What I like about this as well is that it also shows how little wear there is period when the honing is done properly. So in my mind, taping remains purely a personal preference or marketing argument, although there are definite uses for it in specific situations.

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We don't need no stinkin' Tape...

Quote Originally Posted by jeness View Post
I am glad you started this thread, I almost forgot a weekend test I made about 2 months ago. I was debating about this tape stuff too, especially the one regarding angle change over time. I got out a russian razor I was honing, and emulated the following:

Lets assume you do 20 strokes on a finisher to refresh your razors edge every week, for 50 years, and you shave with it every day, no other razor used. Thats a total of 52.000 strokes.

I did about 10.000 strokes on a 12k Shapton pro, can you imagine how much time and lapping that took?

I measured the razor before and after it, and the difference came out roughly at 0.1mm, so if I would have gone farther, the width loss would have been about 0.5mm for 50 years of constant use, but lets calculate with 1mm. Thats almost nothing, even for a 5/8 razor. So in my opinion this myth is busted, the bevel angle won't change considerably if you care for your razor. Or bettter I should say that it will change, but no human is capable to spot this small of a difference.