Sharpening Chisels -Veritas Honing Guide
I know there’s been a lot of discussion re sharpening, but as a newbie learning how to do it, thought I’d ask a fresh question… I bit the bullet and bought a Veritas Honing Guide & Angle Jig for sharpening chisels. (Up to now my sharpening skills have been pretty awful..) I’ve spent about 6 hours with it and need some feedback from anyone who’s familiar with this jig. I think I’m getting a fairly good edge, but have some queries….
. The instructions say to set the arrow pointing upwards re the secondary bevel “dial”. But the “arrow” is a tear drop. Do I put the “tear drop” at the top of the dial / or the pointy end of the tear drop facing up from the bottom?
. When I switch the setting to secondary bevel, I get a seconday bevel honing face that angles about 1/2 way up the basic bevel. Not good.
. As hard as I try to set the chisel at 90 degrees to the guide, my basic (and secondary) bevel is not exactly at 90 degrees. Pity Veritas didn’t provide some kind of 90 degree setting mechanism. Or does it not matter that much?
. I’m TRYING the “sandpaper on glass” technique. Working my way up from 120 to 1000 metal wet & dry. I’ve noticed I go through quite a bit of paper! What technique are others using to keep the sandpaper in place. Gluing it down would be redundant if you “use up” lots of paper on each sanding. (How much use should each sheet provide?) If the paper is not fixed, I find I’m using one hand on the jig, and one holding the paper. Which feels wrong.
. After doing my best, I’m not getting that “shave your arm hairs” sharpness. Is it just a matter of “practice”, or can someone who uses this jig (or any similar jig & sandpaper) provide some pointers.
Sorry about the long question.
Richard
Replies
Wood head, I use the Veritas jig and love it.
The sharp end of the arrow should point up. After setting your blade angle on the plate, one click gives you one degree additional bevel.
I use the plate to set the angle and tighten the jig screw only a little. I then square the blade in the jig with a square and tighten all the way
If you put ten woodworkers in the same room you will get ten different answers about the best sharpening methods, so I can only tell you what I do.
I don't use sandpaper, as it's too slow and a hassle in general, but it works for many.
The secondary bevels should be used only to put a micro bevel on your edge, the idea being that a 1 degree increase in angle removes the damage from rough grit using finer grit and then with the second click, you increase another 1 degree with your finest polishing grit to remove the damage from your last honing grit.
I use Tormek so I can't help you with the Lee Valley/Veritas.
BUT, for "sandpaper" get 3M what is called, I think, 3M Microfinishing Film. Various micron increments from 15 to 40 that I use. 15 is so smooth you have to make sure which is the correct side. And it is not paper. So it doesn't tear or fall apart.
Alan - planesaw
Hi, Richard,
I must disagree with some other posters here on where that teardrop on your honing jig goes.
Having the ENTIRE teardrop facing upwards (the fat part of the drop up and the point down) is zero degrees secondary bevel. Now rotate the drop forward 90 degrees and you have one degree of secondary bevel.
To prove this to yourself, get a blade with a 25 degree bevel and set the entire teardrop up and slide the blade into the jig. Now put the blade into the honing guide and set the pentagon wheel on the guide to 25 degrees. Slide the blade into the guide and adjust the jig so that when you look at the guide from the side toward a bright light, you will see little or no light between the top of the blade and the honing guide. Tighten down the jig nut to firmly hold the blade. Now rotate the teardrop forward so that the fat part of the teardrop is forward. Now stick the blade back in the honing guide and you will find that as you look at the blade from the side, there is a fairly big wedge of light visible between the top of the blade and the honing guide. You can see that you added one degree more bevel than you had.
If you rotate the knob another 90 degrees such that the fat part of the teardrop is down and the point up, you will see that the wedge of light I described above is even thicker, because now you have added two degrees of additional bevel.
By the way, I was as confused about that teardrop as you were and it took me a while to figure out which way "up " was.
As to getting exactly the blade exactly 90 degrees to the jig, close enough is close enough. When I hone a secondary bevel, I just make sure the bevel extends all the way across the blade.I shoot for a secondary bevel of less than one-sixty fourth of an inch the first time I hone one, but it's ok if the secondary bevel is a little fatter on one side of the blade than the other.
By the way, you can get a great set of honing instructions from Lee valley online. Go to leevalley.com and find the page with the picture of your guide and jig. Page down to the bottom of the page and right next to the price you will see the letters "instr" in blue underlined. Click on that and up pops a nice six page set of instructions you can print out.
Also, I started out with the scary sharp system you use but found the cost of sandpaper was eating me alive. I went to a 1000 grit and an 8000 grit waterstone set and am much happier. I think waterstones sharpen much faster than sandpaper. I use the glass plate and 180 grit wet-dry paper from my scary sharp system to flatten my stones before every use. 10 seconds of flattening is enough if you flatten them regularly.
