Which Honing Guide?

[Monkey Mark]

I've tried sharpening free hand, and I can never keep it consistent.
I have a cheap Honing Guide to use with chisels & planes that makes it easier, it's just a faf getting the angle correct as I either guess or have to start measuring angles which just wastes what little tool time I get. .

Any good, but not silly priced, Honing guides out there that make getting a consistent angle quicker & easier?

P. 's. Separate I know but, I've never stopped before (I'm sure the wife would disagree ) any guides on how it's done & what to get?

 

[bugbear]

Assuming by cheap, you mane you have a side clamping guide, you don't need a new guide, just a stop block.

post548496.html?hilit=%20stop%20block#p548496

BugBear

 

[mseries]

Yup. bugbear says it all. However, my Eclipse guide doesn't hold my firmers very firmly so I am thinking of something different

 

[SpoonsbySven]

Uh oh! This could get dangerous...

Prepare yourself for a deluge, Mark!

OK, (deep breath) I'm going to put my head above the parapet, but please note my caveat, this is what works for me! The most important thing is to find what works for you.

I bought the Veritas MkII a while ago, and as a honing guide, I think it's pretty good. However, more recently, I came across Paul Sellers video on sharpening a handplane, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvTcReENk9g) and I've found that his method really, really works for me. I now think that I could have made better use of the £50 I spent on the honing guide.

I know lots of very knowledgeable and experienced woodworkers swear by honing guides, but I really think it's worth keeping some perspective, and being aware of the temptation to over-complicate (and over-equip). Who doesn't like the feeling of unboxing a new toy, especially when it's as visually appealing and tactile as the Vertias MkII? But is it necessary? I'm not sure.

One of the things I like most about Paul Sellers' method is its speed and simplicity. His sharpening stones are glued to a board that lives right at his workbench, so they're within reach (this is trickier to do if you have double sided stones :? ) but I have found that as sharpening is so quick, I do it way more often, and so the precious tool time I have is spend using tools that are a joy to use, rather than struggling with slightly dull tools because I don't have time to get all the necessary bits out of the various locations they're stored in...

For stropping, I use a piece of MDF (approx 250 x 50 x 18mm)with Veritas honing compound rubbed on it. One block will last ages. I think a piece of leather glued onto some plywood, and then a smear of Autosol (metal polish, come in a tube, available from Halfords) would do equally well, maybe better.

Good luck, and happy sharpening...
Sven

 

[ColeyS1]

You should only have to measure the length of the blade sticking out past the honing guide once, then keep a note of it somewhere. Or put a pencil mark on the bench and hold your honing guide upto,then push your cutting blade till it reaches the pencil line.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[xraymtb]

I have the Veritas, it is very useful and repeatable but does take a couple of minutes to setup. As others have said you should be able to do the same with a stop block for your existing guide if you are happy with it otherwise.

The one thing the Veritas does that others don't is microbevels without adjusting the blade protrusion.

 

[matt_southward]

I have the Veritas mkii and it's OK. It's good for plane irons, but not so good for chisels as it's fairly easy to get them to go out of square if you don't tighten the screws consistently (there is a new narrow chisel jig option available now I believe). I think I would probably start off with the Eclipse first as it's seems less of a faff to me, and it's a lot cheaper.