Inspired by the vintage Stanley No. 50, the unique and affordable Lee Valley Replica Honing Guide is quick to set up, easy to use, and produces razor-sharp edges time after time. 

While its blade-clamping mechanism only works with slotted hand-plane blades, the narrow roller makes it excellent for honing both flat and cambered edges. And it has a built-in ruler that sets the blade extension for 25° and 30°, the most common angles for grinding and honing. 

The high-quality metal parts and simple roller design make it suitable for honing with waterstones or any other abrasives. And it’s completely self-contained. You can set the angle, lock it in, and roll it on the stones without the add-ons or setup blocks required by other guides. 

I used it on several plane irons, including vintage Stanley blades and current Lie-Nielsen and Veritas blades, with a variety of edge profiles, from straight to slightly and extremely cambered. In every case the guide performed flawlessly. It was easy to maintain a straight edge by applying even pressure at both corners of a blade, and it rocked effortlessly to hone curved edges—doing this better than any other guide I’ve used.

—Chris Gochnour is a contributing editor.

Photos: Asa Christiana

From Fine Woodworking #303

	Video: Chris Gochnour’s sharpening process Watch a hand tool aficionado who is always looking for new ways to be a better sharpener
	Video: How to sharpen a blade using a honing guide Bob Van Dyke gives an overview of various honing guides, and demonstrates why he uses one when sharpening his plane irons and chisels.
	A Honing Guide is the Great Equalizer Get your chisels and planes as sharp as the pros’, guaranteed