Thread: Taping the spine when removing chips.

Been watching some videos on razor honing and repair, and when the topic of removing chips comes up, they suggest taping the spine to prevent its being worn down.

This would obviously deepen the angle of razor's edge. Wouldn't this be a bad thing? I mean other than trying to make the razor look less worn than it is, what's the benefit of preventing the spine from being worn down at the same rate as the edge that outweighs the desire to maintain the razor's designed edge angle?

I think the progress of "damage" to the blade is so tiny, that it will affect your grandchildren, not you.Personaly I use a tape.

Originally Posted by IanS

, what's the benefit of preventing the spine from being worn down at the same rate as the edge that outweighs the desire to maintain the razor's designed edge angle?

Some Blades are expensive and does have some works on back of the blade. People like to save that and that is the another reason for taping.
next one in future if you like to sell it will help the owner.
over then above none.
gl

Just a fast search in this forum shows 221 threads that discuss taping the spine...

After reading all those you are going to find pros and cons and it will be your personal preference as to which way you procede...

I used to tape the spine on all of them and now I'm experimenting on honing without tape unless it is a Damascus or decorated spine. I will still use tape to remove chips and maybe to correct a bevel initially even without chips. Then I will continue on the bevel set until it is 'there' without the tape and go on up the ladder. I'm not claiming that one or the other is the 'right' way. Just what I'm doing now. Like Glen said, it becomes a matter of personal preference.

Just when I thought no tape was surely the way to go, I honed a razor with tape for someone else because it had a decorative spine and it was among the best edges I'd ever put on a razor. I think there's a lot of truth to the thought that sometimes the real difference in the edge is more about the razor than the person at the stones (all things being equal).

I guess it comes down to what angle you want to put on it. There's a thread here where someone posted some geometry explaining what happens when you tape, with a chart showing angles in the 9-10 degree range mostly. But there is some variance, so I guess in the end the final edge comes down to personal preference. The desire to preserve pretty blades makes perfect sense, I hadn't even thought of that. But from a strictly functional standpoint, you do have to prepare for a steeper angle on the razor, I had assumed that would be more of a problem than it seems to be for most people... so I guess these razors have a bit of leeway in that department (brings to mind the "can it be too sharp" thread I saw here yesterday).

Be very very very careful when reading "math" sorta like 95% of all percentages on the Internet are BS

For sure 1 layer of 3M brand tape is less than 1 degree of change....which means I seriously doubt anyone can tell the difference in the shave...

Also contrary to popular myth, all the info in the Wiki is not proved much is opinion... Including my stuff in there...

This is why I always recommend going to the original threads as they have many asked and answered questions...

I always get better edges when I use tape, except on the razors where I always get better edges without tape. Hope that was clear.

All things equal I'd rather not have tape, because I'm lazy and like to touch up on my escher randomly without haveing to cut and wrap etc. But some edges where I was at A- and just couldn't get to A, I threw on some tape and they jumped to A. So I use tape on those.

Another thing that compelled me to start with taping all of them was my fear that due to inexperience I would go too hard or too long. It took me awhile to begin to have confidence that I wouldn't mess up a razor without using tape. Personally I think a new honer is best off starting with tape and when he or she has the chops tape it or not.