Veritas MKII Honing Guide

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Martin

I am surprised that you are having this difficulty with narrow blades. Narrow blades, per se, have never been a weak area with the Mk II. I did find it more an issue with tapered blades when I first assessed the Mk II, but this was on a pre-production version. The production version came out with a simple and clever modification that fixed this - certainly as far as I was concerned - and I did do a test-retest on the problem chisels I used when I evaluated it the first time around. As far as I could ascertain there was now more torque in the Mk II than in the MK I, which had not been the case before. You don't have a pre-production version do you?

I assume that you are centering the blades?

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Alf]

...anyone want to see 800 pictures of Yellowstone???? - or should I save 'em for the APTC show....?

"This is me standing by a rock. This is me standing on a rock. This is me measuring the angle of Old Faithful. This is me suggesting the angle should be lower."
Thanks, but I might pass... :lol:

It's not an easy task to switch rollers - so one option would be to sell a specific lower unit for that task... but that'd be about 1/2 the cost of the jig again....

That appeal to anyone??

I won't claim it actually appeals, but then neither does the wide roller and a cambered edge, so "yes". But then you probably already guessed what I'd say.

Derek, I'm glad you said that. I was trying to recall if I'd had any similar difficulties, and failing. I meant to test a few likely chisels before getting off the fence and actually saying so, but I just haven't got round to it. The only trouble I've had in that regard is some chisels swivelling in the blade clamp when their bevelled side is slightly convex. But just clamping the blades slightly off-centre sorts that out. I certainly haven't ever been conscious of the upper bar of the blade clamp bowing. :-k

Cheers, Alf

 

[mahking51]

My only slight gripe is that the clamp bar bends just enough to make the loosening of the guage difficult/hard. The brass knob is IMHO just to small to allow normal undoing torque to do the job.
Martin

 

[ydb1md]

I am surprised that you are having this difficulty with narrow blades.

Personally, I'm having the issue with my Stanley 750 chisels. On some of my smaller chisels, the chisel face isn't parallel to the chisel back. I know I know, I should get out the grinder and have at it. :roll:

 

[bugbear]

It's not an easy task to switch rollers

Since I don't have one of your esteemed jigs, could you say why?

I mean, surely you weren't silly enough to rivet or glue the roller axle?

BugBear

 

[MikeW]

It's not an easy task to switch rollers

Since I don't have one of your esteemed jigs, could you say why?
I mean, surely you weren't silly enough to rivet or glue the roller axle?
BugBear

Hey, if I can do it...
It's just a matter of having an allen wrench of the proper size and not losing the couple bits that need to go back on: a couple special washers and a spring.

One also needs, due to the eccentricity of the roller (the hole is offset from center. Used to make a 1-2 degree micro-bevel), to keep the notched knob in relation to the roller when putting it back together.

Mike
(who can smell the bridges burning in the distance)

 

[bugbear]

due to the eccentricity of the roller

Axle?
I hope the roller isn't eccentric.

BugBear

 

[Anonymous]

I like the idea of a cambered roller as an additional option. Any chance Rob?

Hi Tony -

Been out of the office for the past 10 days (anyone want to see 800 pictures of Yellowstone???? - or should I save 'em for the APTC show....?) Only drove 3600km during that time... :shock:

We're having a look at the best way to this (at a reasonable cost).

It's not an easy task to switch rollers - so one option would be to sell a specific lower unit for that task... but that'd be about 1/2 the cost of the jig again....

That appeal to anyone??

Cheers -

Rob

At half the cost of the full jig (£15), I would definitely buy one

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

The new LV Honing Guide Mk II excels at honing square bevels on blades. One of the areas in which a modification or accessory is being evaluated that of honing a camber on a blade. Below I am offering my strategy for honing the camber on scrub plane blades using this guide. I have no idea if LV will take this seriously – you are more likely to laugh when you first read my description – but it is a serious recommendation. I have used it successfully on a number of occasions, and will demonstrate this below.

I might add that there might be potential here for adding other forms of camber, such as to jack or smoother blades, but this is not its intended use at present since I am still evaluating it in that regard.

For scrub blade use, the only modification to the Honing Guide is the addition of a washer under the Blade Carrier Locking Knob (see Picture #1). This is to raise the height of the knob.

Set the Registration Jig for a 30° bevel angle (see Picture #2), lock it to the Guide, and then insert the blade upside down (i.e. as if you were going to hone the back of the blade – see Picture #3).

I hone on waterstones, and depicted here is my King 8000. The scrub blade has already been ground to 30 degrees (in this case on my belt sander jig, but alternately you could either use the existing factory grind if using the LV Scrub plane, or you could first hone a camber on a blade on lower grit waterstones).

Onto the waterstone I place a steel card scraper, and then onto this I place the Honing Guide upside-down so that it is riding on the Blade Carrier Locking Knob. This scraper blade raises the angle enough to hone a 1° micro bevel (see Pictures #4 and #5).

I pull the blade towards myself since pushing it is likely to cause it to dig in. It requires only a few strokes to create a full micro-bevelled edge (see Picture #6 – you can see the glint of the micro-bevel).

Stroke off the wire edge (or use David Charlesworth’s Ruler Trick to do so), and you are ready to go.

Here are the pictures: http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=12114

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[ydb1md]

Way to go Derek! Very creative!

 

[Alf]

Well it's an interesting approach... :-k

Cheers, Alf

 

[Chris Knight]

Derek,

No surprises here. You live upside down in Oz so it really is the only logical way to use the tool :lol:

 

[ydb1md]

Does the water in your toilets spin the wrong way, like the water over in Australia?