08-10-2015, 09:55 AM
I recently purchased both the new Veritas Small Blade Honing Guide (cheapish as I had an unused base section with the straight roller), and at the Perth Wood Show I had the opportunity to use the new LN Honing Guide at the Perth Wood Show, and purchased one as well.
Why .. especially when I freehand hone most of my blades? Well, I use a honing guide when sharpening blades for bevel up planes since these receive a high micro secondary bevel (typically 50 degrees) on a low primary bevel (typically 25 degrees). This strategy makes it easier to camber the blades.
I was also looking for a guide for mortice chisels since these receive a secondary bevel of 35 degrees on a 20 degree primary bevel, and this is one blade that cannot be hollow ground. Neither the Veritas nor the LN are designed for mortice chisels. Frankly I was curious about this guide and was wondering if I could modify it someway. The LN was destined for the BU plane blades, however LN do have a mortice accessory in the wings.
I thought there may be others wondering how these blades could work in these guides.
Here is the LN guide with the Veritas 3/16" thick x 2 1/4" wide plane blade ..
This is the extension at 50 degrees ..
It looks tight, but it works very well - pulled along the stone and never pushed. The guide has a great, solid feel. This is beautiful precision work by LN. Unlike the Eclipse, finger tight on the knurled knob is all that is needed.
Note how the blade is pushed upward by the dovetail on each side, and held against its back. This should ensure that the angles ground will always be repeatable.
The extension measurements:
The LN guide will also hold my 1/4" Ray Iles mortice chisel securely. This is a testament to the clamping pressure exerted (through the fine threads). Although this is not a recommended method, the guide did a fine job holding the chisels securely enough to hone the secondary bevel ..
Now the surprise was that, in addition to holding small chisels incredibly well, the Veritas Small Chisel Guide was capable of holding this mortice chisel as securely as the LN. Like the LN, the Veritas has fine threads that hold well. Still, neither guide is designed for this purpose as clamping is low and does not support the full sides of the chisel ..
Indeed, the Veritas was preferred when honing the mortice chisel owing to the extra stability of its wide wheel.
This is not a recommendation for either of these guides for this purpose. This is not their brief.
With regards small chisels, the Veritas had no difficulty holding a 1/8" bevel edge chisel very securely. The smallest chisel in the LN, on the other hand, was a little over 1/4".
Regards from Perth
Derek
Why .. especially when I freehand hone most of my blades? Well, I use a honing guide when sharpening blades for bevel up planes since these receive a high micro secondary bevel (typically 50 degrees) on a low primary bevel (typically 25 degrees). This strategy makes it easier to camber the blades.
I was also looking for a guide for mortice chisels since these receive a secondary bevel of 35 degrees on a 20 degree primary bevel, and this is one blade that cannot be hollow ground. Neither the Veritas nor the LN are designed for mortice chisels. Frankly I was curious about this guide and was wondering if I could modify it someway. The LN was destined for the BU plane blades, however LN do have a mortice accessory in the wings.
I thought there may be others wondering how these blades could work in these guides.
Here is the LN guide with the Veritas 3/16" thick x 2 1/4" wide plane blade ..
This is the extension at 50 degrees ..
It looks tight, but it works very well - pulled along the stone and never pushed. The guide has a great, solid feel. This is beautiful precision work by LN. Unlike the Eclipse, finger tight on the knurled knob is all that is needed.
Note how the blade is pushed upward by the dovetail on each side, and held against its back. This should ensure that the angles ground will always be repeatable.
The extension measurements:
The LN guide will also hold my 1/4" Ray Iles mortice chisel securely. This is a testament to the clamping pressure exerted (through the fine threads). Although this is not a recommended method, the guide did a fine job holding the chisels securely enough to hone the secondary bevel ..
Now the surprise was that, in addition to holding small chisels incredibly well, the Veritas Small Chisel Guide was capable of holding this mortice chisel as securely as the LN. Like the LN, the Veritas has fine threads that hold well. Still, neither guide is designed for this purpose as clamping is low and does not support the full sides of the chisel ..
Indeed, the Veritas was preferred when honing the mortice chisel owing to the extra stability of its wide wheel.
This is not a recommendation for either of these guides for this purpose. This is not their brief.
With regards small chisels, the Veritas had no difficulty holding a 1/8" bevel edge chisel very securely. The smallest chisel in the LN, on the other hand, was a little over 1/4".
Regards from Perth
Derek
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