I have honed with tape over time on a situational/as-needed basis only. I aways preferred no tape and would hone that way probably 90%+ of the time. Now that I am moving more into restorations I am starting to reconsider. I always hated the way tape particles get mixed in with the swarf and and how the tape leaves skid marks on the hone. How do you regular tape honers deal with that or do you just live with it?


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Certain electrical tapes are more prone to leaving residue behind than others. I change out the tape with every stone so this helps minimize any potential gunk contamination in the slurry and keeps the angle consistent.
I've found most tapes leave some gunk behind particularly on the blade. WD40 cleans it up well. I like Scotch/3m Super 88.

I use 3M #700. At least that's what I plan on using sometime in the near future as it was recommended. I've been waiting for one of my razors to need some refreshing but the edge that Glen put on it is the razors equivalent to the "Everlasting Gob stopper", its sharpness lasts forever with some nice stropping.

I haven't used tape on razors yet, but Super 88 is nearly twice as thick as Super 33. It's my preferred tape to use on 2000 Hp electric motors at work. Which tape you use, I highly recommend 3M products. Might not hurt to measure the thickness of your tape with a micrometer to determine how much to use.

New tape. I found 3m to work great but if you grabbed a roll from a tool box that may have been in there for a year or three, it will leave a trail. New tape bought for honing has fixed the problem for me.

I have a variety of thoughts. On ver heavy bevel setting on recently restored razors the amount of material removed on order to make the bevel, if a comparable amount of material got removed on the spine it would create quite a bit of hone wear. I no longer use diamonds as part of my restoration honing, because I believe it leads to a chippy edge once you progress into the higher grits, as a result I do spend quite a bit of time on the lower grits. Once the bevel is set I suppose you could progress without the use of tape and not risk heavy wear. I used to think that my tape was plugging up my hones too, and then I used a roll of white tape. My hones did not turn white. From that I began to think it is way more swarf on my hones than tape. I use tape on a regular basis and do not feel it is an issue. The other thought that comes to mind is if you are holding and torquing the edge and making sure that any pressure is targeting the edge it does relieve quite a bit of wear on the tape. Tape or no tape has been debated for a very very long time.

I use 3m super 88 also, when I am using tape (not always, but 95% of the time)

Surgical spirit and a cotton bud, (Q tip) is what I use to remove residue, smells nicer than WD40 imho not messy on hands etc.. And it works for me, also Surgical spirit can be mixed with Glycerin to make honing solution so hand to have ( esp if I run out of Smiths honing solution, only really use on my Charnley Forest for finishing)

The old tape you just took off, wrapped backwards sticky side out removes tape residue with no risk to the scales like harsh chemicals have..

WD-40 is as safe as I have ever found for scales, I would only hesitate around wood scales with it..


ps: It is always preferable to have Tape left on the hone rather then the spine of the razor, this also teaches you that you are putting too much pressure on the spine while honing..
The technique of torquing the edge will eliminate many of these issues, once you learn how it makes honing much easier..
Use the tape to teach you what you are doing wrong with your honing rather then the spine

I agree this is a heavily debated topic. I believe there are two issues here: one is cosmetic (some guys don't like to see wear on their spine) and the other is more technical related to the sharpening of the edge. Personally, I don't use tape. I have about 7 razors in a rotation. I hone them once and then I don't expect them to hit the stones for a good 12 months...and even then it would only be for a touch up on a 8k or higher grit stone, so I don't expect a lot of wear on the spine. The hone (spine) wear is minimal if they are sharpened properly. My belief (and I may be totally wrong) is that the honing of a razor is based on the perfect angle created by the spine and the edge. And I don't believe that should be tampered with.

I only use tape when it is required to fix the geometry.

First attempt at honing today. Did not use tape. Razor was honed by previous owner using tape on the spine. I'm wanting to hone without tape. My lowest grit stone is Shapton glass 4000.
Having all these factors against me (first attempt, previously taped razor, high grit stone), I wasn't expecting great success but this is where I'm at & what I have to work with.
My question is will I ever get this razor shaveable or do I HAVE to get a coarser stone or start with a new (tapeless) razor?

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I'm new at this, and have tried to reset a bevel with 3000 grit, and it's laborious. I just received a King 1000 grit hone, and it made fast work of the reset. The King bevel was very reasonable in price. EBay.

That whole thing is a myth that keeps being parroted from person to person that need an excuse for not being able to hone

I know that might come off as harsh, but I have proved it over and over and over at every meet in person with a fresh hone, let alone a razor with a worn back edge which is even easier to reset..

I got so tired of hearing it I even did a vid about it and yes my frustration at the whole thing comes through in my voice

As simply as Possible "One Layer of tape on a razor makes such a minute change that it simply doesn't matter"

It also doesn't make enough of a angle change nor a change over time to matter Yes that has all been tested too

Another great video. Thanks.

Thanks. Good demo. I'm very new & there's much I don't understand yet so you'll have to forgive me for just grasping what makes sense to me.

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No prob at all that is exactly what TSD is about, ask questions listen to the answers and then make your adjustments as you learn..

There is simply no sense in repeating the mistakes that so many of us made in the past

Some of us started this so many years ago we were actually still debating getting a Push-button phone vs a Rotary dial let alone being able to ask people instantaneously on the "Internet"

Glen, I'd suggest you go for the push-button model.
Faster than rotary—and the wife, friends & neighbors won't look at you with nearly as much suspicion if you were to be caught dialing your rotary phone.

You're welcome.