Thread: One side bevel set question

I read a lot of mixed feelings on taping the spine. I'm still learning, but it seems some say tape, and some say don't tape. What razors should I tape and what ones shouldn't I? Is it the ground that it depends on?

There is not a lot of angle change to taping the spine. If I can use it to protect my razors from spine wear that works for me. I doubt I am going to reduce the width enough on any one blade that the thickness of the spine is going to be an issue. I tape them all, twice or three times if I am dealing with a wonky razor with uneven wear. In the beginning I was only going to tape until I got a handle on my honing. Now it seem the way to do it. To each their own.

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Originally Posted by Fahzie

I read a lot of mixed feelings on taping the spine. I'm still learning, but it seems some say tape, and some say don't tape. What razors should I tape and what ones shouldn't I? Is it the ground that it depends on?

Yes, a lot of mixed feelings and no definitive answers. So either way will do. Me, I use tape for the same reasons RezDog stated. One thing for sure a layer of tape can't hurt and saves marking up the spine.

Bob

Why is there mixed feelings on using tape?

I assume that those against tape say it alters the angle which is detrimental to the edge?

My edges are wicked and I use 2 layers of tape.

To each his or her own. for me I use atleast one layer of tape. if my spine has a lot of wear I will use 2 and have used 3 layers. there has been a few blades that to get an even edge I used 2 layers or more. again for me the edge shave well after the honing with tape and it does help keep down the scratches and wear on the spine just remember which blade you use tape on and how many layers. also there are different thickness of tape. 3M brand vinyl electric tape comes in 3 different thickness. I use the one that is .0085.

For me, part of the hobby is pushing the steel to a 15 degree bevel angle. If the angle is below that I'll use tape. I have had razors that would not hold an edge at that angle and I used tape to increase the angle. On someone else's razor, I'm more inclined to use tape.

It really doesn't matter much as you can always change. Tape is a useful tool for protecting the spine and/or increasing the bevel angle.

So first, to better answer your original question, post some photos of your razor, both sides as close as you can. I am not sure what it is you are describing.

Here is the bottom line, novice honers will use too much pressure and do too many laps on low grit aggressive stone learning to hone.

If you don’t tape the spine, you will needlessly grind away the spine and alter the bevel angle. You can never add steel to a razor.

Tape the razor when you are learning, once you master honing, then decide if you want to continue to use tape… at least you will still have a razor to hone.

When, like most of us that restore vintage razors, it does not make sense to polish a razor for hours, then grind away your work when there really is no beneficial reason to do so.

I tell novice honers to use 2 layers of tape until the bevel is set, you can easily reduce the angle to one layer if needed with just a few strokes. Two layers will give you twice the protection.

When you feel the razor get squishy or sticking on the hone or you see little bits floating in your slurry, you probably have burned through the tape, stop and change it. Tape is cheap use, lots of it.

And yes there is a definitive answer, to the tape question. A razor has never stopped shaving because of being honed with tape.

There are countless razors that have had the spines ground down to the point they will not hold an edge. Interestingly the “fix" for those damaged razors is,Tape…

I use a compromise method. If I want to avoid hone wear and need to set a new bevel, especially when using my chosera 1k, I will use a layer of tape. After the bevel is set, I will lightly dull the blade by gently swiping the edge on glass and reset the bevel on a coticule and continue the sharpening process using the dilucot method. This way there is no need to use to tape when refreshing the edge on the stone when it's time for a touch up and no hone wear.