# Veritas MKII Honing Guide



## Philly (14 Jul 2005)

Hi All
I received my new Veritas honing guide the other day-I know you've read Alf's review but thought you'd appreciate my thoughts :lol: 
I was quite surprised by what a weighty little beast it is-and very nicely engineered. Surprisingly easy to set up and use, once you've read the instructions and set it up for the first time.
And most surprising of all-it is a total no-brainer!! No room for errors or a bad result. And I tried......... :wink: I was really pleased with the results-and repeatable too!
So if you are in the market for a honing guide do check this one out-a well thought out product that does exactly what you want.
Cheers
Philly


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## Philly (14 Jul 2005)

Forgot to mention-its on offer for £30 from....http://www.handytools.co.uk/acatalog/Honing_Guide.html
Cheers
Philly


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## Mcluma (14 Jul 2005)

When i bought my planes from axminster, I also bought the stanley sharping kit for 13,89

Not as fancy as your Veritas one though Phill :wink: 

McLuma


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## Waka (15 Jul 2005)

I'll second what Philly says about the guide, it makes me feel half professional at sharpening.


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## Alf (15 Jul 2005)

Philly":jorknetw said:


> No room for errors or a bad result.


A word of caution. There _is_ room for error, if you get too confident and less careful. But I'd be obliged if you didn't ask me how I know that... :-$ 

Cheers, Alf


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## Waka (15 Jul 2005)

Alf":2e6e5zni said:


> There _is_ room for error, if you get too confident and less careful. But I'd be obliged if you didn't ask me how I know that... :-$
> 
> Cheers, Alf



Pray do tell, how can we improve if you don't share lessons learned :shock:


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## Ham (15 Jul 2005)

Thanks to Philly for the advice re the offer at Handytools - I've just received email to confirm that my order has been shipped 2 hours after placing it. 
Cheers, David


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## Philly (15 Jul 2005)

No problem :wink: 
Philly


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## Alf (15 Jul 2005)

Waka":2sn153zs said:


> how can we improve if you don't share lessons learned :shock:


Well if I knew what I'd done, I would, but when I went back to replicate the problem, I couldn't. #-o I eventaually put it down to trying to fight the *wide roller* while trying to sharpen a cambered edge. :roll: Never had any problem with the Eclipse-a-like, but then that does have a *narrow roller*...  

Cheers, Alf


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## MikeW (15 Jul 2005)

Just a que, Alf--not trying to start anything (don't ya just love it when a post begins that way?).

How much cambor do you normally put on your tools? For my smoothers, I've found the MK.II as sold to be adequate and not too difficult to use for the degree of cambor on them.

For my larger bench planes that have a larger cambor it works, but not as well as the older LV guide. Is that what you ran into?

I have another no-name guide. It works great for the cambor, but I've gotten so use to the MK.II due to, well, other reasons, that I find the no-name brand a bit of a pain to go back to.

I won't exactly tell you what I did to modify the guide. I'll leave it up to your imagination. It would take your adventurous tool modification spirit, and involves a little disassembly and a lathe...


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## Alf (15 Jul 2005)

Mike, my troubles are mainly down to bevel-up planes needing greater camber to allow for the low bedding angle. For the accuracy of bevel angles for the bevel-up irons the Mk2 is great, which is why I'm still perservering, but creating the camber is a ghastly struggle between what _I_ want to do and what the ruddy _guide_ wants to do. In fact "guide" is a misnomer; I find it more like a flippin' straight jacket. I don't think the weight of the guide is helping either; it's at the back of the guide and not at the cutting edge, so it tends to mean the wheel is dictating even more what happens, rather than my pressure at the edge of the blade on the stone. The wide wheel for narrow chisels I like*, but for cambered plane blades _nil points_. I can _get_ a camber, but it's much more hit and miss how it'll turn out than I can get using either an Eclipse-a-like or freehand, and it's just such a fight to get there.  It's exactly this sort of thing that's always put me off honing guides; they so often don't _guide_ but instead _dictate_. :x

Cheers, Alf

*If I didn't, I'd have already had that roller off and had at it with a file...


