bill epstein
04-28-2020, 10:59 AM
Unable to face another movie of the same old explosions, aliens, terrorists, and tired old comedies after dinner last night, I decided to return some chisels from 30 degrees to their original 25. Pathetic, no? I had the guide, needed the exercise, and was curious about how it would handle the narrow shafts. Then there's the often posted queries, here and elsewhere, on uneven sharpening with guides.
#1, careful tightening almost ensures the MK II guide will grip even a 1/4" chisel firmly enough. For honing it would suffice but over the lengthy re-angle process several nudges back to square were necessary. The 3/8" and 1/2" chisels did better, as one would expect.
#2, I'm now certain that the often heard complaint that the guide favors one side or the other is due to us all having a dominant arm. As I moved up from 3/8" to 1/2" this became more apparent. The trailing edge of the left side of the bevel became angled, requiring focusing more pressure on the left hand grip. All the above done with a 600 grit King Water Stone.
I was going to hone a 30 degree secondary bevel with the 600 but instead used the 2 degree micro bevel setting on the guide (because it was there) with my 8000 grit King after polishing the full bevel. I took that back farther than normal, about 1/8". Finally, I dragged the leading edge back a few times to get a micro-micro bevel.
Do the chisels cut better than before? Nah. They look better though! And surprisingly, I was able to lift a fork to my mouth at breakfast this morning! Maybe tonight I'll switch my ancient Sandvik Dovetail Saw from Rip back to it's original Crosscut configure.:D I never use it since getting a Ryoba, anyway.
#1, careful tightening almost ensures the MK II guide will grip even a 1/4" chisel firmly enough. For honing it would suffice but over the lengthy re-angle process several nudges back to square were necessary. The 3/8" and 1/2" chisels did better, as one would expect.
#2, I'm now certain that the often heard complaint that the guide favors one side or the other is due to us all having a dominant arm. As I moved up from 3/8" to 1/2" this became more apparent. The trailing edge of the left side of the bevel became angled, requiring focusing more pressure on the left hand grip. All the above done with a 600 grit King Water Stone.
I was going to hone a 30 degree secondary bevel with the 600 but instead used the 2 degree micro bevel setting on the guide (because it was there) with my 8000 grit King after polishing the full bevel. I took that back farther than normal, about 1/8". Finally, I dragged the leading edge back a few times to get a micro-micro bevel.
Do the chisels cut better than before? Nah. They look better though! And surprisingly, I was able to lift a fork to my mouth at breakfast this morning! Maybe tonight I'll switch my ancient Sandvik Dovetail Saw from Rip back to it's original Crosscut configure.:D I never use it since getting a Ryoba, anyway.