I've been using the Veritas Honing Guide and water stones with reasonable
success. I've also done some honing by hand with reasonable success.
Recently, I acquired an old Stanley No. 8 jointer plane. After grinding to
get the blade back into proper shape, it was time to go to the water stones.
I was frustrated to learn that my Veritas Honing Guide would not accept the
large jointer plane blade (2 5/8" wide). Ok, so I'll do it by hand. Let me
tell you that's a real wangly proposition. This blade is long and wide and
not thick like a Hock blade. I could feel the bevel on the stone and set
the blade angle. It was not as crisp feeling as some of my other, smaller
plane blades. Holding the whole thing steady at a constant angle moving
across the stone was a very iffy proposition because the blade is so big and
tends to flop around. I got it done and the plane worked very well.
However, I was not satisfied with the tedious experience of sharpening the
blade.
So I researched honing jigs. I remembered Jeff Gorman's website had a page
on building your own. What the heck. It only took a $3 hardwood handled
seaming roller (available at Lowe's in the wallpaper department) and a scrap
of wood.
Jeff's design is more than just a shop built solution. Its vastly different
from the commercial guides available. Virtually all the guides available
ride on top of the stone and are about 3 inches big in the largest
dimension. Even the slightest adjustment in how the blade is clamped will
make a significant change in the blade angle. I consider all of them a bit
touchy at best. Jeff's jig uses a roller that rests on the workbench, so
you get full use of the stone. His jig is big, with the blade holder being
almost 9" long. Adjustments for angle are typically done with 1/4" changes,
instead of 1/32" changes. In use, I get a much better feel for how the iron
is contacting the stone, than with the Veritas guide. Its like a hybrid
between hand honing and honing with a Jig. I re-honed the jointer blade in
record time and with a degree of confidence I've never felt before.
So you like that little knob on the Veritas for changing the angle slightly
to do a micro bevel? Yes, its well thought out and neat. With Jeff's Jig,
its even faster. Just put a 1/4" or 1/2" piece of wood under the roller -
Poof! instant micro bevel.
Next trial was to fix the nick in the blade of my Veritas medium shoulder
plane. I did not want to hollow grind this because the corners of the blade
are so critical to this plane's performance. I used Jeff's Jig with 100
grit sandpaper on a sheet of glass. I safely and accurately got the nick
out leaving a flat symetrical bevel.
I didn't even bother to make my version of Jeff's jig fancy with bolts to
hold the blade. I just grabbed a couple of spring clamps to hold the blade
in place. Its ugly but it works.
The link to the jig is http://tinyurl.com/4zxks.
Bob
"Bob" <[email protected]> wrote
: So I researched honing jigs. I remembered Jeff Gorman's website had a page
: on building your own. What the heck. It only took a $3 hardwood handled
: seaming roller (available at Lowe's in the wallpaper department) and a
scrap
: of wood.
:
Snip
:
: So you like that little knob on the Veritas for changing the angle
slightly
: to do a micro bevel? Yes, its well thought out and neat. With Jeff's
Jig,
: its even faster. Just put a 1/4" or 1/2" piece of wood under the roller -
: Poof! instant micro bevel.
I'm glad that Bob has found my jig to be useful.
I use it with a diamond plate for the first run that removes the rounding
that makes the edge blunt, and then for a fine edge, on glass with
automotive chrome cleaning paste. The glass surface is about 3mm (1/8in to
the unshaven) lower than the diamond plate's. This gives an automatic micro
bevel
:
: ....................................................... I used Jeff's Jig
with 100
: grit sandpaper on a sheet of glass. I safely and accurately got the nick
: out leaving a flat symetrical bevel.
I didn't consider using abrasive paper - Scary Sharpening - when making mine
and imagine that rather a long overhang of the blade is needed to get the
usual 30deg angle, unless the handle section is shortened of course.
:
: I didn't even bother to make my version of Jeff's jig fancy with bolts to
: hold the blade. I just grabbed a couple of spring clamps to hold the blade
: in place. Its ugly but it works.
Why not now progress to the blade holder?
Jeff G
--
Jeff Gorman, West Yorkshire, UK
Email: username is amgron
ISP is clara.co.uk
www.amgron.clara.net
"charlie b" <[email protected]> wrote
: ...................................... One question
: I had about his jig - the setting of the angle of
: the bevel, seen from the side, can be adjusted
: by either moving the the iron fore or aft or
: raising or lowering the plane the roller rolls
: on.
Just so, but it is intended to roll on the bench top and work on an elevated
surface, ie a stone or plate mounted in/on a box.
To set the angle, I offer the end of the jig to the edge of the bench and
slide the edge forwards until it aligns with a mark gauged on the bench top.
: ........... But how is the side to side angle adjusted?
: Without that adjustment, the bevel width could
: be wider on one end than the other and create
: a skew iron.