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## MikeW (15 Jul 2005)

"...my troubles are mainly down to bevel-up planes needing greater camber to allow for the low bedding angle."
"... but creating the camber is a ghastly struggle between what I want to do and what the ruddy guide wants to do."
Hi Alf,

As I had a couple guides I took the chance on modifying one for consistency of camboring BD blades.

I don't know if what I do will help or not on the BU blades as regards camboring. I set the guide and blade for back bevels and hone the cambor on the backs.

With the blade at the extra distance from the clamp, it allows great pressure to be put on each corner. The practical effect is the same as camboring the bevel itself.


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## MikeW (15 Jul 2005)

I am afraid I was in too much of a hurry when I fired off the BB of BU plane blades response.

****This will to some degree create a Back Bevel across the entire blade. You cannot get satisfactory performance with a back bevel on a LA BU plane with a BB stretching across the entire width****

General guidelines:
*Take it slow*. A little back bevel (BB) goes a long way on a bevel up (BU) plane blade.
*Do the BB before honing the primary bevel*.
*Use the Green BB setting*. (You can actually use any of them, but the technique is *very *different.)
If your guide is rolling on the stone's surface, *project the blade as far out of the clamp as you can*. The "real" angle of the BB means little.
*Use very little pressure *and only on one corner at a time.
*Stop frequently *to see if you are getting a BB that either is getting close to the center or has gotten there. Do not go further. If you have been applying pressure only at the corners, you should see the honing is wider out towards the corner than towards the middle.
*Be reasonably close in honing the BB on both sides of the blade*. In other words, try to get the amount of the hone equal on both sides of the blade. This will affect where on the plane the shaving is taken when you are done.
Shoot for something like this:






You hopefully can see that the hone on this blades back tapers out towards the corners.

*Next, you need to hone the primary bevel as per the instructions that come with the MK.II for your desired bevel angle(s).*

As the back of the blade faces up during honing of the primary bevel, *watch while honing to see the tapers getting smaller from the center to each corner*. If you take these all the way out, the cambering is lost.

_The smaller the tapers, the less the camber_.

For many, the above works fine. For others, myself included, I freehand the cambers after honing the primary bevels. After removing the blade from the jig, I hold the blade with my right hand, lifting slightly the side opposite the corner that is being honed, and using my left hand with a single finger on the corners and using it to apply pressure, then the other corner is done.

Geez, I know I've forgotten something. I need to get back to my company. If I have helped you to mess up your plane blade--especially if you ran right out to your shop and tried it based on my previous message, feel free to kick me the next time you see me :roll: 

Please feel free to contact me via email if you need any help--heck you can call me too if you feel up to it. Number is on the web site.


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## mudman (16 Jul 2005)

Just been trying out my new MkII.
Verdict - I love it.   =D> \/ =D> 
It is so easy to set it up to the correct angle and to get the blade in nice and square. 
One thing I noticed though is that it is important to get the width of the blade correct when clamping on the register. I guessed a spokeshave blade at about 1 1/2" when it was really 2 and a bit. This resulted in a skewed grind, correcting the setting gave a correct square grind.
It's great, all the guesswork and fussing removed.
Reground the bevel on an old Marples 3/8" paring chisel to 15 degrees that has been languishing in a drawer for a while now since I bought it (£8.50 sticker still on it 8) ). It had been badly sharpened several times in its lifetime and had not only secondary and tertiary bevels but seemed to go all the way up to denary bevels. Found the amount of blade projecting on the yellow setting a bit of a problem though due to the reduction in length of stone available but swapped to using the back-bevel setting and much better. Although I did note that the two settings are not identical although only about 1/2 degree or so, nothing to worry about. Loverly chisel now, just got to sort out its bigger brothers, (3/4 and 1"). Think they cost a bit more though, at least a quid extra each.

As to camber, 'fraid I can't help you there as I'm a member of the straight edge club at the moment.


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## Alf (16 Jul 2005)

Mike, comprehensive instruction, but missing my point. If I wanted to change my sharpening method to accommodate the guide, I might as well change my whole way of planing and forget the cambers altogether. But I don't, and I don't want to fuss about with back bevels to accommodate it either. Basically I'm an obstinate so-and-so who's damned if she's going to change her ways of woodworking painfully learnt over 20 years just because of a bit of kit that's supposed to _help_. So I shall continue to nag about a narrow roller, use the Mk2 when I feel equal to the fight, and freehand as usual 90% of the time. :roll: It's a PITA 'cos other than the cambering I think the guide's pretty good and I'd probably be using it more. Just my usual bad luck that I should like cambered blades while that Canadian manufacturer well known to us, doesn't. But thanks anyway.  

