Thread: Removing a "taped" bevel

Hi guys! I've got 5 razors that a had honed by someone else. He used a layer of electrical tape on the spine. I now have a full set of my own hones. These razors are shave ready, but I want to be able to keep them sharp without using the tape. My current setup is the Naniwa 3/8k & 12k. How would you guys approach this? Should I use circles, x strokes, with or without pressure etc.? Thanks for any advice.

I once thought the same thing, but am now convinced to just always use tape. May I ask why you want to hone without the tape?

Originally Posted by CStevens

Hi guys! I've got 5 razors that a had honed by someone else. He used a layer of electrical tape on the spine. I now have a full set of my own hones. These razors are shave ready, but I want to be able to keep them sharp without using the tape. My current setup is the Naniwa 3/8k & 12k. How would you guys approach this? Should I use circles, x strokes, with or without pressure etc.? Thanks for any advice.

If those razor at Truly Shave Ready--Set the Norton aside and use the Naniwa to touch up the edge when it starts to either not seem to be up to snuff or starts to 'pull'.

If those razors are in good shape you don't need to HONE you need to MAINTAIN the edge. It's only a few laps and please use the tape, it's good insurance. Why scratch up the spine when you don't need to?

Watch Glen's video about using a barbers hone and you will get a better idea.

This is all presuming that you have hones that are lapped and ready to go.

Originally Posted by CStevens

Hi guys! I've got 5 razors that a had honed by someone else. He used a layer of electrical tape on the spine. I now have a full set of my own hones. These razors are shave ready, but I want to be able to keep them sharp without using the tape. My current setup is the Naniwa 3/8k & 12k. How would you guys approach this? Should I use circles, x strokes, with or without pressure etc.? Thanks for any advice.

Have you shaved with the razors yet? That's the true shave ready test, in my opinion.

If they were my razors and they were enjoyable shaves, I would definitely say don't hone them yet. If they start to pull, go to the 12K WITH TAPE ON and they'll be back in awesome shape.

If you have an a different reason for re-honing the razors with no tape, you might be at it for a while with the 3K. You may want to slurry the 3K to make the cutting quicker. Or you could buy a King 1K and just be done with a lengthy bevel-setting sitting.

Shave with them to verify shave readiness first.

Kind Regards,
Simon

I would agree that you should just use them as is until they need to be touched up. While I too prefer no tape, I wouldn't remove the metal without cause.

At that point, if you decide you still want to be able to hone them without tape, I would recommend going down to a 1k and doing a full rehone (fully reset the bevel to pass all 1k tests). You'll want to keep a close eye on the edge with magnification and/or marker to ensure you have set your new bevel all the way to the edge (in other words, be sure that you are not feeling the sharpness of the old bevel). If you don't think you can do this by feel and/or sight, you could always VERY LIGHTLY dull the edge before you start so you can be sure you are feeling and/or seeing your bevel.

I think I'll just leave well enough alone. I've already "refreshed" one of them using tape one the 12k with wonderful results. The reason I was thinking about it is because I have razors honed both with & without tape. I just wanted to simplify things. But, I believe I'll stick with using the tape on those 5 razors. Thanks guys.

When it becomes time to reset the bevel on those razors honed without tape use tape and eventually they'll all be the same.

Bob

I will admit I have mixed feelings about it,
If you have 5 truly shave ready razors, the hones, and the desire to learn,
It may not be a bad time to use one for a few good solid shaves and note what the edge can be (I would not do it with my favorites).
Lightly dull the edge and begin, after all you have enough in rotation to get you through and your bench marks in them.
I know I was eager as well and get that, you can set a bevel on the 3k although not as quickly (I set all my bevels on the 5k until I got the proper technique down)
I would however use tape until I got the bevel setting and honing to an acceptable level, at that point losing the tape would not be much work even on a 3k hone IMO.

All of the above advice is solid, and mine is only another perspective, after all you have no need to hone at this point.
That does not mean the desire to learn is not there.
Perspective - I am glad I learned to change brakes before my car wouldn't stop any more -

Here is what I found when I tested the whole Taped Bevel vs No Tape bevel years back...


It takes about 20 laps on a Norton 4k to erase to effect of a newly set bevel from 1 layer of 3M 77 electrical tape, just normal light laps not bevel setting pressure..
It take less then that after the razor has been used for some time...


So the moral of the story is, if you want to hone them now without tape drop down to around the 4k level and start there to be safe


This is what I found from actual testing on several razors, with different grinds... YMMV,,, mine however didn't

You might want to put some kind of a non-permanent mark on the ones that are taped. Maybe a dot of white-out on the scale or maybe the wedge.