 2009 and like I said the wear isn't really working out to be that hard even with doing full honings each time...
So how many years of service should I really expect from a second rate Kamisori Brand #306 razor I bought for $24 ????? Oh yeah I guess I forgot to mention this razor isn't even considered to be that good (that is why I use it as a test bed)


So in conclusion I leave you with the same thing I and many others have said all along...

Using tape really doesn't matter, other than it saves the spine...


You guys have to figure out your own usage levels with honing a razor, you would have to figure out the difference with just touch ups vs full honings vs times per year you hone etc: etc: The way I rough figured it for my usage to give an idea

1 full honing cycles equals 2 refresh honing cycles
2 touch ups per year for me
So I have put 30 years of wear on this razor so far
ie: it will outlive me..

ps: I never measured the razor when I bought it, but assuming the manufacturer did, we could assume a true 5/8 blade which would mean it started .625 in width which kinda adds more years to my theory I know it wasn't larger than that when I got it and the edge angle works out to be about right for Solingen razors...

pss: PLEASE don't take my testing, or word for it, go hone and find out for yourself you have to see what each honing cycle takes off your razor I would measure maybe every 10 if I were going to do this again.. I will keep checking this razor through the next few years also...


Thanks for reading