Veritas MkII Honing Guide.

[jkljosh]

Hi Guys

I've just bought the aforementioned MkII honing guide, and my conclusion (after some quick and dirty initial efforts with wet and dry paper on a granite block) is that the guide is brilliant - quick to set up and really easy to use. I'm really pleased with it's accuracy, particularly when holding narrow chisels (something I've struggled to achieve using my Ecllipse Guide). Looking forward to fettling all my blades once I've taken delivery of some of the 3M PSA lapping film everyone seems to be raving about!

The reason for the posting is to get some members f/b on any of the Veritas accessories - in particular the camber roller, small blade holder. Taking the camber roller first, what do people think? Useful way of accurately achieving a curved plane blade or bit of a gimmick that you can get around with studious use of a piece of packing veneer set on either side of the normal roller as you hone? As for the small blade holder, it seems an elegant solution to achieving sharp spokeshave blades - what do you guys think, a worthy addition to the sharpening drawer?

I'd welcome the collective's view - thanks in advance

Cheers
John

 

[mqbernardo]

the veritas MKII is a nice piece of kit, but i find it troublesome for Japanese plane irons, as they are too thick for it IMHO. Also be careful tightening the screws, don´t overdo it and try to keep both of the screws aligned - tightening one more than other might skew the blade by a tiny bit and throw your bevel out of square. Those are my only caveats with it, though.

as for jigs, i find them a bit expensive. i have the small blade holder and it does its job. as for the camber roller, i sharpen the blade on the MKII and then camber it on the elipse. can´t talk about the skew guide.

cheers,
miguel.

 

[jkljosh]

Thanks Miguel, good points all - fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) I don't have any japanese planes, but your thoughts and tips are welcomed
John

 

[Peter T]

Hi John, I'm glad you're pleased with you honing guide. Great bit of kit!

I bought the camber roller, but, to be honest, I hardly ever use it. I do have a Stanley #5 with a radiused iron that I use as a scrub, but I use so infrequently that it's hardly worth having a special roller for it.

I have cheapo Axi guide that I use for skewed irons an chisels. I just set the tool at the apropriate position in the guide and work the edge up and down the stone, dragging the guide at an angle. Not a very good description but I think you get the picture!

Good luck,

 

[bugbear]

The reason for the posting is to get some members f/b on any of the Veritas accessories - in particular the camber roller, small blade holder. Taking the camber roller first, what do people think? Useful way of accurately achieving a curved plane blade or bit of a gimmick that you can get around with studious use of a piece of packing veneer set on either side of the normal roller as you hone?

For minor cambers (e.g. smoothging planes), simply applying pressure to the corners will do what's needed. The jig cannot stop this having an effect (note - this also means the jig cannot guarantee straight/square edges without some minor "touch" on your part).

For substantial camber (old fashoned scrob or jack plane) I would simply use an Eclipse #36. Originals are 50p - £1.00 at car boot sales, cheap knockoffs (which work well enough for scrubs!) are a coupla' quid on market stalls.

BugBear

 

[Kalimna]

I have the camber roller, and as someone who hasnt put the time in to gain muscle memory to do things accurately freehand, i find it invaluable.
Whilst I dont have nearly the experience of other posters, i would have thought that the width of the standard mk2 roller would preclude all but the merest whiff of a camber being honed by applying differential pressure to the corners. Having just completed a mammoth sharpening session (5 plane blades, 6 chisels and 7 kitchen knives), i perhaps should have tried it both ways though

Adam

 

[bugbear]

Whilst I dont have nearly the experience of other posters, i would have thought that the width of the standard mk2 roller would preclude all but the merest whiff of a camber being honed by applying differential pressure to the corners.

Agreed - but the required camber on smoothers ain't much (a scant handful of thous).

BugBear

 

[jkljosh]

Guys

Thanks so much for taking the time to offer your advice, I really appreciate it. All useful food for thought, I'll have a think before my next trip down to Axminster - plenty of chisels to fettle before I get onto the plane irons!

Cheers
John

 

[woodworkingMK]

I don't want to open new thread, so I will use this one.

Could you confirm that this guide can sharpen Spoke Shave blade?

 

[custard]

Could you confirm that this guide can sharpen Spoke Shave blade?

What kind/brand of spokeshave? It won't handle the tanged blade from a wooden spokeshave for example.

 

[woodworkingMK]

Most common Stanley/Record spoke shaves.

 

[custard]

Here's a Veritas spokeshave and cutter next to a Stanley spokeshave and cutter

The Veritas cutter definitely fits, as the Stanley version looks very similar I'd be confident that too fits.

 

[Cordy]

MK
Yes, I use the Mk 2 to sharpen Stanley/Record Spoke shave cutters

From memory - I use a sawn off bolt and nut for alignment
It's very effective

Tomorrow I will look in my garage; try to remember the procedure, then take pics

 

[woodworkingMK]

Thank you, much appreciated.

 

[Cordy]

Here is my method to sharpen Spoke shave cutters using Veritas

Attache a 2 inch wide cutter from old Record number 4
Then bolt S/S cutter as photo; I cut down the bolt head to be sure of clearance
Trial and error to judge how far the cutters should project

 

[Cordy]

This Tesolin video is good

Worth checking also is this Colin -- Skip straight to 13 minutes

 

[custard]

Blimey Cordy you're absolutely right.

Which means I was wrong when I said the Veritas spokeshave iron would fit in the Veritas honing guide. My apologies to the OP.

 

[woodworkingMK]

I got confused. Does it mean that without the trick Cordy made (attaching it to other blade with bolts), you cannot sharpen the spoke shave blade, because it is too short?

I have impression that Veritas was selling original accessory for the Mk II, but cannot find it....

 

[andys wood shed]

Veritas small blade holder
https://www.axminster.co.uk/veritas-sma ... der-475978

 

[woodworkingMK]

That's it Andys, thanks.