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Well, I got the picture posted. not exactly sure just how. This is one of the setups I used in testing the jig. I'll try more tomorrow. Ed
During the time I spent with the jig I sharpened approximately 25 plane Irons, 2 spoke shaves, and about 20 chisels and a couple of miscellaneous things. I have an Old Tormek ca. 1994, a Veritas power sharpener, a 1”x42” belt sander, a felt wheel and a stitched wheel on an arbor powered by a 1725 rpm motor. For this exercise I used two methods, abrasive backed paper attached to a granite block and a leather hone with AO, and Norton water stones followed by the same hone. The time included removing, cleaning the granite, and attaching the paper, and flattening the stones.
I’ve done some wood carving mostly caricature but also some acanthus style. I’ve built a dozen Windsor Chairs, after attending Mike Dunbar’s class. Mostly I make stuff for family and friends and furniture for the house. I use power tools to mill out the initial work but like and use hand tools as much as I can. I did cut some Windsor Chair seats out with a bow saw but after some self talk about my back and core muscles I decided that there was a real reason for band saws. I have several planes of various vintage and type, several spoke shaves from making Windsor Chairs and way too many chisels, a few other odds and ends. I admit to being a “tool Junkie”. Hopefully this gives you some idea of my background and hence my thoughts about the device. I’m not an accomplished tested or reviewer but I gave it a good shot and these are my thoughts.
Upon opening the package my first thought was” what a beautiful job of machining”, I showed my wife, who appreciates good work too, and she voiced the same thought. I watched the video Jim made and read through the posts concerning it and then just set out to see what I could do. I started with block planes and it went really easy the jig is real intuitive after watching Jim’s video. The extension/setup gauge is simple but very easy to use and it's exact. Took a couple of tries to get the dexterity of holding the iron, gauge in line while tightening the clamp but after that it was straightforward. Included in this were 4 skewed irons and it worked well with those too. I did most of these using the abrasive paper and hone. Those that I could see were reasonably close to the correct angle and no chips or nicks went right to the 220 paper. Those that needed more went to the Tormek. My Tormek is an older machine and the wheel, second one since machine was purchased, is right at the end of its useful life, 8-3/8” so the hollow grind is more pronounced than if it was larger. I went from the Tormek to 220 and had to change the setting a bit in order not to have to grind a lot but got a nice flat, square edge quickly. I found the grip with the edge of the blade facing me and pushing the unit away is the most comfortable for me. The jig is so well made that there are no sharp edges or protrusions to make the grip uncomfortable. I went from the block planes to regular planes and chisels and used the Norton stones and the same hone. Everything went great and the jig is joy to set up and use. Spoke shaves were a bit different. I first started with a Stanley #55 and as I think others have noted, because of the ears and width it won’t fit in to the clamp. I messed around with a few tries and finally came up with putting a broken router bit in behind the blade somewhat in the manner of a spacer to keep a vise from racking. I took a picture and will post if I ever figure out how to get the pictures posted. That worked but I was real gentle with my pressure so as not to pull it out of the clamp. The second spoke shave is one made by Jack Gooseman, a clone o f the Stanley #55. This one has a blade you can remove from the ears that hold the unit in place and it was easy to chuck and sharpen. When I get the pictures posted you can see what I mean. The second place I had a problem was with the 1/8” Wetherby chisel. As you can see in the picture the shank is tapered both in thickness and width so it is hard to clamp and because of the taper the alignment pins won’t hold it square. I finally just eyeballed it for square and I think it is close even though I couldn’t check it even with my small square. The 1/16”-1.54mm Japanese chisel has parallel sides and clamped up fine using the locator pins. I use my scrub plane a lot and it was next. I put the wheels in the center position and found that to follow the curve of the nose of the iron and over to the edge I was hitting the leg of the clamp. I have a narrower stone and that helped. I was able to put a really nice edge on this iron as with most everything I sharpened. In the note Jim included with the jig he states that if using Diamond plates you need to be aware that the diamond flakes may migrate into the wheels and cause a problem. I didn’t use a diamond plate but did note that when using the abrasive paper, especially the coarse grit, there was quite a bit of swarf generated and I’m thinking it too could get into the axel and wheels. I kept an eye on that and just flushed it out with water if it looked like it was accumulating. All in all it was a very rewarding and educational experience. The only suggestion I can make is that I would prefer the adjusting knobs to have a coarser knurl. When my hands were wet and some slippery I found the knobs to be some slick and would have appreciated a coarser knurl. I really want to buy this so put me on the list as a definite buyer.
Ed