Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Blue Spruce Sharpening Guide

  1. #1

    Blue Spruce Sharpening Guide

    I don't use sharpening guides much; that's why I have three or four of them. That being said, when Blue Spruce sent the E-mail about their new sharpening guide, I ordered one. A couple of months later, here it came (they didn't tell me there would be a long wait, and they charged my credit card on receipt of order, not when the item shipped, as Lee Valley so kindly does). It was packed in in excelsior in a styled cardboard box tied with sisal twine.

    Now to the point of the whole rant: This thing is simple and very effective. The retaining clamps are especially useful for small chisels with tapered edges, but they hold a thicker chamfer well. It's made from stainless steel which takes the corrosion factor from water washed abrasives out. It runs on two Buna O-ring tires, and they include a replacement set. The down side is the price, but that's Blue Spruce.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Corcoran, MN
    Posts
    372
    Do you like the angle guide? I used to use the Veritas guide but had difficulty controlling the projection when resharpening.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Baton Rouge, LA
    Posts
    126
    Looks like a nice guide. I could not find the max width it can clamp. Can it only do only chisels or can it do plane blades also?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2021
    Location
    Central Arkansas
    Posts
    75
    Quote Originally Posted by Gary Focht View Post
    Looks like a nice guide. I could not find the max width it can clamp. Can it only do only chisels or can it do plane blades also?
    Instructions say plane blades up to 1 1/2" wide.
    BillL

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,469
    Downsides of the BS: the LN, another side-clamp guide which registers the back of the blade, is much more compact (better use of stone) and nearly half the price. You do need to make your own registration block.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  6. #6

    I agree.

    Derek is as usual, well researched. BS is shameless in their pricing.
    My go-to sharpening guide will remain the Veritas MKII.
    I have free-handed my sharpening for a long time, but I must admit that when I use a guide with consistent blade to stone presentation I discover that I'm most usually a bit off on the angle.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,973
    I'm sure it will work nicely.

    In the 47 years of use of the Eclipse guide, I don't believe the wheel or any stone it's rolled on has suffered from use. It's a good theory though, but just a theory.

    The trouble I see with the projection method of setting an angle is that the angle is not the same for every thickness of cutter. That particular one doesn't look like it exactly reproduces the angle with each use, but requires some guess work. It's very useful to have a gauge for setting any guide to that is exactly, and easily reproducible. If you do a lot of grinding, it won't matter as much, but I do hardly any on a grinder, and want to go back to exactly the same angle every time, first time.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Ellsworth, Maine
    Posts
    1,805
    It does look like an interesting guide. I can't imagine a better option than the LN honing guide though. I like the small contact of the single roller in the middle of the gauge so I can camber plane blade irons very easily. It also looks like the projection of the blade from the front of the guide is not as extreme as eclipse style guides. This poses an issue when removing the burr after each stone. I am of the mindset that removing the burr after each stone produces a cleaner edge. I am not a fan of leaving the burr after each step. That's one of my issues with the LV MKII honing guide, it's so big and bulky which makes removing the burr on the finest stone kind of cumbersome. It's doable but just not that comfortable.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •