Veritas Mark II Honing Guide

[bugbear]

Depth of camber roughly equal to depth of shaving is what's required to make adjacent strokes feather into each other.

Logically (and unsurprisingly) this leads to jacks having more camber than smoothers or jointers.

BugBear

 

[Alf]

I would love to be able to freehand hone, but even on some nice 6mm plane irons, I have trouble with rocking the bevel. For me honing guides work. I would love to have the good fortune to be blessed with the unparalleled skill of a pair of steady arms, but I don't.

Adam, I have been where you are and I fully understand. Don't ever feel that you have to somehow defend using a honing guide, because the sharp edge is the important bit - how you get there doesn't matter at all. But it's not some miraculous skill; like so many things in woodworking, it's simply practice. So don't be afraid to try to freehand now and again; you may surprise yourself. No-one will revoke your honing guide rights, I promise.

And I see Rob has sneakily edited in some more to his post after I posted. Tsk. Yes, Rob, cost is zero. But equally you don't have to spend anything extra at all, including time, to do 90% of most people's honing. 100% of the majority's, I imagine.

You know, I can't wait for Karl Holtey to make a honing guide. Should be good for at least six pages. :lol:

 

[wizer]

I would love to be able to freehand hone, but even on some nice 6mm plane irons, I have trouble with rocking the bevel. For me honing guides work. I would love to have the good fortune to be blessed with the unparalleled skill of a pair of steady arms, but I don't.

Adam, I have been where you are and I fully understand. Don't ever feel that you have to somehow defend using a honing guide, because the sharp edge is the important bit - how you get there doesn't matter at all. But it's not some miraculous skill; like so many things in woodworking, it's simply practice. So don't be afraid to try to freehand now and again; you may surprise yourself. No-one will revoke your honing guide rights, I promise.

Hear Hear!!

 

[mr grimsdale]

...
You know, I can't wait for Karl Holtey to make a honing guide. Should be good for at least six pages. :lol:

I wonder if it'll have a handle? The paleolithic hand axe was around for many thousands of years before handles were added.
I reckon 15 for the honing jig, if they pull their fingers out!
There is a precursor here which they are welcome to copy!

 

[ydb1md]

I guess you can camber your blade when it's in the honing guide -- although it's a bit dodgy and you risk gouging your stones.

Usually though, I do my shaping of the camber on my grinder. Then, when I'm honing, it's easy enough to apply pressure on one side or the other to bring the camber to the waterstone. I can hone a camber easily enough w/ my eclipse or veritas mkII guide.

Is Holtey really coming out w/ a honing guide? :?:

 

[Paul Chapman]

If there is going to be another Veritas guide, it'll be one more for PaulC's collection :lol: :lol:

 

[bugbear]

But it's not some miraculous skill; like so many things in woodworking, it's simply practice. So don't be afraid to try to freehand now and again; you may surprise yourself. No-one will revoke your honing guide rights, I promise.

I was recently sharpening a Japanese Kitchen knife. Knives are far harder to sharpen (well) than any woodworking tool I know of. The damn things are only 35-40mm long in the direction of the bevel, and have a curved blade.

Fortunately, the NEED for a super sharp edge in the kitchen isn't too high, and achieving a "good enough" edge is quite easy.

Unless you're doing Sushi (where the quality and nature of the cut surface is part of the dish) having a knife that cuts superbly is not essential.

But it is a sensuous pleasure.

Try these guys for obsession:

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showforum.php?fid/26/

Watch this and be stunned:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fujibatoco ... 633392273/

BugBear (just starting down this slope)

 

[Alf]

Is Holtey really coming out w/ a honing guide? :?:

Not to my knowledge; I was being facetious.

 

[Harbo]

Knife Forums - been there but jumped off that slope, but I have a Randall knife coming in March that I ordered 4 years ago!

Having a knife that cuts superbly makes cooking so much easier just like sharp woodworking tools.
Get an Edge Pro Apex!

Rod

 

[Kalimna]

Alf, Wizer and Mr Grimsdale - Ok, you have persuaded me to have another go at freehanding it I have set aside wednesday to sort out a bunch of chisels and plane blades that currently struggle to cut through soft lard. I'll see how i get on......

With regards to the knife slope (and am I correct in thinking that the 'slope' is an slow and inexorable rise in the number of yummy tools owned and concurrent fall in ones' bank balance?) - I am well and truly sloped. Started way back with a Kai Damascus and now runs the length of about 7 japanese damascus steel blades in various configurations (single bevel takohiki, nakiri x2, gyuto 240 and 270, one with malachite handle, and a still-black-from-the-forging gyuto). I am rather protective about my kitchen knives and persnickerty with their sharpening. Bizarrely, each blade sharpens differently - for instance the Kai is a pipper to get a razor edge with, but the Tanaka nakiri makes hairs jump off the arm from across the room. All sharpened with same stones as the chisels and plane blades..... But I digress......

