Pasted strop w/tape on spine?
I sure haven't heard anybody talk about this so I thought I would throw this out there.
I honed up a Shumate with piece of tape on the spine. Well, it passed all the tests wonderfully, but the shave test was less than admirable. I put the razor down for a few days to think about the situation. Today, I decided to put a new piece of tape on and go to the pasted strop. Before, I had removed the tape after 8k and gone to the pasted strop...this time I left it on. After the paste, I removed the tape, linen, Premium I. Whammo! Shave ready. It wasn't as good as Lynn's magic on my Dovo's, but it was still clean and comfortable during the entire shave. I suppose removing the tape didn't let the strop contact the bevel enough for that extra polish it needed.
Sooo...you sneaky devils have been holding out on me. Nobody ever mentions to keep the tape on all the way through the pasted strop.:) I'm up to three successful hone jobs at this point, woot!