Sharping dull planes and chisels

[Ray Arnold]

I have some dull planes and chisels
I was wondering if any of you have this tool? and how well dose it work ? http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=51868&cat=1,43072,43078&ap=1
Thank you

[Kurt Forbes]

I have wanted one for quite a while but I still get a good edge by hand.

[Vaughn McMillan]

I have one, and have been very impressed with the results. I got it so I could try using the "scary sharp (http://www.shavings.net/SCARY.HTM)" system, and the MkII has been great. My chisels have never been this sharp, and I've also got my plane blades "hair-shaving sharp". (Now I just need to master the other adjustments for the planes.) There are other methods out there, but for the price, I think this one would is hard to beat. I grew up sharpening things freehand, and can get pretty decent results, but nothing nearly as consistent as using the sharpening guide. I just wish I could find something as cost effective, quick and accurate for my kitchen knives.

- Vaughn

[Russ Massery]

I have the older version work great. I read a review of the unit they liked it alot better.I think it was in the this months Finewoodworking.

[Gary Herrmann]

I've got the Mk II as well and have been very pleased. Like Vaughn, I also follow a variant of scary sharp. Just lapped and sharpened some irons and chisels. They turned out very well. I would like to improve my freehand technique, but don't do it often enough to practice, and when I want to sharpen something, I want to do it efficiently.

[craig carlson]

Hi,
I also have one. It is great! For a person like myself who has never had great results sharpening things this is what you need. It keeps your blades square and a adjustable angle is a piece of cake it is also good for putting a back angle on your sharpened blade.

Craig

[Dev Emch]

In general, I am not a LeeValley person. They tend to be a bit micro-soft-tie if you know what I mean.

The one and only Lee Valley item I own is the orig. version of this tool. The new version has been afficted with feature-itis and plastic-itis. The old one was anodized black metal and brass. Basic and durable. Works well.

The problem with this item and any of its market clones is that it works on the whole surface of the stone. In time, it concentrates the wear in the center portion of the stone and leaves the outer edges unworn. This can wear a stone much faster than normal.

Lately, I have been working blades over the whole stone including the edge regions by hand.

On the topic of stones. I have come to really like the norton stones. They are long lasting and very durable wet stones that dont cost a fortune. Unlike some that use an expoxy binder, they do not turn into oatmeal if you soak them to long. The single grits are 1 inch thick so your going to get some milage out of them.

Best of luck...

[aurelio alarcon]

nice guide! not cheap! would love one!

[Jules Dominguez]

I've found Lee Valley/Veritas quality to be very reliable. They put intelligent thought into products they design, as compared to companies who market a knockoff of a knockoff of a knockoff ad nauseam.

[Andrew Alexander]

First admission....I am a jig/guide guy...no free wheel'in here!...I presently use the eclipse-style honing jig ($10) for all plane and chisel sharpening and with a homemade guide for both 25 and 30 degrees (I have not advanced beyond those basic honing angles) and that works quite well...I did purchase the original Veritas Honing Jig/Guide but was not pleased with its ability to square the iron to the jig. I think Derek Cohen has a pretty good method for correcting that in one of his threads so you may want to give that search a go or maybe he will post a comment as well. To be fair I did not give that method a try but I have sold the jig.

I have done several dozen planes that have been in, well...rough condition (very, very rusty). The best tool that I (and others) have found is a tailed 4" belt/6" disc sander to get at least the initial flattening and angle shape (this is freehand) done on both the irons, the beds and the chip breaker. After that the best combo I have found is the scary sharp (sandpaper) method to 220/320 grit for flattening and iron angle shaping. Then onto Norton water stones (1000/4000 grit stones or combo's...if you have money to burn you can also get the 8000 grit stone but I have not found that to be necessary). With this method I (and I’m sure countless others) have been able to bring back really dirt-cheap planes and chisels back to life. I should add, I do strop the final edge on MDF charged with the Veritas green crayon. This brings a mirror finish to the blade after the Norton 4000 grit finish. The 8000 grit water stone will do this as well but at $80 vs. something less than $10 I’m all over the cheaper route. <O:p</O:pI initially used exclusively the "scary sharp" sandpaper route from 80 grit to 2000 grit and it was the cheapest way to start but I have later stepped up to the Norton stones (1000/4000 combo cause I’m cheap) and they are very quick to get an edge.

