Jointer Knive Hone

[Mark Hoffman]

Has anyone use those jointer knive hones that are available and if so do they work well or are they a waste of money?

Woodworkers supply sells one called a Honemate.

[David Weaver]

I bought one of the cheap ones that are about $20, and can't figure out how to get it to work well.

it's the type with a stone on each side of a rectangular wooden block. I don't see how someone could use it to put a keen edge on a jointer, and I feel like a sucker for it.

I have since been jointing and facing boards by hand - it's a lot easier for me to do accurately because the process is a lot slower and I can get all over the board with a caliper while working the wood. Definitely not going to win any speed records doing it, though.

[Eddie Darby]

I've got one of these, but I don't like the way you need to use it dry.

Here are two PDF files that show it being used.

One shows the tool being used on the flat side of the face. I wouldn't use it on the flat side since you want this side to stay flat and smooth. I would only touch-up the bevel side if I had to.

To avoid this I opted for the second set of blades, so my down time isn't that long.

This one shows both faces being sharpened:

ftp://www.woodworker.com/95-420.pdf

This one shows only the bevel side being sharpened:

ftp://www.woodworker.com/880-889.pdf

[Dave Sabo]

Eddie check your links, they require a password.

[J.R. Rutter]

I've got the WWSupply diamond version. I wet it with water before / during use. It works in a pinch to get more life out of the blades, but sharpening is best. It makes the edge more fragile on the micro level because the scratches run along the edge, weakening the very tip.

But I did just use it the other day to avaoid some downtime. Even with 2 sets of spare knives, I still manage to procrastinate a trip to the sharpener!

[Eddie Darby]

Here is the page with the two pdf files linked to it near the bottom of the page:

http://www.woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=95-420