Veritas Sharpening Jig Problem

[Matt Van Heiden]

I have a MK II jig that for the life of me, I can not get it to sharpen a square edge with out a bunch of fiddling. I've checked the angle registration jig to make sure that it is perpendicular to the sharpening jig and it checks out perfect. Then before I start sharpening I check to make sure the actual roller jig is sqaure to the chisel or blade. Then I start to sharpen. I place a hand on each side of the jig so I don't believe that I am applying uneven pressure. Even if I was, with this jig I think it would have to be pretty substantial pressure to end up with a blade at a skew. After a few strokes, I look at the chisel and only one side will show signs of hitting the stone or sand paper. If I were to continue the business end of the chisel ends up out of square with the sides. I initially thought that maybe it was my stones, but I keep them flattened on my granite slab. I also still have the problem if I'm using sandpaper on float glass. Is there something that I am really screwing up that I am over looking?? It's really starting to make feel dumb not being able to get a simple jig like this to work.

[John Coloccia]

Are you sure the bevel isn't out of square to begin with? When you're fixing a bevel to get it square it sometimes looks like you're grinding it WAY out of square, when in fact it's a small change and it's actually making it square.

That's just something to think about before blaming the jig or your technique.

[Jim Koepke]

You may also want to make sure the bed of the holder is parallel to the top of the stone.

It could also be as John mentioned about your blade being slightly out of square.

Old plane blades are often not square and the sides are not parallel. It could be that you are registering to one side of the blade when it was previously sharpened while being registered to the other side of the blade.

jim

[Phil Thien]

Are you sure the bevel isn't out of square to begin with?

What he said.

[Steven Hart]

If there's uneven pressure exerted by the lower jaws of the Mk II, the bevel can be out of square. When you tighten the lower jaw examine the front of the jig to be sure that the lower jaw is parallel to the upper jaw. Also, try to apply the same amount of torque to both of the knobs used to tighten the lower jaw.

[Stephen Cherry]

I have this jig also, and found that it went out of square when I used the roller to adjust the angle to form a "microbevel". bought a 10 dollar generic jig, and it works OK

[Matt Van Heiden]

I've made certain to make sure that there is even clamping pressure- I make sure the nut is about the same distance down on the bolt stud for both sides. I didn't even think to check the chisels. One that I have not sharpened was out of square by a very decent amount. The others weren't to bad. That's probably the majority of the reason along with what Jim said about the old plane blades not being parallel.

[Michael Peet]

I have this jig also, and found that it went out of square when I used the roller to adjust the angle to form a "microbevel". bought a 10 dollar generic jig, and it works OK

I too have noticed a small difference in squareness between regular and micro-bevel configurations.

Mike

[Rick Rutten]

I have the MkII as well. When bringing some new chisels in to use I noticed that the sharpening was consistently favoring one side no matter what chisel I used but coming off the coarse grit on float glass it was OK. I reflattened the stone and checked the pressure which seemed to help. So far, based on my limited experience, you are on track. Something I have found helpful to watch is to ensure the end of chisel is seated squarely against the bevel stop, to ensure that is set and secure in the guide holes and make sure the micobevel setting is set to zero. Having checked all of these I am slowly resolving any sharpening errors I introduced when I first started using the jig. I hope this helps. Somewhere in all of these posts is likely the solution to your problems.

Rick

[Don Dorn]

I probably have the wrong idea, but I do chisels free hand because they are thick enough I don't have any issue finding the registration - then lifting just a little and working it that way. I'll be the first to admit that I lose some consistency this way.

I also have the Mk II, like it allot and do use it for many plane irons, but you're right in that I have trouble getting chisels to stay square. I take special care to ensure that it's square when the registration jig comes off, but it doesn't seem to take much and it's off a little. Being thicker and narrower, there is very little bearing surface and I'm guessing it acts like a fulcrum.

Doing it free hand, the chisels come out sharp enough to shave hair on my arm but not as sharp as the plane irons using the jig.

[Joel Goodman]

+1 on the clamping pressure being equal. But also make sure that the chisel or plane iron is centered in the jig. There are numbers relating to the width of the chisel or plane iron when you set the angle gauge up that help but are not totally accurate.