Cheers, Alf


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## MikeW (16 Jul 2005)

Well, looks like I'm 0 for 3 tonight. Shoulda tried harder to sleep tonight  .

Just sounded like 1) you were trying to use the guide for cambering, 2) couldn't accomplish it with the guide on the Primary bevel side, 3) were going to continue trying.

Offered as an alternative with no intention of changing any one, their sharpening, planing or the very core of their woodworking lives.

I think I'll just shut this damned thing off...


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## Alf (16 Jul 2005)

MikeW":kah4c4dm said:


> Just sounded like 1) you were trying to use the guide for cambering, 2) couldn't accomplish it with the guide on the Primary bevel side, 3) were going to continue trying.


Mike, yep, sorry. I _am_ trying it still, in the hopes I might suddenly get the knack, but I'm drawing the line at completely changing what I'd usually do, 'cos that seems unreasonable. My grumble isn't with you, but you-know-who. :-$ I'll still keep trying because I don't believe I am, or will be, the only camber-lovin', bevel-up using, Mk2 wielding person on the planet who doesn't want to have to muck about with extra steps to achieve what they want to. And with DC's increasing profile in North America I think the demand for cambering will grow. Actually, that's a thought. Maybe I should try using those plastic strips of his... :-k But sorry, your suggestion _is_ appreciated, honest. Just it might be seen as undermining my argument for a narrow wheel, so if you could just keep it quiet... :-$ :wink:

Cheers, Alf


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## Midnight (16 Jul 2005)

I still don't see what the prob is... Straight edge or cambered, I manage both just fine with either the Mk1 and the Mk11... awesome piece of kit..


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## MikeW (16 Jul 2005)

Hi Mike,

There is an ongoing battle with the ease and accuracy/degree of cambering an iron, especially on a BU iron and especially one sharpened at a high angle.

This is because of a couple things aside from any technique issues. I have been in communication with many from several localities with this general gripe. It is not, in my opinion, LV's most shining hour in design.

However, many are able to overcome these problems by one of a few changes to their sharpening status quo, whichever they are most comfortable with.

It can be argued that it would be best if LV addressed them.

The technique I posted above is not for the faint of heart. One could seriously affect their BU iron. Not ruin per se. But if done improperly it can take serious work to retore it.

So then, what are some of the issues?

A BU iron has a short projection past the clamp. With such a steep pitch to the whole honing guide (little distance between the edge of the iron and the roller) combined with the width of the iron make it seem as if one is not producing a "decent" camber.

However, a BU iron needs very little camber to begin with. At least if the said plane is configured as a smoother taking no more than .002" shaving.

In a BU plane such as a BUPP (hi Derek :roll: ) where one may be taking a thicker shaving, obviously a proportionally larger camber is most often desired. Combine that with A2 steel in the iron, and it is a PITA to accurately roll the edges of the iron due, once again, to the short projection of the iron and wide roller. A roller as an option the length of the former guide's would be a start.

But...as I have swapped out the rollers between the guides I know this still fails in so far as cambering a HA BU iron....because of the aforementioned issues.

Which is why I eventually took it upon myself to remove the long roller and placed it on the lathe. After finding the center lengthwise, I marked off the size of the former roller, splitting its length equally off the center mark. I then turned it down with a nice sweep ending about an 1/8" smaller at each end. This works fine for me, _but it was done as an experiment_.

I do not recommend this and will probably not find favor with he who must not be named :wink: 

Most people I have discussed this with have taken a two step approach for the BU irons. The bevel is honed and the camber is done freehand. It does not take too many strokes, and over a few sharpenings it produces a fine camber.

This issue of camber is not as big of one for BD irons being produced on the jig. Due in part to the amount of projection, a BD iron has more stability while pressing down on alternate corners. This does also work for a BU iron, but the tactile feedback is different. That can be difficult for a user to overcome.

