Thread: To tape or not to tape?

Excessive spine wear as I made the 100s and 100s of laps learning to hone was exactly my concern. I have used one layer of tape on every razor I have honed. Taking a taped-to-hone sharp razor and setting the bevel with no tape would remove metal from the inner edge of the bevel and progressively remove steel toward the edge until the sides met at sharp edge of the new bevel - right?

Question for the Honemeisters: Now that I am getting shave-able edges in a more reasonable number of strokes (i.e my technique is getting a little better), about how many laps, circles or whatever would you predict to get to a set bevel on a Norton 1K on a currently sharp blade with no tape?
Reason for asking: It would be nice to not have to apply tape to touch up a blade on a barber's hone.

Thank you!

Thanks

Originally Posted by coloshaver

Question for the Honemeisters: Now that I am getting shave-able edges in a more reasonable number of strokes (i.e my technique is getting a little better), about how many laps, circles or whatever would you predict to get to a set bevel on a Norton 1K on a currently sharp blade with no tape?
Reason for asking: It would be nice to not have to apply tape to touch up a blade on a barber's hone.

I don't claim the title of honemeister but I have honed my share of razors. The first year all of them with tape and the last couple of years almost all without. If the razor is, as you describe, sharp, I wouldn't go near a 1k. One thing I've learned in my time honing razors is that every razor doesn't need to have its bevel set .... unless it does. For a currently sharp blade I would start with a finishing hone and end with one. Just IMHO.

Coloshaver:
I think I am reading this correctly as you want to change the taped bevel to an un-taped bevel ??? so that you can just do touch ups on a Barber's hone

If I read that correctly the the answer is about 20 laps on a Norton 4k or whatever the equivilent of that is for you... That will eliminate one layer of electrical taped bevel ... IME

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Coloshaver:
I think I am reading this correctly as you want to change the taped bevel to an un-taped bevel ??? so that you can just do touch ups on a Barber's hone

If I read that correctly the the answer is about 20 laps on a Norton 4k or whatever the equivilent of that is for you... That will eliminate one layer of electrical taped bevel ... IME

+1 on Glenn's comment.
I would add that a magic marker and a 10x magnifier
can make it easy to see the new bevel replace the
old. If you use a red marker you will see a thin red
line for a bit. Shortly after that thin red line vanishes
you have a new bevel.

And tape works for a lot of folk. The feel
is different because you have less steel on the
hone.

Tom's way is really really the easy way,