Thread: Dumb Beginner's tape trick

Tonight I just had to hone up a razor. Problem arose as I couldn't find my black vinyl tape.

I used Scotch Packing tape. It was a little difficult to handle as it had to be cut for width as well as length.

I did 40 passes or more on 6K and more on 8K and finished on Thuri.

NO TAPE WEAR. None. Nada. smooth as silk and no residue on stone or blade.

Haven't tried it on 1K setting bevel but my 6K will get all gummed up with black.

Even the 8K will grind done the vinyl tape.

If it works this well on a 1K stone I am going hunting for 1/2 inch wide packing tape and not looking back.

MMHV

Hmmmm,,, Very very interesting,, I have some Duck packing tape right here, and 12 razors that need honing, me thinks I shall try your idea

Did you use just one layer? Scotch packing tape is only .002 thick. tough stuff for sure.

A single layer of clear packing tape. This particular roll is the Staples branded clear on a red plastic dispenser. I have found it identical to the 3m branded item usually hanging beside it in the stores. I will do some bevel setting tonight testing how well it holds up on a 1K stone.

This sounds interesting. I'll be following to see where we go from here.

I never have a problem with electrical tape. I have never had gum on the razor on hone afterwards. I think I will stick with it.

Originally Posted by jaswarb

No I disagree some of the other places I have been to are suppositories but SRP is much more comfortable.




Well tonight the packing tape got a fail! I had to bread knife a beautiful old Torry Full Double concave. Looked like it had been used a few times and put away wet. The edge was just serrated. I set the new bevel with a King 1K. Admittedly I was using pressure to remove a lot of metal initially but even when I backed off to very light pressure towards the end 40 passes was the limit of the packing tape. I was pulling it frequently and checking it for a grind line. When I move up to the 6K King and then the 8K Norton no problems but I still kept checking it frequently. Maybe if I used a more course stone with very light pressure the packing tape would have acted better. It still works well enough to be of value to me.

But was it more resistance than the 3m black electric tape?

Originally Posted by Double0757

But was it more resistance than the 3m black electric tape?

My perception it lasts longer than black electric tape by far. I did not do a side by side stroke by stroke comparison as I can't find my black tape which is what started this thread. I am not likely to go back to black tape as I don't normally have to do so much grinding on a blade. No question for me the packing tape is better from the sharpening phase(4k/6k) to the polishing(Thuri).

Wonder how thick that fiberglass reinforced packing tape is? comes in 3/4 in widths.

I don't believe it is smooth enough. I also believe it doesn't have the abrasion resistance of the plain packing tape. I finished my Henckel Set last night and when I pulled the tape of the last three razors it was all still shiny and smooth no wear visible(only used 6k/8k/thuri). Only the heavy repeated passes on 1k while setting the bevel has proven to abrade the packing tape and IMO it is less wear than occurs on electric tape.