Thread: Taping the spine and electric tape

Hi everybody. I believe that's a question about honing, since it has the tape honing part so,
I always tape the spine from the razors I use, and I always use the electric tape. And, as everyone knows, that tape wears down very easily, especially on the lower grits. The stone gets clogged and needs lapping a few times for each razor, and changing them every 30-50 passes or so is PITA.
So, I'm thinking about buying Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene or kevlar tape or something abrasive resistant that allows you to do the damned bevel setting with a tape that lasts. After restoring 10 razors I got from a friend, setting crooked bevels and changing tapes 100 times, I don't want to see any more of that black tape again.
I have found a few shops that sells them, and they are not expensive. I'm sure I'm not the first to think this, so, has anyone tried it? The use of abrasive resistant tape. Does it work?
Thanks.
Vasilis

I would say you are changing the tape way more than you need to.

As the tape wears, the bevel angle gets a little Smaller. But the edge will still wear faster than the spine. So lets say you start with one piece of tape and set the bevel without changing the tape. Now the angle is a little lower than a fresh piece and the bevel is set. If you change it now, you'll be back to the larger bevel angle, which will cause no problems at all. Worst case, if you only hone a little, you'll get a tiny secondary bevel, which, again, is fine.

So I only ever change the tape if I wear through a piece or when I change stones (to make sure I don't carry any grit from one stone to another). Other than that, no need to change it.

Also, and maybe this is just me, but I never get clogging on hones as a result of tape.

I change tape when I move to the next grit.

On the 1k if I have a lot of work to do on a razor I may change a few times but after that once per grit level. When I move from synthetics to Jnats for the polishing stage I do not change tape.

Whats stones do you use?

In my small bit of experience,
I have changed tape while on the1k.
I change when I leave the 1k unless I changed all ready and late in the game.
After the 1k I have never needed to change it,
My progression post 1k is
5k
8k
12k

One word for people who wear tape out too quickly ~ Torque.
Focus your attention, I hesitate to say pressure, on the edge.

Thank you guys for your answers.
The stones I see that happening are, a Suehiro 320, a king 1k and a Sigma select 1.2k. For the finer stones there is no problem with the tape. The Suehiro doesn't get clogged easily and I rarely use it for razors, but for the other two, it's a problem. I also change tape whenever I move to a higher grit stone.
I'm trying to focus on the edge, but I'm worried, if the pressure on the toe is different from the heel, they will end up with an edge with different angle. Even the slightest pressure here and there, after 100 passes on a bevel setter, something on the edge will change.

I'm not talking about bevel refreshing, more like restoring frowning razors. Lift the spine and hone with an angle, both sides, until you see a straight line, being careful for the razor to wear it evenly from heel to toe, in most cases. I don't know if that is a variation of bread-knifing. And, to return from that, it definitely needs tape.

Originally Posted by Vasilis

I'm not talking about bevel refreshing, more like restoring frowning razors. Lift the spine and hone with an angle, both sides, until you see a straight line, being careful for the razor to wear it evenly from heel to toe, in most cases. I don't know if that is a variation of bread-knifing. And, to return from that, it definitely needs tape.

Yes it is a variation...

Any hone lower then a 1k is going chew on tape, or STEEL for that matter

When you are doing edge restoration (Pre-honing) expect to do more work, whether it be in the from of changing tape more often or the amount of laps, it is just plain more work.. Honing is one thing Edge Restoration is a whole other animal..

Once you hit the 4000 grit, 1 application of tape should last long enough for the entire honing session including the finishing.
On the 1K you might need to refresh a couple of times, especially if you no longer have a bevel and need to start from scratch. I never go below 1K because I find that it creates more work than it solves.