Thread: Tweaking the Edge with Tape

if I had never had a razor honed by others I would never have found out that mine was not there to start with ,, and comparing has been an eye opener for me . I don't hone but I feel comfortable with knowing now what is sharp and smooth, I do look at them with a loupe to see what it looks like too ,, I have some of the custom razors and they really show more than just craftsmanship ,,some very great shaving edges ,, and also I found a honemiester who gives my smoothest shave , so Tim is right ,, more than one way to get it there, each technique is interesting to me I guess what I,m saying is try different styles or different guys if you can ,,, you never know what your missing ,, tc

Crox crox... Im soo tired of reading crox! Razor egde dont need crox for nice edge.

Originally Posted by Tjarven

Crox crox... Im soo tired of reading crox! Razor egde dont need crox for nice edge.

But.....Of Course!

Yup. You can go without a lot of this stuff. It's just another tool in the bag.

The microscopes are another good example. I only use my microscopes for research. When I'm honing in the shop, I only go as far as a 7 diopter Optivisor.

Originally Posted by Tjarven

Crox crox... Im soo tired of reading crox! Razor egde dont need crox for nice edge.

Think you're on to something, Tim. Took the Shumate razor I shaved with on Tuesday (on two days beard growth), gave it 20 x-strokes on Naniwa 12k with one layer of tape. Added two more layers of tape and did 20 more x-strokes, then 10 strop laps on 1/2 u diamond, 10 on 1/4 u diamond, then 10 on crox. 100 strop laps on leather and shaved, once again with two days growth. much easier on initial wtg, which is where i experience the most discomfort in shaving. Thanks for the tip and photos.

Tim quick question ..if I set my bevel with one layer of tape could I just add a second layer at the 12k stage.. .. ? I'm just gonna try it sure same results

Tried this on a razor I had recently honed and wasn't happy with, a marked improvement.

Yup. Here is how I currently do things

Care and Feeding of Zowada Razors

Ignore the two bevel honing link on the bottom. I haven't updated it in a long time.

Originally Posted by Airportcopper

Tim quick question ..if I set my bevel with one layer of tape could I just add a second layer at the 12k stage.. .. ? I'm just gonna try it sure same results

I don't use pastes or powders to hone with , only stones. I do like seeing the progression of the edge under a microscope though. The opening post was a pleasure to read, thanks Tim.

What brand of scope took these images?

Maybe I'm off base but adding tape at the end on a finisher is creating a micro scopic bevel and more than likely after stropping a micro convex in the bevel. I'm just confused on how this is not a micro bevel.

I also have a question regarding the stria in the photos. It seems like there are some very deep scratches the become shallower over the progression but are still vary visible.

Why not spend the time at a lower grit (ie 4k) removing the scratch pattern from setting the bevel.

Which is my last question. Why is it faster to polish out the "toothy edge" at a higher grit?

Please don't misunderstand my mindset. I'm simply curious and not trying to be critical. I just can't make sense of some of this.