Wend
Established Member
I haven't got the knack for hand-sharpening plane irons yet, so thought I would try building a jig to help me out. I've seen the commercial honing guides but, as well as the cost and the mixed reviews, I didn't like the idea of running rollers up and down my stones.
The prototype
So I started with a prototype. This is just 4 bits of offcut screwed to an ex-IKEA-shelf, with some more bits of wood providing a wedge at an appropriate angle, and some skis to run either side of the stone.
There were two main problems with this. First, the wedge didn't come right down to the stone, so the iron overhangs. This means there is nothing supporting the bit that you want to apply pressure to. Second, as I planned to extend this to have other stones either side, held in place by the same pieces of wood, the skis needed to run on top of this wood. However, the shelf is a much smoother surface, so I was wasting energy fighting friction. Note also the divot in the bottom left: This is a shallow hole I drilled so that I could get a screwdriver in to lever the stone out for cleaning. However, I was a little worried that water would get in and cause the shelf to deteriorate.
One problem I expected to have is the shelves not supporting the screws well, and the whole thing quickly becoming loose. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it held up rather well. Perhaps it won't in the long run; I'll have to wait and see.
The real thing
On to the real thing! Although I currently only have 3 grades of stone, I spaced it for 4, in case I get another. This also gives me somewhere to clamp the strop.For chisels I find it easier to have the chisel pointing sideways, and move along the long edge, so I used positions 1,2,4 rather than 1,2,3 so that two of the stones have the long edge accessible.
No divot to remove the stones now. I found that I can still work a screwdriver underneath with only a second or two's wiggling and pulling.
The new wedge goes down to a point, just above the stone's surface. I was a little worried about it therefore picking up water from the stone, so I gave it a quick coat of varnish to try to mitigate the effects.
The back is quite thick, which I found comfortable for resting my thumbs on.
It seems to work rather well! Not only is it producing what looks like a pretty consistent angle, but my (second hand) iron is rather non-square, and I was a little surprised at how easily the coarse stone is bringing it back into shape. This is 45mins work, including 12 breaks to take a photograph.
The prototype
So I started with a prototype. This is just 4 bits of offcut screwed to an ex-IKEA-shelf, with some more bits of wood providing a wedge at an appropriate angle, and some skis to run either side of the stone.
There were two main problems with this. First, the wedge didn't come right down to the stone, so the iron overhangs. This means there is nothing supporting the bit that you want to apply pressure to. Second, as I planned to extend this to have other stones either side, held in place by the same pieces of wood, the skis needed to run on top of this wood. However, the shelf is a much smoother surface, so I was wasting energy fighting friction. Note also the divot in the bottom left: This is a shallow hole I drilled so that I could get a screwdriver in to lever the stone out for cleaning. However, I was a little worried that water would get in and cause the shelf to deteriorate.
One problem I expected to have is the shelves not supporting the screws well, and the whole thing quickly becoming loose. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it held up rather well. Perhaps it won't in the long run; I'll have to wait and see.
The real thing
On to the real thing! Although I currently only have 3 grades of stone, I spaced it for 4, in case I get another. This also gives me somewhere to clamp the strop.For chisels I find it easier to have the chisel pointing sideways, and move along the long edge, so I used positions 1,2,4 rather than 1,2,3 so that two of the stones have the long edge accessible.
No divot to remove the stones now. I found that I can still work a screwdriver underneath with only a second or two's wiggling and pulling.
The new wedge goes down to a point, just above the stone's surface. I was a little worried about it therefore picking up water from the stone, so I gave it a quick coat of varnish to try to mitigate the effects.
The back is quite thick, which I found comfortable for resting my thumbs on.
It seems to work rather well! Not only is it producing what looks like a pretty consistent angle, but my (second hand) iron is rather non-square, and I was a little surprised at how easily the coarse stone is bringing it back into shape. This is 45mins work, including 12 breaks to take a photograph.
