Another Basic Honing Question...

I listened to Joe Chandler tonight and taped my #3 wapi when honing....

Result... bevel set and honed in about 90 minutes with no spine wear or blade scratches.

I think this may be the sharpest edge I've gotten yet. This will be determined by shaving but it certainly takes arm hair off like butter.

But/And

The bevel shoulder is half the height of my first two attempts.
On the first two attempts I have significant spine wear and a long bevel.

I have read lot's of discussion about honing razor without tape to keep the "angles" consistent over time and thought that sounded like a good theory but taping the spine seems to be keeping me from chewing up a lot of steel.

1. Does this suggest I am putting too much "weight" on the spine when I am honing or am I completely confused?

2. Is the theory of keeping the angles even good but unrealistic?

3 Is a long bevel any sharper than a short bevel / and which is more durable given a good edge?

Thanks,
Bob
:w

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Originally Posted by RobertFontaine

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I have read lot's of discussion about honing razor without tape to keep the "angles" consistent over time and thought that sounded like a good theory but taping the spine seems to be keeping me from chewing up a lot of steel.

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If you get better results with the tape, then that's the way to go.

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1. Does this suggest I am putting too much "weight" on the spine when I am honing or am I completely confused?

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Ideally, the spine should touch the hone with no pressure at all, which is pretty hard to do and not too practical. It is possible that you use more pressure on the spine than edge. If so, you could either work on improving your honing stroke or just use tape (or both). I, personally, like the way tape protects the more ornate and gold-washed spines.

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2. Is the theory of keeping the angles even good but unrealistic?

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Isn't all that necessary, as long as your angle is reasonably consistent each time you hone. Notice that your use of electrical tape increases the blade-to-bevel angle by about 0.5 degree on each side. The angle is consistent using the tape and you are getting a killer edge. Hard to argue with success. Taking the tape off will still allow stropping to work normally, so I'd say, "no problem".

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3 Is a long bevel any sharper than a short bevel / and which is more durable given a good edge?...

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The tape will increase the razor's included cutting angle from about 15 degrees to about 16 degrees (assuming a 6/8). In theory this will make the edge a bit less fine and a bit more durable. In practice I do not believe any of us would notice it much.

Wapienica razors have very short bevels but they take an incredible edge.

Tape or no tape really doesn't matter much in my book. In 100 years, you might notice that the edge has worn a lot and the spine hasn't, changing the angles a bit. But I suspect most of us have more than one razor, so it's unlikely we will hone enough to really make much difference in our lifetimes.

My only gripe against taping is that you will probably need to retape the spine each time you touch the razor up. I like the convenience of being able to just grab a hone and do a few strokes, so I usually don't tape.

Just remember: If you hone it initially with tape, always use tape for touchups.

Josh

I have only honed one razor using tape to establish a double bevel. I have a wedge that I had repeatedly tried to get shave ready with the hones. I used two layers of tape and with a few passes with the 8K Norton and then diamond pastes it shaved as good as my other razors. The only problem I can see using this method is if you have many razors you have to remember which ones you have a double bevel on. For now I am only going to use this method on my wedges so I can keep them separate.

bj