Ralph Boumenot
02-13-2016, 4:10 AM
A while back I got my new LN honing guide and noticed a problem with it. My LN 1/8 and Ashley Isles 1/8 chisel wouldn't fit in it. Both chisels were cocked in the small jaws. I couldn't get them to lay flat in the jaws and have the back of the chisels parallel to the top of the guide. I thought the problem was with the smallness of the chisels and went back to sharpening those two in my Kell guide. Everything else I had fit in the guide I had no problems sharpening them.
I recently tried to fit my LN left hand 30° skew jaws on the honing guide and one of them wouldn't fit. I sent the jaws and the guide back to LN and they sent me a new Honing guide and LH skew jaws. The repair department at LN said that my honing guide wasn't square. That was why the one LH jaw wouldn't fit. The jig not being square solved a few other problems too.
There is now much joy and rejoicing in Mudville. The new honing guide holds my LN and Ashley Isles 1/8" chisels perfectly. Both chisels are secure, flat and parallel in the guide.
I also got a much better fit on my Lee Valley RH rabbet plane iron in the new guide. I think if I spend some time playing with it I might be able to use the LN guide to sharpen it. Having a guide that is square certainly changed things here.
Just a heads up to anyone else with the guide who may be having a hiccup with it. Check to make sure that it is square and that the screwing action is smooth, fully tightened down to fully open. Mine got tight and hard to do in the final 1/3 of the way in closing it up. I attributed that to getting sharpening debris on the threads.
I recently tried to fit my LN left hand 30° skew jaws on the honing guide and one of them wouldn't fit. I sent the jaws and the guide back to LN and they sent me a new Honing guide and LH skew jaws. The repair department at LN said that my honing guide wasn't square. That was why the one LH jaw wouldn't fit. The jig not being square solved a few other problems too.
There is now much joy and rejoicing in Mudville. The new honing guide holds my LN and Ashley Isles 1/8" chisels perfectly. Both chisels are secure, flat and parallel in the guide.
I also got a much better fit on my Lee Valley RH rabbet plane iron in the new guide. I think if I spend some time playing with it I might be able to use the LN guide to sharpen it. Having a guide that is square certainly changed things here.
Just a heads up to anyone else with the guide who may be having a hiccup with it. Check to make sure that it is square and that the screwing action is smooth, fully tightened down to fully open. Mine got tight and hard to do in the final 1/3 of the way in closing it up. I attributed that to getting sharpening debris on the threads.