Thread: While honing, does the spine contact the stone? (Question a little more in depth)

Hey all,

So I am new to the straight razor and pretty excited to get started. I read quite a bit of information including “The Art of the Straight Razor Guide” by Christopher Moss. He references SRP a lot which is why I joined to begin with.


Here is the information leading to my question:

Moss says that when honing, “Both the spine and the edge must stay in contact with the hone at all times.”

That makes sense, but I have a full hollow 5/8^th inch carbon steel Dovo Diamant (image below) that is blued. Now, if the spine is contacting the stone while I am honing, won’t the blued steel rub off?

If it will, I have read that a piece of masking tape or electric tape will prevent scratching. However, this contradicts the following statement that Moss made:

Here Moss is talking about honing a full hollow blade:
The beauty of this idea is that the spine and edge are the only parts of the blade to contact the hone when the blade is laid upon it. This controls the angle of the tapering metal that will form the edge, but means that no great amount of metal need be removed from the side of the blade as with a wedge. As the edge is gradually worn away by repeated honing, so is the spine, thus maintaining the geometry of the honing angle.

Now, getting to my point, won’t leaving masking tape on the spine affect this “geometry of the honing angle?”
Do you know what I am saying? I would appreciate any help anyone could give me!


Natureman


-- "If it sounds like a squirrel, it's a deer. If it sounds like an elephant its a squirrel." ---Forgot who said this

A lot of guys, including myself, use a strip of electrical tape on the spine for honing. It does protect the spine from wear. If you set the razor bevel using a strip of tape, then you should also sharpen, polish, and finish (optional) the razor using a strip of tape to keep the edge angle consistent.

You can shave great off it with one piece of tape. Spine wear is something that very heavy used blades would get a lot of, not a typical blade that shaves 1 face a day. I would use tape to keep it in new condition.

+1, you don't have to worry about honing with 1 piece of tape causing any problems. If you do not use it you will indeed lose the blue @ the honing flat on the spine. Not the end of the world but some guys prefer no spine wear at all. If wearing the blue away will bother you go for the tape. I like 3M super 33 myself but any electrical tape will do.

Thanks Guys

This straight razor is brand new. I bought it from Straight Razor Designs shave ready. If it dulls slightly and I take it to a 12k finishing stone (with tape on the spine), will that affect the original angle from Straight Razor Designs? Or do you think they honed with tape? Will I have to reset the bevel with the tape on? If so, would I use an 800 grit?

Thanks a lot! My brother (who is new too) and I both appreciate the help.

The guy who hones their razors (including yours), Lynn, doesn't use tape.

If you touch up on a 12k you won't need to reset the bevel. You will just increase the angle slightly.

If you do it without tape you won't wear anything away that isn't already worn.

Michael