[Dan Karachio]

I have this jig and this pops up occasionally. I rarely use the little tilt up feature for the reasons listed here, but also because who can remember which way to turn this thing and whether you set it or not? It's unfortunate. The design is all about helping you set the angle and less about locking the blade in perfectly straight. I think the priorities are backward here. Sorry LV, I love your stuff, but I use my $15 cheap side clamping jig more frequently and with more consistent results. Its design prioritizes straightness over angle setting and those are my user requirements.

However, with sharpening who can say anything any more? Way too many conflicting opinions and it is enough to drive a person nuts. Find what works for you and never read another sharpening post again! :-)

[Mike Brady]

I find the MkII to be one of LV's better creations. I have tried all of the readily available sharpening jigs and this one does the most, but does fall short on holding narrow chisels. Something that I have noticed and corrected is the tendency for the Allen screws that hold the roller onto the axel to loosen. The sign of this happening was the roller not staying set in the proper detent for a microbevel. I disassemble it, cleaned and lubed it and reassembled it so that Allen screws were both aligned with the flats machined in either end of the axle. Problem solved.
The MkII isn't the only jig I have, but it is the go-to aid for most honing jobs. The Eclipse and the Kell are great to have also.
If the MkII could be made side-clamping, it would be unbeatable.

[Larry Slotylak]

I have this jig also, and found that it went out of square when I used the roller to adjust the angle to form a "microbevel". bought a 10 dollar generic jig, and it works OK


I have the same problem when I use the microbevel setting. I stopped using the jig and I am getting better results with free hand sharpening.

[Richard Verwoest]

I have the MKII also. And I have the Grey side clamping holder. The Grey holder seems to have problems also. I have trouble just getting mine to hold a 1" wide chisel. Would it help to file the grooves on the sides? Any ideas?

[Matt Van Heiden]

I forgot to ask in my original post- The bottom "clamp" that holds the blade/chisel is curved downward. It is to be extremely stout with no flex to it. So I doubt that it could have been bent by clamping pressure. What is the purpose of this? I would think it would lead to this problem due to less surface bearing area??

[Larry James]

Are you sure the bevel isn't out of square to begin with? When you're fixing a bevel to get it square it sometimes looks like you're grinding it WAY out of square, when in fact it's a small change and it's actually making it square.

That's just something to think about before blaming the jig or your technique.

I agree with John, I've had the same problem and it is hard to believe the blade is square in the jig. I use sand paper and have had to switch to a coarse grit (80 or 100) to square the blade. After that re-sharpening is usually not a problem.

I don't sharpen chisels less than 1/2" wide with the jig - very difficult to keep them square in the jig.

Larry

[Tom Winship]

About the time this thread hit the waves, I had just ordered a Veritas Mark II. I received it yesterday, and with some apprehension started honing my LN BU Jack blade. It was working great until I switched to the micro-bevel six o'clock position. After a few strokes, I thought I had ruined the blade because the intersection line of the two angles was so askew that it had to be out of square. I checked squareness with the best tools I had and the edge was still square.

I think what happened, at least in my case. is that the difference in the two angles (primary and micro-hone) is so slight (1-2 degrees) that any deviation from side to side exacerbates the appearance of squareness. I thougt about trying to apply some engineering logic (trigonometry) to this, but remembered why I retired over 3 years ago. Does my theory make sense?

P.S., I was honing on Norton coarse and extra fine diamond stones.

[Richard Gillespie]

Just experienced the same problem. Found that the chisels I was working with, the faces aren't parallel.

[Mike Zilis]

It's coincidental that this thread is active while I'm currently in a self imposed "sharpening hell". I've recently received three sets of new chisels (paring, bench and mortise) as well as 6 Hock blades for my old hand planes.

(Is that a stealth gloat?)

I started by flattening the backs of all the chisels and just an hour ago I completed the bevel side of the paring chisels using the LV Mk II honing guide. I had the same experience as many of you with one side of the chisels being honed more - however it appeared to be caused by a poor initial grinding by the manufacturer. My initial honing took much longer than expected but eventually the primary bevel turned out perfect. The micro-bevel then went on quickly and evenly.

I'm forcing myself to get through all of this sharpening before getting back to making sawdust. So I'm motivated to do it right. This thread has been very valuable to me. I appreciate all of you sharing your experiences here.

Mike