That many users do not experience these problems may or not really say anything. Most people are tremendously happy just to put a straight, square edge on a tool. But some, like yourself, are not experiencing difficulty.

But again, I want to add that a BU iron simply does not need much of a camber else it is very easy to loose significant width of cut. It does need to be finely shaped though else one ends up with smooth, rounded plane track. 

This to me is the one best reason to argue for a design change. If BU planes are going to make significant changes in the way people produce smooth surfaces, manufacturers of honing guides--aids that should aid accuracy and repeatability--need to take a better look at their philosophy behind the current decisions.

I have heard a rumor that there will be somewhat a user's guide produced by a couple handsome gentlemen :roll: in the very near future. It will cover general use, differing types of irons, including skews and odd narrow chisels, and tips for making your honing experience a more pleasurable one :wink:

I now expect the hangman to show up at my door...


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## ydb1md (17 Jul 2005)

I've found an easy way to camber with the Mk II. I wrap a piece of black electrical tape twice around the center of the roller and it gives me enough flexibility to put a nice camber on the blade while being wide enough to flatten the blade flat if i want to.


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## Alf (17 Jul 2005)

ydb1md":3j2of2u6 said:


> I've found an easy way to camber with the Mk II. I wrap a piece of black electrical tape twice around the center of the roller and it gives me enough flexibility to put a nice camber on the blade while being wide enough to flatten the blade flat if i want to.


How much difference does it make to the angles, Dave? And where've you been anyway? I was getting worried about you.

Mike, of the Midnight variety; Mike (he of the W) has, as everyone seems to, put it better than I. Like I said, I _can_ get a camber, but I strongly object to it being such a struggle to do when it could be so much _easier_. You shouldn't have to fight to get products from the same manufacturer to work together to achieve such a common requirement as a cambered blade, IMO.

Cheers, Alf


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## ydb1md (17 Jul 2005)

Hi Alf,

I'm not sure how many degrees of camber that I get -- I usually hold the edge up against a flat reference surface to check it visually. I try to shoot for between 1/64" and 1/32" at each corner. I can get that much camber really easily.

Wrapping electrican tape around the roller can leave a bump where the ends of the tape overlap so I use a razor to trim the overlap and make the transition as smooth as possible.

Thanks for the concern.  I've been absent because of the usual busy-ness of summer.


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## Alf (17 Jul 2005)

Sorry, I meant how much does it alter the bevel angle you get at various settings as opposed to what it is minus the tape?

Cheers, Alf


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## Noel (17 Jul 2005)

Or throw down a narrow, thin strip of veneer, plastic, tin or laminate on the stone. Easy to get the hang of keeping the roller in the middle. Much handier than winding and removing tape from the roller.

Noel


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## MikeW (17 Jul 2005)

Noel":2i9dz510 said:


> Or throw down a narrow, thin strip of veneer, plastic, tin or laminate on the stone. Easy to get the hang of keeping the roller in the middle. Much handier than winding and removing tape from the roller.
> 
> Noel


There's a technique on this, too, that will make it into a tips section...from what I understand...but not on the stone. That too alters the primary bevel angle...


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## Midnight (17 Jul 2005)

like I said... what's the fuss about...???????

changing technique never entered my head... I use DC's method...

<shrugs...

no tape... no re-turned rollers.. no fartin around fussin over what I can n canna do... I chuck the blade in the angle setter... square it.... lock it...... remove the setter an get _*on*_ with it... 

trust me it aint rocket science...

My stones are flat, irons razor sharp and cambered if an when I need em to be...

what the hell's so hard about applying pressure selectivly onto 5 points across the edge of a blade....????? sheeshhh......


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## Alf (18 Jul 2005)

Mike, you've never struck me as big user of bevel-up planes. Has this changed? 'Cos that's what's causing the additional difficulty. Higher angles, shorter projection, greater camber required to allow for the low bedding angle. Bevel-down irons are a walk in the park; so much so I wouldn't even _bother_ with the honing guide, mainly 'cos the bevel angle is so much less critical...

Cheers, Alf


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## bugbear (18 Jul 2005)

I guess this entire thread is yet another vote for a cambered roller accessory for the MKII jig?

