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Tape is even less of an annoyance than that - it only changes the angle a very slight amount, even on the 5/8, if you stretch the tape when you first put it on. Or use masking tape or something even...

If the blade has a smile and you're going straight down, then you'll only see swarf in the middle even on a perfectly flat hone. I'm not sure how significant the swarf patterns on the norton are...