I Am Praying this Does Not Come off Like a Lame Question

"After a year of so of honing without tape I went back to taping everything. Reason being, it is too much of a hassle to remember which were taped, and which were not..."

Essentially what I have decided to do but just the opposite. I'm not taping anything and if I have a blade which is obviously way out of whack, I'll send it off. Anything in life that makes the day less complicated (no matter how small or seemingly insignificant) is always fine by me.

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

My first year I taped every razor. After that, when I began to feel confident enough I took a NOS Solingen and measured the spine in a few places with a micrometer. I set the bevel and went through the paces to a finished shave ready razor. Measured again, and no appreciable hone wear. Of course that depends on the razor, the rocks, and the honer's ability.

After a year of so of honing without tape I went back to taping everything. Reason being, it is too much of a hassle to remember which were taped, and which were not, so taping all is an easy solution. We're talking a lot of razors here in the past 7 years.

As far as the width decreasing while the spine remains the same, that might be a consideration if a guy only had a couple of razors in rotation and honed them for 20 years. For the average SRP member I don't think that would ever be a consideration in the real world.

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if you spent 20 years honing your razors when would you have time to shave? :)

In the beginning I use to use tape, specially on coticule, on unicot method. Later on I did not use anymore, if you have a razor with factory edge, you'll need very few strokes on lower grit, if any and on higher grit the spine will be ok

I tape everything vintage. with the exception of a pristine spine condition. It has been my experience using a corticule , I remove all tape for the last polishing strokes, this has given me my best results for sharpest edge. It could also be I finally use the proper amount of pressure since I am aware of NO TAPE and I finally achieve what I am striving for by accident. Sometimes being lucky outweighs my being good.

So, in conclusion, we should either tape or not tape. I think I have it!

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Originally Posted by Haroldg48

So, in conclusion, we should either tape or not tape. I think I have it!

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Yes and remember which razors you have taped and which you have not taped. Got it!

So the simplest answer is ," There are no lame questions". Each razor and honer has their preferences. And as such the community can give you the principles behind why we do what we do. The End Game is a sharp razor that gives a comfortable shave.:chapeau

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Originally Posted by ultrasoundguy2003

I tape everything vintage. with the exception of a pristine spine condition. It has been my experience using a corticule , I remove all tape for the last polishing strokes, this has given me my best results for sharpest edge. It could also be I finally use the proper amount of pressure since I am aware of NO TAPE and I finally achieve what I am striving for by accident. Sometimes being lucky outweighs my being good.

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Hey ultra,
The tape removal for polishing is interesting, if you remove tape you are lowering the blade angle, which in turn means that the spine and top of the bevel are hitting the hone rather than spine and edge of blade, well that is the standard logic that i have read elsewhere here, and if you were to draw it would be correct, so i dont see what those last few strokes are doing except changing the angle of the top of the bevel. But if it works for you then that is the ultimate test i suppose

Blade dynamics I understand. What I fail to mention because its embarrassing is that even with my most delicate stroke, my sledgehammer size hands leave visible scratches on my mirror finish blades. This tell me I use WAY to much pressure.But only in one direction so I have identified the area that needs improvement. The method I shared counteracts my deficits in proper pressure. and isnt it about adjusting to each of our weakness to become better? But duly noted on your facts and diagrams in a perfect world. I am turning my bread and water into tea and toast by my methodology.

Sorry I didn't want to come across as being smart or what have you I just didn't see what they did. I do very little honing so I thought perhaps I was missing something. So do those strokes affect the feel or are they purely aesthetic?