Thread: Check your Veritas MkII Honing Guides

G'day Groggy,

Having just recently bought the same honing guide I'd be interested in a pic to see what the go is and if mine is correctly assembled.

yep, a pic'd be great

G'day,

Thanks for that Groggy, I'll check the set up of my Mk II tomorrow. I've started honing my chisels and plane blades and have a stack to go and many more hours yet - more so after the 4 Titans I bought yesterday at a farmers garage sale at Silvan yesterday.

Thanks mate, mines sweet.

Thanks Groggy,

I checked mine out and its fine. I don't have a problem with the uneven micro bevel either, and I don't think the two problems are related.

The one thing I have been wondering with mine is how susceptible the brass roller and axle is to wear from grit entering into the mechanism during sharpening. So far I haven't had a problem but I wonder if that part of the guide will suffer excessive wear at some point down the track.

Today for example I was turning a couple of bevel edge chisels into skew chisels that I can use when hand cutting half blind dovetails. I don't have a grinder so I had to create the skew using my waterstones. I used a 220 grit stone to shape the skew and these stones wear fairly quickly. By the time I had finished there was quite a bit of gritty sludge on and around the roller assembly. I just wonder how much of this stuff gets in between the roller and the axle and what damage it does.

After each use I wash the entire guide in water, dry it and then spray WD40 all over it to drive off any remaining moisture. Finally I put a drop or two of light machine oil on the axle at each end of the roller and spin the roller around a few times to try and work the oil into the roller/axle interface. So far this has kept my guide in good working order and hopefully it will continue to do so.

Mine's cool, and the micro bevel is still splayed!

Cheers,

P

What were we going to do about that? I have a hazy recollection that someone was going to do or try something and report back. Hope it wasn't me...

Was it me??? :eek:

I did measure the difference... I'll do it again tonight.

cheers,

P

Mine was assembled correctly, but I do have significant microbevel problems.

Originally Posted by Scissors

Mine was assembled correctly, but I do have significant microbevel problems.

Hmm. what problem is that? Do you have a piccy?

I have a MkII, I'll check it this morning for the washer problem.

I was grinding a Berg the other day that was badly skewed and pitted and I noticed it would move in the holder too easily, even with the nuts done up tight. Once I realised the problem, I made sure no sideways pressure was applied, and checked it against the guage often.

By the way, that guage is fiddly to slide on my guide, does everyone else have that problem?

The good news is that the Berg was useless before, and useful now. It's still not perfect, there are too many pits on the back

woodbe.

Originally Posted by Mirboo

The one thing I have been wondering with mine is how susceptible the brass roller and axle is to wear from grit entering into the mechanism during sharpening.

LV do recommend flushing out the roller occasionally. They don't secify the frequency, but I don't think you need to do it after every use. I did mine with RP7 for the first time yesterday, after 9 months of use. Probably somewhere between the two would be best.

Originally Posted by woodbe

By the way, that guage is fiddly to slide on my guide, does everyone else have that problem?

Yep: the trick is not to do it up very tightly: just loose enough so it doesn't wiggle. It doesn't have to be done up tightly to be accurate.

My problem is the one that has been discussed here before. Basically the micro-bevel setting on the roller causes the micro-bevel to be ground significantly out of parallel to the primary bevel (for example, on a 25mm blade the micro-bevel is ~2.5mm up one side of the primary bevel before it 'reaches' the other side.) I think someone heard from LV that due to the design any manufacturing errors are significantly magnified.

Originally Posted by Scissors

My problem is the one that has been discussed here before. Basically the micro-bevel setting on the roller causes the micro-bevel to be ground significantly out of parallel to the primary bevel (for example, on a 25mm blade the micro-bevel is ~2.5mm up one side of the primary bevel before it 'reaches' the other side.) I think someone heard from LV that due to the design any manufacturing errors are significantly magnified.

Hi All -

Haven't had that issue with assembly before - but will be spot checking our inventory, and reviewing the assembly process today... those have been in continuous assembly for 7-8 months now, so it may have been a training issue. Will post back what we find.

The variability on the width of the micro-bevel is a different issue - and it can be due to technique or manufacturing tolerances - difficult to diagnose at a distance. Either way - we'd be pleased to replace the lower unit if you're not happy with it - or feel it's too far out.... (2.5mm over 25mm is definitely too far out!).

To check technique - try using the guide in a manner different from how you would normally - paying attention to where you put pressure on the blade, and how much. Change how you work the guide on the stone - I usually work left to right (right handed) - so reverse that - and work left to right. If any of that makes a difference, then it a question of technique.

From a manufacturing standpoint - the there are three tolerances we have to hold on the jig:

1) the axle - turned steel, with eccentric ends..
2) the roller - turned brass
3) the lower unit - two holes, for mounting the axle

Generally - the axle is the least likely to be out. Usually, if there's variability, it's in the hole drifted through the brass roller (tough to do at high tolerance, as it's a relatively long distance for the diameter), or one (or both) of the holes in the frame. If any of these are out by even a fraction of a thou (and they'll all be out +- some very small amount) the tolerance variation can cancel, or be additive. Now - if you hone a micro-bevel at 1 degree or so from the primary bevel - a very small difference at the roller gets magnified on the bevel - as it too is a very small difference. Ironically, our version 1 guide, with the narrower roller and the central clamping screw, would move to accommodate any difference.... the roller acted more as a point support. If you use a cambered roller (for example)... you'll see the effect "disappear"... as the effective width of the roller is reduced. One may also notice that on wider blades - the effect may be reduced, as the width of the blade being sharpened "overpowers" the width of the roller...

Overall though, the effect is essentially a visual one - there is no issue with repeatability, nor is there any significant variability in the squareness of the edge. Our early production, while within tolerances, certainly varied more than what we make today... but we'll never be able to completely eliminate that type of variability in a what is much closer to a fixture now, than a jig....

If you'd like a lower unit replaced - please email me directly at [email protected] with your mailing address - and we'll get it on the way asap...

Cheers -

Rob