Frederick Skelly
10-03-2015, 7:36 PM
I've always struggled when using my Veritas Mk2 Guide to sharpen narrow chisels. They tend to skew (for me anyway) after a few strokes. So I bought the Narrow Blade Head for $50. Seemed a little pricey, but there's machining and moving parts involved so I understood that after thinking a bit.
The machining is nice. The instructions are clear. The jig is easy to use. I just used it to sharpen a 1/2" bench chisel and it really made a difference for me. It clamps narrow blades very well. I did notice there's just a bit of play in the clamping mechanism that lets the tip move up and down ever so slightly. But since I'm pressing downward while drawing across the stone it seems to be of no impact. (I don't know if it is related to the next item I'm going to discuss......)
The cutting edge (secondary bevel) is square to the sides of the chisel. But one end of it is wider than the other (skewed). It reminds me of when I didn't get the chisel square in the jig - but again, the edge is perfectly square to the sides. LV may have found this in testing because their instructions have a long note about it:
"The section between the primary bevel and micro-bevel can often be skewed in relation to the edge; however, this is not a concern. While the geometry of the guide is sensitive to even the smallest influences, the geometry at the edge of the blade is notnearly as sensitive. The guide will create a square edge , even if the section between the primary bevel and micro-bevel appears to be skewed." I was a bit concerned, so I was grateful that they included that explanatory note in anticipation of my phone call. :) Well done LV!
So, with the help of this jig, my narrow tools ought to be a lot easier to sharpen. Would I buy it again? Yup!
Fred
The machining is nice. The instructions are clear. The jig is easy to use. I just used it to sharpen a 1/2" bench chisel and it really made a difference for me. It clamps narrow blades very well. I did notice there's just a bit of play in the clamping mechanism that lets the tip move up and down ever so slightly. But since I'm pressing downward while drawing across the stone it seems to be of no impact. (I don't know if it is related to the next item I'm going to discuss......)
The cutting edge (secondary bevel) is square to the sides of the chisel. But one end of it is wider than the other (skewed). It reminds me of when I didn't get the chisel square in the jig - but again, the edge is perfectly square to the sides. LV may have found this in testing because their instructions have a long note about it:
"The section between the primary bevel and micro-bevel can often be skewed in relation to the edge; however, this is not a concern. While the geometry of the guide is sensitive to even the smallest influences, the geometry at the edge of the blade is notnearly as sensitive. The guide will create a square edge , even if the section between the primary bevel and micro-bevel appears to be skewed." I was a bit concerned, so I was grateful that they included that explanatory note in anticipation of my phone call. :) Well done LV!
So, with the help of this jig, my narrow tools ought to be a lot easier to sharpen. Would I buy it again? Yup!
Fred