Thread: Using tape for touch-ups

Is it really a hassle?,Do's it make a hill of beans differance? so you use one layer of tape to re-fresh a blade that was honed with no tape,You end up with perhaps a Zowada type edge (which is a darn fine edge IMO)
I can see an issue touching up an edge using no tape that was honed with tape tho.

I think the reason I considered it a hassle was because at times I was honing a lot of razors. That equals a lot of pieces of tape to mess with. If I was a guy with one or two , honing them once in awhile , perhaps I wouldn't have developed the aversion to the stuff. After my first year and 100 + razors all honed with one layer of tape I dipped my foot in the water and began honing without tape.

I didn't screw any spines up or cause excessive wear, liked the feel of the steel on the hone better and never looked back. It is a personal choice but if I did use tape I would either touch up with tape or set a new bevel without it. Consistency is a good thing in honing IMHO. YMMV.

Ever consider adding an additional layer of tape, so 2 in this case, to create a double bevel/microbevell to 'refresh' it?

Originally Posted by brooksie967

Ever consider adding an additional layer of tape, so 2 in this case, to create a double bevel/microbevell to 'refresh' it?

You asking me ? No I never did use more than one layer unless it was to do some chip removal on a wedge or something like that and then I might use 3 but would get down to one layer ASAP. The double bevel thing was a Tim Zowada innovation AFAIK. At least when I first came around that was the impression I had. Then later on Tim posted that he wasn't actually doing a double bevel ....... or something like that. Anyway, I always liked to keep it simple so I have stuck with the traditional single bevel and called it good enough.

Jimmy, not you directly but I appreciate your answer! You are right in your mention of Mr. Zowada innovating it (AFAIK), and I haven't tried it myself yet but have read a bunch of posts about it as I delve deeper into the bowels of this site. I thought this might be an interesting way of 'touching up' a razor.

As I just got finished helping my daughter with jr high math, I alway thought that tape served two purposes: 1 to protect the spine and 2 to correct the geometry that a worn spine may have caused on creating the correct angle on the edge. The whole triangle thing. Height of the spine, length of the blade.....

Originally Posted by Johnus

As I just got finished helping my daughter with jr high math, I alway thought that tape served two purposes: 1 to protect the spine and 2 to correct the geometry that a worn spine may have caused on creating the correct angle on the edge. The whole triangle thing. Height of the spine, length of the blade.....

I always thought they should be honed down together, with tape you will change the angle since your never hone the spine.
It probably really doesn't matter... it's just me, I don't like tape when honing.

Originally Posted by Johnus

As I just got finished helping my daughter with jr high math, I alway thought that tape served two purposes: 1 to protect the spine and 2 to correct the geometry that a worn spine may have caused on creating the correct angle on the edge. The whole triangle thing. Height of the spine, length of the blade.....

I know next to nothing about geometry or higher mathematics but ..... I have a theory about razor bevel/spine geometry. I think that honing without tape will create a relationship between spine and bevel based on splitting the difference between any anomalies between the two. If tape is used all of the correction comes at the bevel because the spine never changes.

Maybe it makes no difference but I tend to think that, while a bit of spine wear may not be as aesthetically pleasing as none, it is almost a natural part of what was meant to happen between the two. Kind of like why I don't worry about white hair and a wrinkled face. All is as it was meant to be in the aging process.

Alright Jimmy, let's see a picture

Originally Posted by brooksie967

Alright Jimmy, let's see a picture

You asked for it .....