<O:p</O:pNow after all that drivel...I too have been looking at the MK II but have not pulled the trigger yet...I mean its $50 that’s amounts to 5 to 8 more planes. I just finished another #5 last night and the $10 guide was dead on straight. Looking for more of these reviews with interest.... sorry for the long explanation...a<O:p</O:p<O:p</O:p<O:p</O:p

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Ray

The LV Honing Guide Mk II is probably the best honing guide on the market at present. Not perfect, but very versatile and an exceptional tool for a sharpening newbie since it is very easy to use. It does a good job of honing a square edge. It has a wide range of preset angles. It can hone back bevels. A skew blade jig is coming out soon.

There are other honing guides available, and most of these do a good job. However the LV is especially important if you are using bevel up planes. Since these obtain their cutting angle from the bevel angle, the blades require extra care in honing this. 5 degrees can made the difference between a tear out free surface and not. Since the "new age" of sharpening concentrates on micro bevels, honing bevel up blades would be tricky without a honing guide such as the LV Mk II.

On the other hand, if you are going to use bevel down planes, the exactness of the bevel angle is really not critical. I will happily freehand all my bevel down plane blades - 25 degrees, 30 degrees, makes little difference. Even a microbevel may be freehanded. The final result is not critical as the cutting angle is obtained from the bedding angle of the frog. So, if you only plan on using bevel down planes, you actually have a wider range of choices.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Hal Flynt]

Another vote for the MKII.:D

My favorite part is the repeatablity of the bevels. If you need to touch up a blade, you put the "registration jig" on, line up the blade and you're at the correct bevel and angle in a snap. Just a few strokes and back to work without all the fiddling to get the jig set up.

[Bob Smalser]

Learn how to do it the old fashioned way, and you'll be an asset to any job site for the rest of your life...otherwise you'll need a wheelbarrow to carry all your gizmos with you:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=12747&highlight=basic+sharpening

[Pam Niedermayer]

In general, I am not a LeeValley person. They tend to be a bit micro-soft-tie if you know what I mean....

Well, no, I don't know what you mean. LV is one of the best vendors of all time in any industry, if not the best, vis a vis customer service. They also have top quality products.

MS on the other hand, have zip customer service and extremely mediocre product. For example, I bought the first version of Excel on the Mac 21 years ago. Its copy protection scheme trashed my hard drive 3 times, wiping out the Excel installs in the bargain. As far as I'm concerned, MS still owes me at least $500 for rebuilding that drive. Then they tried to charge me $25 for a replacement install disc. Bah! I went back to my dealer and got the prerelease beta and used that for years. I've yet to buy another MS product. Word sucks. Windows sucks. MS sucks.

What's more, they are predatory in their business practices, doing things like cozying up with a developer to figure out what the developer is doing, then forcing developer to make a cheazy deal to get anything from MS, since MS is in the process of stealing their technology. They threaten their hardware vendors. Other than the old Standard Oil, I don't know another more egregious Hun in US business.

Pam

[Don Baer]

Word sucks. Windows sucks. MS sucks.

What's more, they are predatory in their business practices, doing things like cozying up with a developer to figure out what the developer is doing, then forcing developer to make a cheazy deal to get anything from MS, since MS is in the process of stealing their technology. They threaten their hardware vendors. Other than the old Standard Oil, I don't know another more egregious Hun in US business.

Pam


Ah Gee Pam why don't you tell us how you realy feel....;)

[Noel Hegan]

Dev, what a load of old nonsense. Plastic? Ain't none (well, if you include 3 nylon washers and the stick-on scale) Features? A few and all welcome. LV like MicroSoft? Come on!! Where's the comparison? Customer service is superb. No hard sell, all tech questions answered within maybe 15 mins. Don't like what you bought? Send it back, no hassles. Shipping damage, breakages or a tool that has passed under the quality control radar? Replacement straight away at no extra cost (and bear in mind I'm not exactly as local to LV as you are). Oh, and very reasonable prices as well.
Wearing the middle of a stone with the LV jig Mk 2? I find the wear area is governed by the width of the blade being sharpened rather than the width of the roller on the jig.
Norton stones? Couldn't beat them with a big stick! Very, very good stones. Well, good to agree on one thing.....
All JMHO.

Rgds

Noel

[Michael Gabbay]

I have the orignal LV honing guide and the new MKII as well as an Eclipse guide. Of the three I like the new LV the best. Give great repeatablilty to the novice sharpener (me). The original one has issues for me with the smaller chisels moving around. The Eclipse that I have does not hold chisels well but does a nice job on plane blades.

my 2 cents...

Mike

[James Carmichael]

Leonard Lee wrote the book (literally) on sharpening. I'd trust just about anything with the Veritas name.