Thread: Another bloody sharpening discussion!

This is essentially a copy of a post I made a few minutes ago to a question about choosing a honing guide. I said there that I was not going to start a thread, but my response became longer and longer (I am far too verbose!) and I think that the argument contains important issues for consideration when choosing a honing guide as well as going freehand.

This could just as easily be titled something like " the dos and don'ts of sharpening guides". Everyone - but Everyone! - has an opinion about sharpening guides. It is a bit like discussing religeon or politics. So just a few personal points, most of which I have made many times before. I do invite all to answer to these, and also to state the pros and cons of the sharpening guide they use.

1. There is a definite place for honing guides, as well as a definite place for freehanding blades. I do both.

2. We basically have three situations to consider: Blades used in bevel up configuration, blades used in bevel down configuration, and microbevel vs flat bevel honing.

3. The advantage of freehand honing is that it feels quick and, for the impatient individual (like myself), it is easier to grab a blade and whip it onto a waterstone (or other preferred sharpening media). The disadvantage of freehand honing is that it actually takes longer overall - over time the bevel is rounded and then one really needs to flatten it with a jig. The process of rounding the blade tends to disguise the fact that the bevel angle has gradually changed (increased).

Now this is generally OK if used on bevel down blades, such as in the typical Stanley plane, or used on non-paring bench chisel. In such situations the bevel angle is not critical. The bevel down plane imparts the cutting angle from the back of the blade, which is the leading angle. The angle of the bevel only affects the durability of the bevel (also its penetration - not the issue here), and the plane will work whatever the bevel angle it has (up to a point - the higher the bevel angle, the less clearance, and eventually the blade will stop working).

Bottom line: if you are working bevel down, and are using thin blades (see later), then freehand honing is fine. I do this all the time.

4. The advantage of a guide is twofold - it provides accuracy, and this leads to ease of reproducing a previous bevel angle, and this leads to faster honing (as one is not creating a new bevel each time).

5. For bevel up planes, and for specialist chisels (e.g. paring- or mortice chisels), the angle of the bevel is Critical. The bevel angle actually defines how the tool will work. For example, a bevel up plane with a 37 degree cutting angle (i.e a 25 degee bevel on a 12 degree bed) will cutt markedly differently than one cutting at 62 degrees. Try this on difficult grain and you will find out very quickly! Similarly, the lower the bevel angle, the greater the ease of penetration into the wood. Therefore paring chisels, which are pushed by hand, have a low angle, typically of 20 degrees. At the other end of the spectrum one has mortice chisels, which are Hammered and need a durable edge. These will need a bevel angle of 30-35 degrees.

The higher the bevel angle on chisels, the less one needs to be obsessional about accuracy of bevel angle (if you are in the ball park that is usually enough). And vice versa - as the bevel angle intentionally reduces, so it becomes more important to hone with care.

6. A further introduction is the use of microbevels to speed up sharpening. Again, on a bevel down plane this is less critical, but on a bevel up blade this is all-important.

The one time I use a microbevel on a bevel down blade is when the blade is thick (and the steel is hard). Such as the HNT Gordon blades, which are 14" thick. These are super-easy for freehand, but it is so much quicker to add a micro-bevel to the primary bevel than hone the entire bevel face freehand or with a guide.

So we come to choice of honing guide. Which to buy - the Carba-tec cheapie or the LV superduper (LV Honing Guide Mk II)?

I have not used all the guides available, but have used quite a number. I do have a lot of insiders information about the LV (I have worked on the pre-production prototypes as well as researching and reviewing the production model), and this does bias me somewhat - hopefully to your advantage.

There is a world of difference between the LV Mk II and other Look-a-likes. For a start, the LV is vastly better made (and its price reflects this), not just in construction, but also in being a complete package. As it stands, the basic Mk II will do just about everything one needs - wide and narrow blades, quick to set up, accurate, easy to hold, very wide range of preset bevel angles. Not on the market yet, but definitely coming, are clamp-on guides for skew blades and for radiused blades. At this point you can access an article I wrote:

Advanced Angles on the Lee Valley Honing Guide Mk II

I do not wish to imply that the LV Mk II is perfect. It is not. It is the best compromise available at this time. For example, it is optimised for the novice blade sharpener and, in this guise, is about foolproof. For the more advanced sharpener it a little limiting (but only just, and this is overcome as well with either the correct accessory or technique). For example, the guide has a very wide wheel and, for some, this is too stable since it prevents one honing a radiused blade. It will create a super straight blade. Isn't that what we seek? Well, not for smoothers, where we want to feather the edges of the shavings to avoid tracklines.

And what of the Carba-tec, etc? There is nothing wrong with these guides. They all work (again within the range of their limitations), and with a few of your own add-on accessories (such as a bevel angle setter), then they can be made to do a fine job (still within the range of their limitations). It all depends what you want, or are prepared to accept, or to outlay in $$, for the honing guide of your dreams.

Open for discussion...

Regards from Perth

Derek