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Thread: Veritas Narrow Blade Head: First Impressions

  1. #1

    Veritas Narrow Blade Head: First Impressions

    I've always struggled when using my Veritas Mk2 Guide to sharpen narrow chisels. They tend to skew (for me anyway) after a few strokes. So I bought the Narrow Blade Head for $50. Seemed a little pricey, but there's machining and moving parts involved so I understood that after thinking a bit.

    The machining is nice. The instructions are clear. The jig is easy to use. I just used it to sharpen a 1/2" bench chisel and it really made a difference for me. It clamps narrow blades very well. I did notice there's just a bit of play in the clamping mechanism that lets the tip move up and down ever so slightly. But since I'm pressing downward while drawing across the stone it seems to be of no impact. (I don't know if it is related to the next item I'm going to discuss......)

    The cutting edge (secondary bevel) is square to the sides of the chisel. But one end of it is wider than the other (skewed). It reminds me of when I didn't get the chisel square in the jig - but again, the edge is perfectly square to the sides. LV may have found this in testing because their instructions have a long note about it:
    "The section between the primary bevel and micro-bevel can often be skewed in relation to the edge; however, this is not a concern. While the geometry of the guide is sensitive to even the smallest influences, the geometry at the edge of the blade is notnearly as sensitive. The guide will create a square edge , even if the section between the primary bevel and micro-bevel appears to be skewed." I was a bit concerned, so I was grateful that they included that explanatory note in anticipation of my phone call. Well done LV!

    So, with the help of this jig, my narrow tools ought to be a lot easier to sharpen. Would I buy it again? Yup!

    Fred
    Last edited by Frederick Skelly; 10-03-2015 at 7:40 PM. Reason: clarify

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Calgary AB, Canada
    Posts
    381
    I think you inadvertantly hit upon your issues with skewing and the MK2... You really do not need to press down at all. In my experience with using that jig, things worked a huge amount better with essentially zero exerted pressure on whatever I was sharpening. Basically just hold the blade with as little downward pressure as absolutely possible and I found it sharpened easier and faster... YMMV

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by bob blakeborough View Post
    I think you inadvertantly hit upon your issues with skewing and the MK2... You really do not need to press down at all. In my experience with using that jig, things worked a huge amount better with essentially zero exerted pressure on whatever I was sharpening. Basically just hold the blade with as little downward pressure as absolutely possible and I found it sharpened easier and faster... YMMV
    Thanks for that tip Bob. I'll try it your way. I appreciate it.
    Fref

  4. #4
    I bought one of those and had trouble with the chisel slipping, no matter how tight I cranked it. LV suggested roughing up the inside of the jaws and that fixed the problem.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  5. #5
    I too found that I could not depend on the narrow blade attachment to grip securely...I gouged a water stone pretty deeply when a chisel slipped. When the LN honing guide became available, I decided that the it was the better system for my needs and I let the LV jig and attachments go to someone else. Of course there is a price difference, but I like the concept of the LN honing guide being engineered for their tools. For those who like the repeatability of a jig, and quality of the LN build, the choice was clear to me.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,469
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    I bought one of those and had trouble with the chisel slipping, no matter how tight I cranked it. LV suggested roughing up the inside of the jaws and that fixed the problem.

    Mike
    I mentioned this earlier - I added sticky back 240 grit sandpaper to mine. It holds a 1/4" RI mortice chisel (i.e. high sided) reliably.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Renton, WA
    Posts
    228
    I purchased one also and I really like it. I had the same holding issue but I resolved it with a bit of sand paper. Overall I think it is a great answer for narrow sharpening. As many of you I can not get the hang of free hand sharpening and I like the precision of the LV stuff.

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