There is no means of adjusting the angle of the blade's axis to the
direction of movement since I have never experienced a need for this, indeed
I've incorporated a guide to make it easier to keep it square.
To cover the entire width of a blade, one just allows some overlap at the
sides, so helping to form the essential slightly cambered edge (essential
for all but shooting board planes).
My gadget is simply an enhancement to the old Stanley pattern and is similar
to the General design except that it uses a quick and convenient method of
clamping the blade (and costs less). I find this useful since I usually
sharpen a batch of standard Record irons ten at a time.
I'm glad to know that some people have found this useful. I think that the
principle is far superior to the roller-on-stone designs.
Jeff G
--
Jeff Gorman, West Yorkshire, UK
Email: username is amgron
ISP is clara.co.uk
www.amgron.clara.net
On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 12:40:34 -0800, charlie b <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Slick! Leave it to Jeff to come up with a better
> AND simpler way to do things. One question
> I had about his jig - the setting of the angle of
> the bevel, seen from the side, can be adjusted
> by either moving the the iron fore or aft or
> raising or lowering the plane the roller rolls
> on. But how is the side to side angle adjusted?
> Without that adjustment, the bevel width could
> be wider on one end than the other and create
> a skew iron.
I don't have the picture in front of me, but the skew angle would be fixed by
the angle of the "bed" relative to the axis of the roller, wouldn't it? I
believe the picture shows an "optional" aluminum angle that could be
attached/adjusted/set to provide a reference line/plane square to the roller
axis.
In fact, if the angle were made adjustable over a wide enough range, it might be
just the ticket for planes such as the Stanley #46, #140, etc.
Tom Veatch
Wichita, KS USA
Bob wrote:
> Jeff's design is more than just a shop built solution.
snip
> The link to the jig is http://tinyurl.com/4zxks.
>
> Bob
Slick! Leave it to Jeff to come up with a better
AND simpler way to do things. One question
I had about his jig - the setting of the angle of
the bevel, seen from the side, can be adjusted
by either moving the the iron fore or aft or
raising or lowering the plane the roller rolls
on. But how is the side to side angle adjusted?
Without that adjustment, the bevel width could
be wider on one end than the other and create
a skew iron.
charlie b
"charlie b" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> So the skewing can be removed by either the optional
> aluminum (aluminium for the Brits) "angle iron" or by
> quick trial and error. Rather than being a slick jig
> make that "a really slick jig!".
My copy of the jig is so homely and simple, it has to be seen to be
believed. I'll make a picture of the jury rigged setup to hone the #8 blade
and post it in APBW.
Bob
"Jeff Gorman" <seethesig> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I didn't consider using abrasive paper - Scary Sharpening - when making
mine
> and imagine that rather a long overhang of the blade is needed to get the
> usual 30deg angle, unless the handle section is shortened of course.
The first version was a chunk of plywood about 9 1/2" long. I didn't even
glue the roller handle in it. It was snug enough friction fit. I put a 25
degree angle on it. I just wanted to see if it worked at all before I got
fancy and used real wood and glue.
> Why not now progress to the blade holder?
I will do something like that, but will ponder it a while. The range of
blades I tried (#8 jointer and 3/4" wide shoulder) had radically different
holding requirements. A screw and nut won't work for the shoulder plane
blade. I also have several wood planes that have solid blades (no slot).
The ugly spring clamps worked for all cases.
Bob Davis
Houston, Texas
"charlie b" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> But how is the side to side angle adjusted?
> Without that adjustment, the bevel width could
> be wider on one end than the other and create
> a skew iron.
Well, I don't know how Jeff does it but probably similar to the way I did.
You have to hold your mouth right. Actually, I started with a blade that
was ground square on a hand grinder, so it was easy to feel when it was
sitting properly on the stone. Then I held it against Jeff's jig with my
hand and put a spring clamp on it. I made a few passes on the stone to see
what it was doing. As I recall, I may have made one tiny tweak by ooching
the blade a few degrees to the left while it was still clamped to the jig.
Then I made 3-4 passes and checked again. Once I was confident it was set
right, I did a sprint to the finish with rapid long strokes on the stone.
Its nice to have the full stone available! I also was able to slightly
angle the corners of the iron with a little extra pressure on each side. By
the way, Jeff does mention an optional aluminum angle to use as a guide for
the iron.
Its really hard to describe using it. You have to experience it. That is why
I said it was like a combination of honing by hand and with a Jig. People
whose karma aligns with adjusting a wooden plane will have no trouble
adapting to the Jig. I like Jeff's comments "I made this after 40-odd years
of freehand honing and am now a convert." He says it won't work with
Chisels but I can see how it could easily be adapted by adding a block of
wood under the chisel blade so the handle would clear the jig.
Bob
"charlie b" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> So the skewing can be removed by either the optional
> aluminum (aluminium for the Brits) "angle iron" or by
> quick trial and error. Rather than being a slick jig
> make that "a really slick jig!".
Pictures posted in alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking.
Bob