Honing Guides

[jlawford]

Hi All,
I've been sharpening freehand on diamonds and leather strop and achieving a great edge as a result. However my chisels are gradually becoming more and more out of square! I haven't got a grinder, and I'm sure I will improve my technique to avoid this happening over time as I get better. However, I'd like to start off again from square.

Question is, are the cheap honing guides like the Draper any good? They seem to be direct copies of the Eclipse version that's been around for years. Can you roll to get a camber on plane irons?

Many thanks!

 

[bugbear]

Only a jig with a wide flat roller will help you keep an edge square (e.g. Veritas).

Narrow (or cambered) rollers only control the bevel angle, relying on YOU to control squareness (e.g. Eclipse).

You can use exactly the same procedure that gradually got the chisel out of square to bring it back to square. Check which side is "high", and lean on that side a little more each and every time you hone. Don't expect to see the change in a single sharpening, but it will come eventually.

The technique is even more important when dealing with the blade from a skew bladed tool, where the angle cannot really be measured easily. You simply note which side of the shaving is a little too thick (blade projecting a little too much), and lean on that side next time you sharpen.

(this technique is used both freehand and with narrow-wheel jigs)

BugBear

 

[deema]

Firstly don't worry about the blade going out if square, there are so few occasions where it actually matters it's not worth getting excited about. If the chisels are sharp they will actually cut slightly easier if they are angled as they will shear.

Look at how the chisels are angled, I will guess that they are all angled the same way. The tendency is for the lower hand, the one closest to the blade when sharpening to put more pressure on the wrist side than that of the fingers. So for a right handed person with the left hand lower down the chisel, the right hand tip of the chisel will have the least material removed. Once you become aware of how your affecting the material removal, lift or lower the wrist of the hand closest to the blade to compensate. Lifting the wrist will put more pressure on the opposite edge and visa versa. Hope that makes sense, and stick with hand sharpening.

 

[jlawford]

Thanks both. I'll just keep going without a guide I think. I'm using Lidl chisels by the way and finding them fantastic.

 

[ED65]

You can get your chisels back to square by slowly working more on the high side each time you hone as BB posted about above but I can understand wanting to reset them in one go, early on it bothered me a lot when the edges were visibly out of square. If you want to do it in one shot then don't mess about, use a coarse diamond plate or equivalent silicon carbide stone, or coarse abrasive paper (80 grit is about right). Then hone as normal.

Re. honing guides, practising your freehanding is the way to go IMO so kudos for wanting to persevere. But if you'd like to try a jig you can throw one together in a few minutes that'll do a better job than the Eclipse guides and all of the clones. See Brent Beach's site here.

Are all your chisels out of square in the same way by the way? If so you know which side you currently press down harder on as you sharpen (for me it was always the right side) and it's relatively easy to compensate once you've identified the side you lean to.

 

[jlawford]

You can get your chisels back to square by slowly working more on the high side each time you hone as BB posted about above but I can understand wanting to reset them in one go, early on it bothered me a lot when the edges were visibly out of square. If you want to do it in one shot then don't mess about, use a coarse diamond plate or equivalent silicon carbide stone, or coarse abrasive paper (80 grit is about right). Then hone as normal.

Re. honing guides, practising your freehanding is the way to go IMO so kudos for wanting to persevere. But if you'd like to try a jig you can throw one together in a few minutes that'll do a better job than the Eclipse guides and all of the clones. See Brent Beach's site here.

Are all your chisels out of square in the same way by the way? If so you know which side you currently press down harder on as you sharpen (for me it was always the right side) and it's relatively easy to compensate once you've identified the side you lean to.

Thanks for the link. The right hand side as I'm sharpening (bevel down) is lower and I'm right handed- not sure if that's making the difference! I've got a pretty horrid Wickes sharpening stone that's helped me get off a lot of steel before (nick in an old plane blade) so I reckon a short time on that will work....

 

[bugbear]

Thanks for the link. The right hand side as I'm sharpening (bevel down) is lower and I'm right handed- not sure if that's making the difference! I've got a pretty horrid Wickes sharpening stone that's helped me get off a lot of steel before (nick in an old plane blade) so I reckon a short time on that will work....

Watch out! Coarse stones, especially cheap coarse stones, are prone to rapid wear.

If you end up with a hollowed out stone, you'll also end up with cambered chisels
and plane blades, wether you want them or not.

BugBear

 

[graduate_owner]

For anyone wanting a honing guide with a wide roller, Axminster sell one. I have one and find it very good.

K

 

[tomlt]

I've just this week bought the veritas jig and camber roller set up from D&M whilst on offer, only tried a chisel and my LN 62 plane blade, but combined with my new scary sharp system (purchased from sefton's stand @ midlands show a couple of weeks back) I have seriously sharp tools once again, so would recommend it if you're in the market for one.

 

[Superstrat]

Thanks both. I'll just keep going without a guide I think. I'm using Lidl chisels by the way and finding them fantastic.

There's an interesting Youtube video on dressing and sharpening Aldi chisels here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki8tt-VjwqI&t=1201s

I bought some Lidl chisels recently (look the same as the Aldi ones to me) and have found them to be great. £6.99 for a set of four, worth a try, I bought two sets. No regrets.