Thread: Some Thoughts on Taping the Spine while honing

This is a very controversial subject around here so I thought I would take a few minutes and write about a few things I have found to be true about taping the spine... These are not thoughts these are from experience with taping every single razor I hone unless otherwise requested....

I only use 1 layer of tape while honing, I know some use more, but I have never found it to be necessary even on the big huge wedges... so these quotes pertain to one layer only...

Some things that I believe are facts about using tape:

It does save the spine
It does help with those minor warps
It does help even up the bevel when there is un-even hone wear on the spine
It does create less wear on the stones
It does create way less swarf on the stones
It does not effect stropping in the least after you take off the tape
It does not take tons of honing to eliminate the taped bevel should one decide to (about 20 laps on a 1k Norton does it)
It does make the stroke down the hone smoother


These are things I believe to be true:

It helps create that very, very, slight torque toward the edge needed when honing...
It helps to create a slightly stronger edge
It helps to create a slightly smaller bevel
The edges seem to last longer
I really seriously doubt that anyone is capable of feeling the difference between a taped spine edge and an un-taped one while shaving...
I really seriously doubt that anyone in their lifetime will ever see the effects of taping a spine creating a too steep angle to hone the razor...

I am not saying you should tape the spine, or you shouldn't tape the spine, I am just saying what I have found to be true so far.... Meet me here same time same channel in 10 years and let's compare notes again...