Speaking of guides

[Richard Hutchings]

I think I may be one of the rare ones to switch from guideless to guided for plane irons and chisels. I've never used a guide and decided I need to see if it would help in any way. I don't think it could hurt.

[Jim Koepke]

Okay, I'll bite.

A guide for what? Cutting dovetails? Drilling straight? A miter cutting guide? A guide to North American birds, trees, plants, butterflies or fungus?

Inquiring minds and all…

jtk

[Richard Hutchings]

Sorry, I knew I left out some information. Are you sure you can't read my mind? Plane blades and chisels. I feel like I get them sharp enough free-hand but also I wonder if I'm missing out on something. I know the wood doesn't care if I'm exact but I was having some trouble recently and found that I was pretty far off from 25 degrees and started measuring to be sure I was on the money. I got there free-hand but why not use a guide. Is there any dis-advantage, I don't think so but I'm going to find out for myself.

[Jason Buresh]

One disadvantage to guides is depending on what you use for a stone you may not be able to use the surface of the stone evenly. Where as freehand you can move the iron all over the stone with a guide your real estate to move around can be limited.

I'm not saying a guide is a waste of time or money, I have one, but I use it with glass and sandpaper when regrinding a primary bevel. As far as honing, I do all my freehand.

Whatever works best for you is how you should do things

[Jim Koepke]

Sorry, I knew I left out some information. Are you sure you can't read my mind?

This was the top post when logging in this morning. Realized later it referenced other posts about sharpening guides.


I'm not saying a guide is a waste of time or money, I have one, but I use it with glass and sandpaper when regrinding a primary bevel.

This is where a guide comes out for me. Otherwise setting up the guide is a bit tedious and time consuming compared to freehand sharpening.

One of my other commitments is to grind as little as possible. For some reason using a guide seems to cause a secondary bevel more often than not for me. Using a secondary bevel, unicorn methods or convex bevels tend toward more grinding to reestablish a bevel. Without a reliable wheel grinder hollow grinding is not an option. Freehand honing a flat bevel works fine for me.

jtk

[Tony Wilkins]

I tried to learn freehand but guides help me since I can’t feel my hands anymore. I just can’t judge level or square with my senses anymore.

[Edward Weber]

For me, it's like chopping mortises, I can do it, I just don't really like to.
I can sharpen freehand but I certainly prefer the consistency and repeatability of using jigs.
For most things like chisels and plane irons, I use the Veritas MK2 with abrasive paper on a granite plate. I prefer this method for many reasons but having more real estate as Jason mentioned is one of the most important to me.

[Luke Dupont]

I much prefer freehand and actually find guides more finicky and time consuming to use. But I have found them useful in the past to grind a particular angle on a tool and, especially, fixing skewed chisels and plane irons.

These days I just use a bevel set at the angle I want and grind as I would sharpen free hand, and that typically works just fine. Keeping the bevel square across when doing this can be challenging however, and that's where the value of a guide really comes in for me -- fixing skewed plane irons or chisels.

Also, keep in mind that guides don't work on many tools. I think half of my chisels and plane irons (basically all Japanese irons and chisels) don't work with any commercial guide I've owned. I'm sure there are ones that would work though.

Anyway, everyone has their own needs, and if a guide helps you and is easier, by all means use it! But also don't be afraid of freehand sharpening if you haven't tried it or just haven't built up the skill / muscle memory yet. I sometimes see people jumping through really complicated hoops and buying really expensive jigs and equipment to handle awkward tools just to avoid free hand sharpening at all costs, and that's when the cost/benefit starts to get really negative I feel. Learn both if you can, and do what works for you and you find most convenient -- which no doubt will vary depending on the particular tool, person, and amount of time you spend with a given method.

In time, you will get really consistent. I can take pretty much any of my chisels, which have never touched a guide, and measure them, and they'll all be within a degree or so of each-other. Your hand learns the angles you sharpen at, and tiny variations in degree can be noticed quickly with such a long tool as a chisel. If you want more consistency, spend a week or two sharpening with a bevel next to your stone for reference, and occasionally check the angle you hold the tool against it, just by glancing at it off to the side. In time you'll be able to "lock in" that angle into muscle memory.

One great thing about free handing is that I can use very small stones quite happily, 2x4 or 2x6 -- no need for those giant 3x8 and 3x10 stones that are in high demand. And, small stones are a lot more portable. But those benefits may not be a big deal for most folks, especially if they only ever sharpen in the shop and have a dedicated sharpening station and plenty of money to put towards sharpening equipment. Whatever I've saved on the size of stones I buy has no doubt gone into funding my obsession with trying every sharpening stone under the sun -- a totally unnecessary and somewhat wasteful hobby of mine, especially considering that I keep coming back to my Arks in the end anyway.

[James Pallas]

I own guides, an original eclipse from the 70s and a Mark II. I use them when needed. Got use to sharpening carving tools so freehand everything for the most part.
Jim

[Richard Hutchings]

So I bought the Veritas mk2 and the extra camber attachment. I'll never go back to free hand. This is amazing.