I'm not very sharp

[Gary Breckenridge]

:(I'm tired of all my tools being dull. I refuse to send them out at $5 per chisel or inch of blade. Has anybody used the "Veritas MkII Honing Guide," and a good stone from Lee Valley? This is not the power model. At $48 it is about the price of getting all my chisels done one time.:( But on the other hand I don't want to spend $48 on another tool that will sit in my drawer for a year and then end up on ebay.:o

[Cecil Arnold]

Gary, the LV is rated as about the best for manual sharpening plane irons and chisels. If you are not familiar with the "scary sharp" method, using the LV you may want to consider it. It takes a flat plate (MDF or 1/4" plate glass) and attach different grades of SC sandpaper. You can start at 220 and work up to whatever you want. At 1500-2000 grit the finish is mirror-like and you have never had a sharper tool. Once you have an edge established it takes only a few minutes to touch up the next time.

[Michael Burton]

Gary,
I just bought one a couple of weeks ago and think it is great. I was using another much less expensive jig, and had actually made up a thin piece of wood with the angle markings on it for chisels and plane irons, that works exactly like the method the Veritas jig uses to set blade angles, although not nearly as fancy.
The thing I like the most is the wide roller on the jig. At about 2" wide It doesn't dish out my water stones nearly as bad as the other 1/2" wide roller did on my original jig. For 12 bucks though the original one wasn't bad.
After having said all of that, I don't think you will regret buying it. It is a very high quality tool and I am glad I bought mine.

[Vaughn McMillan]

I have one and like it a lot. I've not used mine with stones, but I see no reason why it wouldn't produce excellent results. I'm cheap, so I use the Scary Sharp method, with a 12" x 12" smooth marble (or maybe granite...) tile I got at the Borg. As Cecil said, by the time you get down to 2000 grit (only a few minutes, even on a on a junked-out chisel), you can use it as a mirror and it'll cut like you won't believe.

- Vaughn

[Doug Shepard]

I'd echo Cecil's comments word for word, except I'm using the older version of the LV Honing guide. I just got the MkII, but haven't sharpened with it yet. I've gotten excellent results with their older jig and Scary Sharp.

[Corvin Alstot]

The Veritas MkII Honing Guide is a great product and well thought out.
I use Norton waterstone - 1000, 4000, 8000 and a diamond plate 320 for rough sharpening with great results.

[Jesse Cloud]

Gary,
Here's my two cents worth. With sharpening, I think its not so much what tools you use as it is your technique and expectations - how should this look before I go to the next grit. I was highly frustrated until I took a sharpening class, one night at Woodcraft. Best 3 hours I ever spent. After that I understood how sharp tools should be and practiced the method until I can do it pretty quickly. Or spend a couple of hours with another creeker to get some hands-on advice.
YMMV ;^)
Jess

[Dennis Peacock]

Can't go wrong with Veritas tools. I have the very early model of their sharpening setup and have really liked it since I bought it years ago. I've even given thought to the MKII....but shoot....maybe next year.

[Frank Hagan]

Gary,
Here's my two cents worth. With sharpening, I think its not so much what tools you use as it is your technique and expectations - how should this look before I go to the next grit. I was highly frustrated until I took a sharpening class, one night at Woodcraft. Best 3 hours I ever spent. After that I understood how sharp tools should be and practiced the method until I can do it pretty quickly. Or spend a couple of hours with another creeker to get some hands-on advice.
YMMV ;^)
Jess

I'll have to do this ... I am very frustrated with my sharpening skills. I have a less expensive jig, but will end up spending hours trying to get a chisel sharp.

Last time I sharpened, I actually had better luck hollow grinding the chisel freehand on the grinder, then sharpening on SC sandpaper freehand. I may continue down that road rather than invest in a Tormek or another angle guide.

[Vaughn McMillan]

I'll have to do this ... I am very frustrated with my sharpening skills. I have a less expensive jig, but will end up spending hours trying to get a chisel sharp.

Last time I sharpened, I actually had better luck hollow grinding the chisel freehand on the grinder, then sharpening on SC sandpaper freehand. I may continue down that road rather than invest in a Tormek or another angle guide.
The advantage to the MKII is that even someone who knows very little about the technique can still get stunning results, and in a short length of time. Jesse mentioned learning the technique, but even though I understand tool sharpening (particularly kitchen knives), the MKII help me get very consistent results, since the angle is locked in from the get-go.

Just my $0.02 -

- Vaughn