I had a recent e-mail correspondence with John Crowley on this recently. A while back I gave the formula for calculating the bevel angle of a razor. A typical angle is about 11 degrees, on a 5/8 with a 1/8" spine. If you tape the spine and take down the edge by 1/16" then hone the usual way to restore the angle as closely as possible, the angle may increas to 12 degrees.Quote:
Originally Posted by PapaBull
I like to tape when I use coarse grits because the metal comes off really fast, and it's not easy to control. If I don't take it off the spine, the taped spine will act as a guide for the edge (assuming I take it down that way) and I don't have to worry too much about the edge not staying parrallel with the spine. When I remove the tape the unchanged spine will act as a guide and the edge comes back into alignment. It's not so easy if you've removed a lot of metal from the spine unevenly.