Hope this helps,
Chris
Thanks all, this helps a LOT. Much appreciated. Even with my "limited" understanding of using the jig, it looked & felt like I was getting a better edge than I'd ever had before. When I tested it on hardwood end grain, it sliced through like butter. (Maybe I just have strong arm hairs?) I can see why having a super sharp chisel would make all the difference. Chris, your secondary bevel input was reassuring. Regards,Richard
I think there may be two different jigs because mine uses an arrow (no teardrop) and the instructions say the arrow should point forward for 1 degree and down for 2. I would suggest you confirm with Lee Valley ( they are great at answering your questions)
It's very easy to see which way the arrow should point. The arrow rotates an off center cam, when the high point, or lobe of the cam is at 90 degrees, it increases the angle by 1, and at 180 degrees, it increased the angle by two degrees.
He needs to just examine the jig a bit closer.
>If you put ten woodworkers in the same room you will get ten different answers <
Try 11 or 12...
Sounds like you are using the scary sharp system- which is fine. The best way to convince yourself that you are using the jig correctly is to take a chisel or plane iron previously honed to either 25 or 30 degrees, set it up in the jig and place on the glass without paper in place. It should sit perfectly on the glass. You can also mark the bevel to be sharpened with ink (Sharpie marker) and start honing- the ink should disappear evenly as you hone. If one side of the bevel is retaining ink- either you are honing at a different angle or you are in the jig incorrectly.
You can find decent, inexpensive papers (up to 1500-2000 grit) at auto supply stores. Use a spray bottle of water to fix the papers to the glass- it's enough surface tension to hold the papers in place- most of the finer grits are wet/dry. After you have sharpened all your chisels, you will probably only need to touch them up at finer grits in the future- unless you are working on teak, or if one gets dropped.
Lots of different ways to test your edge- I like to shave end grain on pine or cedar- soft woods will pinch rather than cut evenly with a dull chisel, and are a more severe test than hardwoods that are more brittle.
Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too often...
Using all your feedback I worked yesterday on my chisel set. What used to be a fairly ugly set of chisel facees are now a set of smooth almost polished mirrors. I went up to 2000. The secondary bevel at 1 degree (one turn) generates only the smallest bevel, but is still clearly noticeable on the chisel face. I've got little hair left on my left arm and am. I'm delighted. It took awhile to re-hone all the chisel faces from scratch at 25 degrees. (I used a diamond stone to do the initial honing, then switched to finer sandpaper on glass). However, I can see now it will be quick & easy to re-sharpen. When you do the secondary bevel, do you generally use only the finest grit (say 2000) after finishing with the basic 25 degree bevel?Thanks all,Richard
Yes, you do the secondary after you have finished the primary bevel.
What I usually do is to finish the primary bevel. I then pull back the chisel ~5-10 mm in my guide- this creates a steeper angle between the chisel and the stone (or glass/sandpaper). I then hone ~20 strokes on an 8000 waterstone (or 1500 grit paper) to create the secodary bevel.
Sometimes, resharpening involves just this last step, other times I will hone the chisel back on 8000 grit, then the primary bevel at 8000, then the secondary bevel. Once you have done the initial sharpening, rehoning may only take 2-3 minutes- it dpends on what the chisel has been used for- whether you have been paring or scraping glue...Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too often...
Why do you hone the primary bevel? The purpose of a micro bevel [secondary bevel] is to save sharpening time. Inquiring minds want to know. Peter
>Why do you hone the primary bevel? The purpose of a micro bevel [secondary bevel] is to save sharpening time. Inquiring minds want to know. <
Honing the primary bevel at 8000 doesn't take much time. If I skipped this step, I'd save perhaps a minute.
I can't tell you for sure that it makes a difference- although having every thing honed to a similar fineness might have some benefit, since the chisel often enters the wood deeper than the level of the secondary bevel, and the surface of the primary bevel will peel back wood fibers, a bit like a submerged chipbreaker.
(I know that some sharpening acolyte with a scanning electron micrsocope in his wood shop will write in to correct me in a 348 line post with 20 or 30 jpeg SEM photos, but what the h***)Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too often...
Richard,
Just a couple of extra notes, FWIW:
It doesn't matter where the point is on the Veritas jig dial (I use one too). What matters is that you turn it one quarter turn clockwise to get the microbevel after sharpening at the angle you set with your guide. So forget about teardrops, arrows, positions of the stars, etc., and just remember to turn the dial one click to the right when ready to make your microbevel, wherever you're teardrop was when you sharpened;
Although I don't use the scary sharp method anymore - I like waterstones, and use the sandpaper on glass for flattening the stones - I did get some sage advice here about saving paper. Always sharpen the blade on the pull stroke, never the push stroke. I was chewing up lots of paper on the push stroke;
Finally (I didn't see this answered before), 3M makes a temporary adhesive that quickly comes off w/ a pull but stays in place while sharpening, flattening a plane sole or a waterstone, etc. The residue is easily removed w/ acetone to get back to a flat surface. I've found the product both at HI stores and paint stores.
Hope that helps,Mitch
"I'm always humbled by how much I DON'T know..."
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled