Veritas Honing Guide

Re: Veritas Honing Guide

Rick Hoppe (Los Angeles)

>Yes, it's a common problem. I stopped using the rubber pad just for that reason. Instead, I put some of that blue masking tape where the rubber pad was as well as on the underside of the clamp. This works pretty well for most purposes but occasionally it may be necessary to use some pliers on the brass knob to tighten it a bit more firmly.

Jig "checks"

Dave (Arlington, VA)

>Hi Mike -

I do think that this is a pretty common problem with this particular jig. Probably most (all?) jigs have their own idiosyncratic problems. I have noticed problems with my Eclipse-knock-off jig as well.

When using the Veritas jig I try to keep my 6" combination square handy. I periodically use it to verify that the side of the chisel is perpendicular to the front lip (?) of the jig.

Also I often will use my combination square against the side of the chisel and draw a pencil mark across the top of the blade (near the top of the bevel). That way I can use it as a kind of visual check when I am sharpening - that is, if the top and bottom of the chisel are "lined up" the top of the bevel (as well as the edge of the bevel) will be parallel to my pencil mark.

My apologies if this is confusing. Right now I can't think of a clearer way to state it.

Best -

Dave

Re: Veritas Honing Guide

Alan Hamilton

>Mike,

I have this trouble too. I'm not sure why Lee Valley, or someone, doesn't fix this. They make a jig for use with a grinder that has pins to properly align the tool. So why not on a jig used with stones? It seems so obvious.

Anyway: I cut about a two inch square piece from a wooden paint stirrer and stuck it to the bottom of the screw pad with double-sticky tape--the thick kind of tape, not the thin carpet tape. This jury rig holds tools more tightly so they don't slip out of alignment as much or as often.

Alan

Re: Veritas Honing Guide

MikeG

>Hey thanks guys. I thougt it was me but I guess it is fairly common.

I find that the eclipse guide is good for somethings and not others. Same as the Veritas guide. I guess that's why I have both.

Maybe the better mouse trap is waiting for an inventor! :)

Mike

Re: Better Mousetrap?

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>No one expects one plane to work best for all situations. No one expects one chisel to work best for all situations. Why should anyone expect one honing guide to work best for all situations?

When it came to planes, some people claimed the #55 did it. I don't think so, but it's a great plane to have in the collection, and if you can make it do a few tricks, all the better. I think it's time some people who have been looking for the silver bullet to just resign themselves to starting a serious collection of practical honing guides.

Re: Veritas Honing Guide *LINK*

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>MIke

The Veritas guide is a good tool but not perfect. Many of us here have offered suggestions, modifications and jigs to improve its use. I have included below a link to one such thread, which began with a modification I made to my Veritas guide. Note that this is best for plane blades and wider chisels. The narrow chisel blade always presents a challenge of its own.

Try to use the Veritas guide as if you were freehanding the blade - i.e. don't force it and it stands a better chance of remaining in one place.

Regards from Perth

Derek


Veritas modifications and related jigs

A simple solution...

Chuck Nickerson

>Route slots of varying width in a piece of MDF. Place the jig against the edge of the MDF and se the appropriate slot to keep the blade perpendicular.

ROB LEE: Where is the new honing guide? *LINK*

Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida

>The squaring problem has allegedly been solved with the new honing jig design.


List of future Veritas Honing Jig Features

Re: Veritas Honing Guide

Mike Fitterling

>I, too, have that same problem. So much so that I bought a different jig. I'm hoping the new one will be much improved.

Re: Veritas Honing Guide

Rob Lee

>Hi Mike -

Cobbled the following together from some previous posts.... just back fron vacation, so have to take a few shortcuts.... :)

A change in technique will handle your problems. The new guide will be much closer to a "fixture" than a guide, and will definitely correct the problems you're having.

We'll see the first castings this week... if they're good (and they WILL be...for what the tooling cost...) then I'll "leak" the images I've had waiting since Dec....

Cheers -

Rob

TIPS

Squaring Blades

1) use the lines cast into the guide

2) register the face of the guide against an edge with a line drawn perpendicular (same way you'd check a square)

3) use a small square (or a square offcut)

Really - you can just set it by eye and still sharpen well...

Sorta like playing volleyball - if you form a triangle with your hand (thumb tip to thumb tip, forefinger tip to forfinger tip) - that'll give you the basic hand position to use the guide....forefingers apply downward pressure at the tool edge - thumbs push the guide...

Uneven pressure at the tip can result in more error (with any guide) than squaring it by eye will...(unless you're REALLY bad at it..!)