Thread: When Did Taping the Spine Begin?

As the title states, I'm curious about the development of the practice of taping the spine (not that I am necessarily advocating it). When did it start, and what was used at the time? Does it coincide with the invention of electrical tape, or was it used with old wedges "back in the day" with other mediums than electrical tape? Or is it an Internet forum innovation? Etc., etc.

my opinion only, but with the resurgence of this hobby and the razors being so old that they had spine wear it was a great solution to getting the bevel back and and this is a big and, guys getting into doing this for pay that didn't want to cause any hone wear or scratch up the nice restoration work they just did and the new razors that came out with nice spine work. it is a good practice if the razor is not yours, plus metal taken off is metal gone for good. I personally would not want my thousand dollar razor scratched up coming back from the hone guy, and neither would he.

back in the day a razor got honed down too much I,m sure they just got another, they were cheap, plus most only owned 1-2 . plus I don't know the old sharpening guy with the wagon may have have some sort of protection for really worn out blades. but in my first paragraph I think is the best explanation there is, plus we are in an advanced time from those guys so normally we would progress to a better way. Tc

One of the historians posted once about references in an old manual to using something to protect the spine. In any event I would just like to keep my razors sharp and looking newish as far as blade shape goes. I am fairl certain that a well experienced person at honing does not cause that much hone wear, mostly a few marks. However I have seen some razors posted by new guys that have destroyed the geometry of new razors with excessive hone wear. I think new people , for the sake of their razors, should use tape. Once you have a handle on honing you should be able to concentrate the cutting action of the hone entirely on the bevel and not create wear. There are some that only use tape for the bevel set. It really is a personal choice.

Good question. I guess electrical tape must date to the early 20th century ? AFAIK, other than barber manuals, there wasn't a lot of honing information disseminated before the internet.

Other than info found in the few barber manuals I imagine honing straight razors was an art handed down from one individual to another.

Whoever came up with the idea of taping the spine had a good idea IMHO.

EDIT; My friend google said electrical tape was invented by 3M in 1946

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_tape

Thank you for your comments. From them, I'm thinking that taping is a more recent innovation. That makes me wonder about wedges though. Also, a frameback with removable blades is sort of a metal analogy to taping.

I always suspected that it was popularized by commercial honers to speed things up and also not scratch their customer's blades.

I think it is driven more by hobbyists and collectors. And I understand that.

For an everyday tool as the spine gets thinner so does the blade width.....

I have never seen taping being recommended in barbers' manuals so I guess it is a pretty modern invention of hobbyists who want to try many blades and sell them on looking near mint after having tried them for a short while. It does facilitate honing of wedge style razors.

Originally Posted by Kees

I have never seen taping being recommended in barbers' manuals so I guess it is a pretty modern invention of hobbyists who want to try many blades and sell them on looking near mint after having tried them for a short while. It does facilitate honing of wedge style razors.

Wedge blades are especially susceptible to spine or blade surface wear when honing. If taping or another system is to be dismissed prior to the Internet and the 1940s invention of electrical tape, perhaps they were honed raising the spine if they have come down to us in decent shape, provided that they were actually used?

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

Wedge blades are especially susceptible to spine or blade surface wear when honing. If taping or another system is to be dismissed prior to the Internet and the 1940s invention of electrical tape, perhaps they were honed raising the spine if they have come down to us in decent shape, provided that they were actually used?

That's my take. Several of my old wedges had bevels that were uneven side to side which might indicate knife-like honing.