- Thread starter
- #21
Thank you Alx! I will keep that in mind, I didn't know that stropping might affect the gold foil as well so that is very useful information you gave me! Thank you
Honing bevel with tape but no tape at finishing stone.
- Thread starter Stapelfeld
- Start date
It's sorta like trying to save time by going to 4 gas stations a week to get $5 each time instead of going once to get $20 worth.
Each $5 visit takes 3 minutes but the $20 stop takes 12 minutes so it feels faster during the $5 stops.
But 4 x $5 stops winds up losing time, not saving it.
Only time I do tape gymnastics like this is when I have to remove a lot of material at the edge because of extreme micropitting, chipping, etc. And I am usually compromising bevel angle to some extent during those episodes. No way around it. Adding tape to the equation 'might' save some wear on the spine, but most of the time I'll probably just go without tape.
For anything else, I either hone with or without tape. Usually without.
For normal honing, I have not found that removing tape after bevel set saves anything.
Once the tape is removed, the geometry is out of alignment because now the spine is on the stone. The only way to make the spine and edge line up is by grinding steel.
During that process the steel at the bevel you would have had to remove when honing without tape - now has to go.
And the spine grinds at the same time as the edge once the tape is off. It's really six of one 1/2 dozen of another. If the razor already had a bevel of some sort, a reset on a 1k goes fast and won't create visually offending wear unless the user is not handling the work correctly.
To hone without tape and minimize spine wear, lower downward force and rely on torque. It works.
To save gold wash or a worked spine, or something, just hone on tape though the process. If the geometry is fine, and you are not resetting the bevel all the time, tape adds all of 1 degree. Not a big deal so there's no need to complicate things. I have seen sooo many guys pull the tape after 1k and hone to finish without only to find out they never really hit the apex once the tape was off. They wound up with more wear because they had to go back and do it again. And again.
Each $5 visit takes 3 minutes but the $20 stop takes 12 minutes so it feels faster during the $5 stops.
But 4 x $5 stops winds up losing time, not saving it.
Only time I do tape gymnastics like this is when I have to remove a lot of material at the edge because of extreme micropitting, chipping, etc. And I am usually compromising bevel angle to some extent during those episodes. No way around it. Adding tape to the equation 'might' save some wear on the spine, but most of the time I'll probably just go without tape.
For anything else, I either hone with or without tape. Usually without.
For normal honing, I have not found that removing tape after bevel set saves anything.
Once the tape is removed, the geometry is out of alignment because now the spine is on the stone. The only way to make the spine and edge line up is by grinding steel.
During that process the steel at the bevel you would have had to remove when honing without tape - now has to go.
And the spine grinds at the same time as the edge once the tape is off. It's really six of one 1/2 dozen of another. If the razor already had a bevel of some sort, a reset on a 1k goes fast and won't create visually offending wear unless the user is not handling the work correctly.
To hone without tape and minimize spine wear, lower downward force and rely on torque. It works.
To save gold wash or a worked spine, or something, just hone on tape though the process. If the geometry is fine, and you are not resetting the bevel all the time, tape adds all of 1 degree. Not a big deal so there's no need to complicate things. I have seen sooo many guys pull the tape after 1k and hone to finish without only to find out they never really hit the apex once the tape was off. They wound up with more wear because they had to go back and do it again. And again.