But using an exquisitely sharp kitchen knife is an absolute joy - and I only sharpen them freehand..... Guess thats me rumbled.....

And yes, kifeforums.com is a bit scary....

Cheerio,
Adam

 

[mr grimsdale]

..and I only sharpen them freehand..... ..

Well whatever the drawbacks of freehand sharpening - at least it's quicker, easier, cheaper and more effective. :lol:

 

[woodbloke]

...and am I correct in thinking that the 'slope' is an slow and inexorable rise in the number of yummy tools owned and concurrent fall in ones' bank balance

Correctamundo :wink: - Rob

 

[bugbear]

..and I only sharpen them freehand..... ..

Well whatever the drawbacks of freehand sharpening - at least it's quicker, easier, cheaper and more effective. :lol:

As I understand it, views on that vary ;-)

BugBear

 

[bugbear]

With regards to the knife slope (and am I correct in thinking that the 'slope' is an slow and inexorable rise in the number of yummy tools owned and concurrent fall in ones' bank balance?) - I am well and truly sloped.

The slope is what you go down when you start buying nice toys.

I bet you thought you were only going to buy one, quite reasonably priced Japanese knife, didn't you...

Maybe two.

Ooh, Damascus!

A Santoku works well but I NEED a gyuto...

That's the slope. Round this neck o' the woods, it normally applies to planes.

BugBear

 

[Kalimna]

I suppose you could say that kitchen knives are 'Handtools', couldn't you? But I'm not sure gratuitous picture gloats would be entirely within the ethos of this forum

I do like the damascus - and have been wondering for a while if anyone makes folded plane blades in damascus steel, similar to the suminigashi japanese chisels???

As it happens, I prefer the heft and shape of the santoku, but you only ever get it in 165-180mm lengths, and I quite like longer blades (hence the gyuto's).

Have you had a look around Kin Knives or www.japaneseknifecompany.com? Both very helpful in the choice of blade - and happy to talk about the range of knives they have that aren't in their catalogue/website..... Very dangerous indeed

Cheers,
Adam

 

[Harbo]

Japanese plane blades are available - laminated as their chisels, but not as far as Damascus?

I bought my first knives from the Japanese Knife Co. many years ago and then progressed to hand made ones imported direct from Japan.
Another slope not to go down

Rod

 

[bugbear]

I suppose you could say that kitchen knives are 'Handtools', couldn't you? But I'm not sure gratuitous picture gloats would be entirely within the ethos of this forum

I do like the damascus - and have been wondering for a while if anyone makes folded plane blades in damascus steel, similar to the suminigashi japanese chisels???

As it happens, I prefer the heft and shape of the santoku, but you only ever get it in 165-180mm lengths, and I quite like longer blades (hence the gyuto's).

Have you had a look around Kin Knives or www.japaneseknifecompany.com? Both very helpful in the choice of blade - and happy to talk about the range of knives they have that aren't in their catalogue/website..... Very dangerous indeed

Cheers,
Adam

I don't like the way Kin are rebranding knives under their own name - the only motive I can see for such an action is nefarious.

I got my Tojiro DP Santoku from here:

http://www.nipponkitchen.com/index.html

Excellent prices - if you think Japanese knives (make no mistake, the Tojiro DP are "proper" high carbon core, stainless clad, Rc 60 knives) are expensive, try comparing the prices for Wusthof and Henckels in similar sizes.

BugBear

 

[woodsworth]

knives aside i finally got my honing guide from rutlands. I returned the one from Axminster after they got a bit pissy and couldn't come up with a good reason to meet Rutlands price, but am still waiting for a refund...

It's amazing how a big company like Axminster can still think like a small company. Appearently they won't meet anyone's sale price. The only prices they will meet is a price that was made at the same time they made their own catalog.

All that aside very impressed with the jig, wish i would of got it a lot sooner.

 

[Midnight]

I first bought this jig within days of Alf's original review... this was subsequent to a trial of the pre-production model (Rob... yer a pipper...) and that trial being sufficient to convince me that there was significant advantages to this jig over the Mk1 Veritas...

Context... experience has taught me that I can't afford t trial freehand no more... Ice Bear stones aren't getting any cheaper, n flattening after repeated houks n gouges is taking away from what lil shop time I have... I need jigs to hone... I say that with straight face and absence of shame...

Having recently moved house (and missplaced my Mk2) I'd cause to fall back on my Mk1 jig... Now while it kicked butt when honing plane blades (cambered or otherwise), when it came to resurecting my tired chisels, I'm afraid it was found to be sadly lacking... lacking enough to warrant ordering another Mk2... and taking the opporchancity to order the small blade holder and skew registration guide while I was at it...

Regrets...??? what's that then...???

 

[Noel]

Hey Mike I remember that particular Mk 2.
Good to see you again.