Honing guide recommendation please

[Luke McFadden]

I'm going to be getting a planer soon. As it seems like most want you to hone the blade more before using it. And I figure I will need to sharpen it, and I want to do a good job at this.

Is there a universal system that works well? I have a lot of knives that I would like to be able to use a sharpening guide with as well, but I didn't know if this is possible.

Can somewhat recommend a good option for me?

Thanks.

Luke

[Adriaan Schepel]

Hi there.

You may find yourself opening a Pandora's Box with your questions!

The most economical and flexible way is to learn to sharpen freehand. Bob Smalser who posts on here regularly is a strong advocate of this (along with others) and may be happy to offer some tips. My advice would be: watch someone doing it, and then practise, practise, practise. It's really not that hard to learn.

That said, I also use sharpening jigs. The standard cheap sharpening jig (like those made by Eclipse etc.) is a good flexible jig for chisels and plane blades. It gives you a lot of control over the sharpening process, and will allow you to put a slight camber on your plane blades through use of finger pressure (David Charlesworth has some excellent DVD work on this - see the Lie Nielsen site).

I have also recently purchased the Lee Valley Veritas Mk II jig. This is not a cheap one, but it is rock solid and will give you a square sharp edge with a predictable bevel angle every time. It also has a cambering wheel available, and an optional attachment for doing skewed blades as well.

Sorry, I don't think there's much help here for you concerning knives.

I think it's still hard to beat the flexibility of freehand sharpening. I can do a fair job of this, but people like Bob inspire me to try harder. Jigs are cool, but learning to freehand it is a good skill to acquire.

My $0.03 (I know it's meant to be $0.02, but that's US dollars and I need to allow for our poor exchange rate of Aussie dollars to greenbacks).

Regards,
Adriaan

[jonathan snyder]

Luke,

I have the LV MKII honing guide also. It works great, very repeatable results. I also have one of the eclipse style, but have not used it since I got the MKII. One of these days I will learn to sharpen freehand, but I can only learn to do one thing at a time! Right now I'm trying to perfect my dovetail technique, and for that I want sharp chisels right now!!!

I'm sure you will get many replies to you question from much more knowledgeable Neanders that me.

Jonathan

[Tom Sontag]

I bought one or two honing guides to start out and ultimately decided freehand honing was best for me. The reason: it is the very quickest way to rehone a dulled edge. I also was less than perfect at resetting the iron in the guide the same way for each and every re-honing.

Several things are required to make free handing work best. It is difficult to freehand a very small thin edge; modern thicker plane irons are better for other reasons too. A hollow grind of reliable (consistent) geometry makes any honing a quick task since you only hone the extremities of the edge. And of course you will want to keep the iron pressed onto your flat stone well.

Knives are a whole 'nuther subject and I am not the one to ask.

[Luke McFadden]

Are there some good freehand plane sharpening sites out there?

Thanks,

Luke

[Jeff Craven]

Ron Hock's Sharpening Notes: http://www.wkfinetools.com/tMaking/art/hockIrons/index.asp

[Andrew Homan]

Are there some good freehand plane sharpening sites out there?


This is very helpful:
http://www.antiquetools.com/sharp/
I started out with honing jigs but was shown 2 different freehand methods by friends.
The method I've stuck with was shown to me by a friend who builds violins and mandolins professionally, and he learned it from a master violin builder. You actually orient the blade differently than the method shown on Joel's site above. It is similar to Harrelson Stanley's "side sharpening" technique but involves MUCH less "time on the stone." A few swipes per grit. I have found it easier to hold the blade at the correct angle with this approach.
For a very small micro-bevel on a specific blade, I do still use the honing guide, because there is so little surface to ride on.
Cheers,
Andy

[Robert Rozaieski]

Check out Joel's site that Andrew posted and get yourself 2 stones (soft Arkansas and Hard Arkansas, or 1000 and 8000 waterstones) and a grinder. I highly recommend hollow grinding as it makes it easier to hone the bevel. Check out my post on my personal freehand honing epiphany from a few weeks ago (linked below). I haven't picked up my honing guide since I started hollow grinding. I find it very easy to hone freehand now.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=46883&highlight=joel

[Mike Cutler]

Luke.
There are many ways to sharpen and hone chisels. At one time of the other you may use any combinations of methods.

Thomas Lie- Nielsen has authored a book on sharpening available through Taunton Press.
Garret Hack has some excellent advice in his Handplane book.
Derek Cohen, here on the board just posted a great thread.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=49164

I use the Scary Sharp method, and a Veritas jig, but sometimes you need to start on a grinder. I've yet to try waterstones, but that's in the near future.

[Bob Hallowell]

I use the LV MK II guide plate glass with sandpaper grits from 100 to 2000. Whith this method even a shlump like me can shave with my chisels and plane irons. Total set back $80 max.

Bob

[Zahid Naqvi]

Luke, the choices you make will depend on your budget, expertise and needs. For starters do you have any sharpening equipment (stones, grinder, etc.)? The choices are immense and there are camps that will diligently defend one system or the other.
Judging from your post it seems you are starting from scratch. May I suggest that you do some reading on sharpening before you decide on a system. Check your local library, chances are they will have some book on sharpening. If you have someone close by who you can visit and perhaps try using their system it will help tremendously.

[Adriaan Schepel]

Another site with a good explanation of freehand honing is that of Australian planemaker, Terry Gordon:

http://www.hntgordon.com.au/sharpeningprocess.htm

Happy sharpening!
Adriaan

[Tanus Canada]

I can't say enough about the LV MkII.

Years ago, I learned how to freehand hone plane irons and chisels, but the skill escaped me. I bought a cheapie guide which gave me ok results but they sure weren't repeatable.

I held off buying the MkII for a long while and then broke down when my cheapie was giving me a headache.

After using the LV guide for one night, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. The best $60 I've ever spent. My results are consistent time after time after time after time.

There are guys here and on other forums that say they spend almost zero time honing freehand and my hat's off to them. Good on you if you can do it, because you're likely faster than me setting up the Mk II. BUT....this works for me, and it works every single time.

My next purchase will be the MK II camber roller so I can plane without leaving side tracks.

Tanus

[Ryan Cathey]

Eclipse sharpening guide(about ten bucks at woodcraft) and a butt load of sandpaper. Work cheaper not harder.

-Ryan C.