Thread: Taping the spine

Hi Guys,

Probably a silly question but after honing, how do you remove your tape?

Mine leaves sticky black glue that takes a lot of wiping off with kitchen roll.

I am lucky that I am honing a practice razor not something with nice etching because I’m not convinced that wiping the glue off would hurt it.

On the up side though, I just honed a practice razor from setting the bevel to finishing and got a nice close shave so I’m pretty pleased with myself.

Is it possible to make a blade too sharp or can’t it ever be sharp enough?

The reason why I ask is that I have noticed that one or two of my razors seem to get more comfortable after using them a few times.

Steve

Use the sticky side of the tape to pull the residue off the blade. When all else fails use acetone.

A "harsh" blade can be tamed with repeated stropping. My Kanayama fire hose does this with about 30 laps.

I agree with Dave on how to remove the tape residue.

To sharp? .... yes, they can definitely be to sharp. . When you simply lay the blade on your face and it cuts you then it is to sharp.

Try stropping it first to see if that calms it down. After that then you have to consider going back to the hones.

Just my 2¢

I suspect most folks new to honing do not strop sufficiently when they feel they have reached a good edge with the stones. I suspect your edges feel like they improve with use because of the additional stropping you’ve done. Think about how many passes on the strop you gave that edge while shaving before you noticed how it had improved.

Many folks here strop A LOT after honing - a hundred or more passes - before shaving with the refreshed razor.

I use a product called, GooGone. WD-40 works just as good, and both will help protect your razor.

Too sharp..!! You betcha... Honed one up for Gasman, sent it to him. Uh hu, doubter to true believer.

Originally Posted by outback

I use a product called, GooGone. WD-40 works just as good, and both will help protect your razor.

Too sharp..!! You betcha... Honed one up for Gasman, sent it to him. Uh hu, doubter to true believer.

Excellent, I got Goo Gone for the car and I also have WD40 as well as Duck Tape.

WD40 for stuff that’s sposed to move and Duck Tape for stuff that shouldn’t.

It works on ducks too

Steve

Originally Posted by STF

Excellent, I got Goo Gone for the car and I also have WD40 as well as Duck Tape.

WD40 for stuff that’s sposed to move and Duck Tape for stuff that shouldn’t.

It works on ducks too

Steve

I believe you'll find that a quality Black Electrical Tape will work much better.

You can use the elcheapo electrical tape commonly found at hardware stores etc. I used it for a few years believing that there couldn't be that much difference----Until I followed gssixguns advice and tried 3M 700 black electrical tape---an entire world of difference.

If you can't find it locally I believe you'll find it at Amazon (I did)

One of the reasons I like honing with a coticule is that it seems almost impossible to form a foil edge or make the edge too sharp. I think you could hone all day with a coticule and not overhone the edge.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

I believe you'll find that a quality Black Electrical Tape will work much better.

You can use the elcheapo electrical tape commonly found at hardware stores etc. I used it for a few years believing that there couldn't be that much difference----Until I followed gssixguns advice and tried 3M 700 black electrical tape---an entire world of difference.

If you can't find it locally I believe you'll find it at Amazon (I did)

That’s interesting, mine came from the Dollar Store.

I’ll try the stuff you suggest, I thought tape was tape.

Steve

Seems when they coined the saying, "You get what you pay for," they also meant vinyl electrical tape. Crazy, I know.

There's also 3M Scotch Super 33 and 88, the latter being the thicker of the two. I've been using Super 33, but I'm not sure how it compares to the 700. Specifications on thickness and amount per roll may be found on the packaging.