Thread: first time hone

Fear of spine wear was my motivator for using tape on all my razors the first year I honed. I would probably still be using tape if it hadn't been for Lynn. The fact that Lynn didn't use tape unless there were circumstances that called for it bothered me. I felt like I was missing something and maybe not doing it right.

After a year of honing a fair amount of razors I had some confidence in myself and took a NOS Solingen razor and measured the spine on both ends and the middle. I honed that razor from bevel set through finishing and measured it again and there was no appreciable wear. I repeated this procedure with a couple of more and gave up on tape.

I say there was no appreciable wear, obviously there will be some. The excessive and sometimes uneven wear we see on older razors probably took decades of honing with too much pressure. An inexperienced honer might cause that kind of wear on a new razor but IMO he would have to work at it.

I believe that honing without tape, if done properly, will create a beneficial relationship between the spine and edge. It will gradually correct the geometry if there are anomalies between the two. If you hone with tape all of the time I suppose the geometry will correct itself on the edge with the spine remaining the same. Without tape it will be a combination of both surfaces wearing in to a relationship with each other.

I only hone razors for myself most of the time. Occasionally I've honed them for other members but not often. If I honed for hire I might use 1 layer of tape since it ain't my razor. I might just ask the owner what their preference is and go with that. Of course on Damascus patterned steel or decorated spines I use that layer of tape.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice. Can't say enough good things about this forum...truly awesome community. Cheers!!