Thread: Taping while honing

I've been honing quite a bit lately and have had time to think about the process. After trying taping the spine on a razor I noticed that the tape had started to wear as expected. Having some machining experience that got the wheels turning. A few thousandths of an inch can make a difference when centering a part in a lathe for example. Same with tightening the jaws of the lathe chuck, you can see how many thousandths of an inch it moves on a dial indicator in relation to how tight it is.

With all this in mind I got to wondering about the changes in thickness of the tape. Theoretically replacing worn tape with new would mean the angle of the spine would change in relation to the edge of the blade. Whereas leaving the spine un-taped means that the wear of the spine would remain constant in relation to the edge.

I don't consider myself an expert at honing and typically fall into the no tape camp with few exceptions. Like many theoretical ideas the real question is does it really matter in the long run? What does everyone think?

Yes tape wears as you hone but that's why you need to replace it frequently, to keep the same angle.
It doesn't matter but people who use tape must have more patience than I do

The tape can be a useful tool in that regard. I generally use the same tape all the way to my finishing hone, then replace it, it definitely adds a little to the angle and in theory gives you a secondary bevel but it also makes you sure your honing all the way to the edge. I’ve never seen a secondary by the time I come off the finisher as the change in angles is so slight. One of the many tricks I’ve learned from reading around here.

I have used tape on the spine for many years and will continue to do so.

I view hone wear on the spine as ugly. I use 1 layer on German ground full hollows and 3 layers on wedges. The 3 layers create a better honing angle for the wedges.

Just my 2¢

Has 6 months gone by ?????


We will cut you some slack as #1 you are new #2 you like Z28's


ps: This is the real theory "Whereas leaving the spine un-taped means that the wear of the spine would remain constant in relation to the edge."
and the reason tape became popular


No it simply dosesn't matter in the real world

Originally Posted by CamaroZ28

I've been honing quite a bit lately and have had time to think about the process. After trying taping the spine on a razor I noticed that the tape had started to wear as expected. Having some machining experience that got the wheels turning. A few thousandths of an inch can make a difference when centering a part in a lathe for example. Same with tightening the jaws of the lathe chuck, you can see how many thousandths of an inch it moves on a dial indicator in relation to how tight it is.

With all this in mind I got to wondering about the changes in thickness of the tape. Theoretically replacing worn tape with new would mean the angle of the spine would change in relation to the edge of the blade. Whereas leaving the spine un-taped means that the wear of the spine would remain constant in relation to the edge.

I don't consider myself an expert at honing and typically fall into the no tape camp with few exceptions. Like many theoretical ideas the real question is does it really matter in the long run? What does everyone think?

First and foremost, while I didn't believe it when I started honing and using tape there is a Huge Difference between the cheap electrical black tape that you find at most places to the 3M 700 tape that was recommended to me by a Pro Honer.

The 3M 700 has much more wear resistance. That's no bull!


I still am a bit anal as I change the tape after setting the bevel (if the bevel is taking awhile, I re-tape) and then I change tape after the 1K--the 4K then the 8K and then when I go to a finisher. (If I go from say a Naniwa 12K to a Coti, I again change tape). As Glen (GSSIXGUN) said in his video when he was helping speedster learn to hone "Tape's Cheap".

Just my two bits------------for those youngsters that $0.25 USD

has anyone actually measured the thickness of the taped spine before and after honing? I would think that the difference in thickness would be so minute (unless one is using a very heavy hand and never changes the tape) that is wouldn't make that much difference. In one of Glen's videos he demonstrates how few strokes it actually takes to reset the bevel when switching from tape to no tape.It really doesn't take that many, so the few thousandths or tenth of a thousandth wouldn't matter. JMHO

You are absolutely correct in that the theory is that the spine wears as the blade does maintaining the bevel angle. Unfortunately that theory goes to hell in a hand basket when people apply excess pressure to the spine and little to the blade edge. Many a vintage razor has too much hone wear on the spine and benefits from building the spine up with some layers of tape to get back into the ballpark for a correct bevel angle.

So, taping the spine has it's uses and even on a new razor, assuming the geometry is correct in the first place, a layer of tape on the spine won't make a huge difference in the bevel angle. Use it or don't is a personal choice.

On this site http://coticule.be/wedges.html you will find on the left column an Excel file download to calculate bevel angles with.

Bob

I'm with Randy on this.
I use tape on everything.
Honeware is ugly, but it's something that you have to deal with on almost all older blades.
I like to try to prevent it, especially on new razors.
If you're concerned with the thickness of the tape, try Kapton Tape. I've had good luck with it since I started using it. It's very thin and quite strong. I particularly like it on real thin hollow ground blades.

Pete <:-}

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Has 6 months gone by ?????

Didn't know there was actually a timing to this question.