BugBear


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## Alf (18 Jul 2005)

Depends; how many votes am I allowed? :wink: 

Cheers, Alf


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## ydb1md (18 Jul 2005)

Alf: I don't imagine the angle changes to a large degree -- maybe half a degree or so.

General notes:
I leave the tape wrapped around the roller permanently. I don't need to unwrap it or pull it off to hone a straight blade because the width of the tape provides enough support for that. 

I highly doubt that Rob will release a cambered roller for the jig, although someone else might. 

Applying five points of pressure on a roller as wide as the Mk II's takes a lot of effort and has a high risk of digging the corner of the blade into the relatively soft surface of a water stone. I think that most users would be lucky to get three pressure points, much less five, with the wide roller.


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## Midnight (18 Jul 2005)

> Mike, you've never struck me as big user of bevel-up planes. Has this changed?



with the #9, #62 and a half dozen or so block planes I reckon I've covered all the bevel up types I need; when I need high angle I use york pitch with my bevel downs... horses for courses I guess.... for the record, my #62 is honed with a very aggressive camber, primary still at the stock 25 deg with a 30 deg secondry... 



> Higher angles, shorter projection, greater camber required to allow for the low bedding angle.



every silver lining has a cloud..????



> Applying five points of pressure on a roller as wide as the Mk II's takes a lot of effort and has a high risk of digging the corner of the blade into the relatively soft surface of a water stone.



its been my experience that the effort required is about the same using either the Mk1 or Mk2 jig... what changes is the time required, the Mk2 taking a little longer... the extra width of the roller makes it far less likely for the corner to dig in irrespective of the stone used....


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## Alf (18 Jul 2005)

Midnight":2oosk06q said:


> > Higher angles, shorter projection, greater camber required to allow for the low bedding angle.
> 
> 
> 
> every silver lining has a cloud..????


With a wide roller guide it certainly has... :wink:

Cheers, Alf


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## bugbear (18 Jul 2005)

> I highly doubt that Rob will release a cambered roller for the jig



I think it's possible - LV have a substantial history of both neat accessories, and responding to customer requests/requirments.

BugBear


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## mahking51 (19 Aug 2005)

Hi All
As I have banned my use of all power tools until my hearing gets back to normal I thought I would get around to the jobs that keep getting put off.

Number one amongst these was to get ALL my various plane blades and cutters on the top line and establish some sense of uniformity, ie marking the blades with the bevel angle and whether they have a micro bevel and so on. The idea being that once this was done properly once it would be the work of a minute or two to keep them sharp.

This gave me the perfect opportunity to give my new Veritas MKII guide a good workout.

I have to say that after using it for nearly 4 hours I think that is is quite simply superb. Very easy to set up and has great repeatability of settings.
It is comfortable in the hand and can be used easily either way round.

The only slight niggle that I have is when using it for narrow irons from plough planes and presumably for chisels.

When setting up and tightening the fixing screw on the extension guage I used only moderate force, just enough to hold it in position.

When the iron is placed in the unit and aligned with the fence, then held while the two clamp screws are tightened it is necessary to tighten these firmly but not hard.

What happen is that the clamping bar bends very slightly as with a narrow iron there is a lot of off-centre leverage. This has the effect of distorting the slide that the guage runs on and makes it very hard to undo and remove the guage. This makes it easier to accidentally move the iron and then start all over again.

I found that if the brass securing nut on the guage were the same diameter or larger as the clamp brass knobs this would not be a problem.

I am not having a go here, I think it is a wonderful bit of kit but maybe a modified knob could be made available?

Regards
Martin (trying hard not to shout at people!   )


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## ydb1md (19 Aug 2005)

mahking51":1mnpdfea said:


> The only slight niggle that I have is when using it for narrow irons from plough planes and presumably for chisels.



I agree completely. In fact, I was going to write Lee Valley or Rob Lee to talk about it's usability when sharpening narrow chisels. 

When sharpening chisels narrower than 1/2", to keep the chisel from moving out of square, I have to tighten the clamp knobs down so tight that the clamp bar bends slightly (I'm afraid of bending it permanently) or I have to try to hold the chisel at a right angle to the clamp by eyeballing it. 

There needs to be a better way of clamping narrow "iron". Maybe a smaller jig, about half the length of the registration jig, whose only purpose would be to serve as a reference to keep the chisel perpendicular.


