Thread: To tape or not to tape?

It's just that most people say they use the tape because they don't want any wear on the spine. But in fact, the wear on the spine is desirable, if one was to keep the original angle over the lifetime of the blade. And if the spine wears more slowly than the edge, even without the tape, then taping makes even less sense.
The only reason I see for taping is to preserve a fancy decorative finish for those who have it. Or use local taping to correct a frown, toe wear, etc.
Agreed that the blade is likely to outlast me, but why waste tape and time, if it is actually counter-productive?

@ hi_bud_gl, thanks, I used Corel to draw it up. Yeah, I will be glad to draw up some more, if you explain in more detail what it is.

Regards.

I just thought of one valid reason for taping. For those with less than perfect honing skills (me), taping would prevent any wear to the spine, including uneven wear. I don't know how much wear one would put on the spine before their technique gets pretty good, but it maybe somewhat useful for beginners (me).

Another drawing for hone wear. A hollowed razor this time.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Now for the bad news, by the time that happens you will probably be in the grave and your great grandkid will figure it out, if he cares to not use his Gillette Laser Plasma 10 Watt mega hair blaster... and use Great Grand Pops straight razor....

That is if you only hone when needed and hone properly

I have to agree with Glen. If using a minimal amount of tape (as in 1 layer) for honing and touchups the difference would be less than negligible for one lifetime. By the time it would be noticable you'd be dead and the new owner could hone it however he sees fit.

Ive been following Glens advise and watching his videos and I haven't had any problems getting great edges on my razors,so if its good enough for him its fine for me,also some of my razors have nice engraved spines which I don't want to mark up,the thickness of a piece of tape is negligible so I don't see it doing much harm. I'm also the kind of guy who waxes the inside of my cars hood,so if your going to do it ,make it perfect

Well Alan we didn't even make it one week let alone one month LOL

To the OP, seriously, do you have any idea how many times this exact same discussion has been posted ???? with the exact same drawings, and the exact same assumptions??

And after the 100's of threads on this topic,,, the outcome has never changed, there is no, noteworthy difference between 1 layer of tape, and no tape, other then protecting the spine...
There are at least 10 theories that have come from these discussions both for and against Tape basically Tape if ya want, and don't Tape if ya don't want

But yes yer "science" is correct, but only if you can hone with perfectly even pressure edge to spine, and you are assuming that the spine is as hard as the edge on all razors (which is not true) so again honing is not Rocket Science, or any other kind either

No really, I don't know why you guys don't get this. You have to tape the ENTIRE blade! All you want to show is the bevel! If you sharpen more than that your blade will wear down and you'll have to drop $10 for a new Zeepk every month! I'm serious. Tape the WHOLE blade.


*Sorry, I couldn't resist. I think it's bed time.

Originally Posted by time2shave

Another drawing for hone wear. A hollowed razor this time.

Yeah, that's correct now and it all depends on the actual numbers that go with the amount of metal removed from the edge and the spine.

You should get an inexpensive razor and see how that works. Of course after you hone several hundreds or thousands you'll realize that there are many factors that determine the exact numbers, so any generalizations are completely useless. (You don't need to hone that many razors if you figure it out, but if you can't figure it out that number should be about good to convince you just from your observations in practice).

When honing with tape, wouldn't the tape wear down at a faster rate than the the edge being honed and making it harder to keep the bevel flush with the stone?

Originally Posted by Lynn

OK......who likes tape and who doesn't..............

I'm gonna report this post for trying to incite a riot

everybody knows duct tape is the solution to every problem in america