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## MikeW (19 Aug 2005)

I added a very thin piece of rubber to the clamp bar--sort of like the MK.I has--but the full length of the clamp bar.

Takes less pressure to secure even narrow blades and lessens the likelihood of the blade/chisel from twisting in use.

I've suggested it to Rob.

Mike


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## Anonymous (20 Aug 2005)

I like the idea of a cambered roller as an additional option. Any chance Rob?


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## MikeW (20 Aug 2005)

Tony":2eseb9b9 said:


> I like the idea of a cambered roller as an additional option. Any chance Rob?


Kinda like this one, Tony?







Mike


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## Rob Lee (21 Aug 2005)

Tony":3wigi03d said:


> I like the idea of a cambered roller as an additional option. Any chance Rob?



Hi Tony - 

Been out of the office for the past 10 days (anyone want to see 800 pictures of Yellowstone???? - or should I save 'em for the APTC show....?) Only drove 3600km during that time... :shock: 

We're having a look at the best way to this (at a reasonable cost).

It's not an easy task to switch rollers - so one option would be to sell a specific lower unit for that task... but that'd be about 1/2 the cost of the jig again....

That appeal to anyone??

Cheers - 

Rob


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## mahking51 (21 Aug 2005)

Rob
As per my post, forgetting the camber issue which I personally don't find a problem, is there any chance of getting a larger diameter brass knob which will allow a bit more torque when UNdoing the guage with a narrow iron/chisel/blade in position?
Otherwise as I said I find it superb.   
Best Regards
martin


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## Derek Cohen (Perth Oz) (21 Aug 2005)

Martin

I am surprised that you are having this difficulty with narrow blades. Narrow blades, per se, have never been a weak area with the Mk II. I did find it more an issue with tapered blades when I first assessed the Mk II, but this was on a pre-production version. The production version came out with a simple and clever modification that fixed this - certainly as far as I was concerned - and I did do a test-retest on the problem chisels I used when I evaluated it the first time around. As far as I could ascertain there was now more torque in the Mk II than in the MK I, which had not been the case before. You don't have a pre-production version do you? 

I assume that you are centering the blades?

Regards from Perth

Derek


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## Alf (21 Aug 2005)

Rob Lee":1o6cdp0a said:


> ...anyone want to see 800 pictures of Yellowstone???? - or should I save 'em for the APTC show....?


"This is me standing by a rock. This is me standing _on_ a rock. This is me measuring the angle of Old Faithful. This is me suggesting the angle should be lower." 
Thanks, but I might pass... :lol: 



Rob Lee":1o6cdp0a said:


> It's not an easy task to switch rollers - so one option would be to sell a specific lower unit for that task... but that'd be about 1/2 the cost of the jig again....
> 
> That appeal to anyone??


I won't claim it actually _appeals_, but then neither does the wide roller and a cambered edge, so "yes". But then you probably already guessed what I'd say. 

Derek, I'm glad you said that. I was trying to recall if I'd had any similar difficulties, and failing. I meant to test a few likely chisels before getting off the fence and actually saying so, but I just haven't got round to it. The only trouble I've had in that regard is some chisels swivelling in the blade clamp when their bevelled side is slightly convex. But just clamping the blades slightly _off_-centre sorts that out. I certainly haven't ever been conscious of the upper bar of the blade clamp bowing. :-k 

Cheers, Alf


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## mahking51 (21 Aug 2005)

My only slight gripe is that the clamp bar bends just enough to make the loosening of the guage difficult/hard. The brass knob is IMHO just to small to allow normal undoing torque to do the job.
Martin


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## ydb1md (21 Aug 2005)

Derek Cohen (Perth said:


> I am surprised that you are having this difficulty with narrow blades.



Personally, I'm having the issue with my Stanley 750 chisels. On some of my smaller chisels, the chisel face isn't parallel to the chisel back. I know I know, I should get out the grinder and have at it. :roll:


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## bugbear (22 Aug 2005)

> It's not an easy task to switch rollers



Since I don't have one of your esteemed jigs, could you say why?

I mean, surely you weren't silly enough to rivet or glue the roller axle?

BugBear


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## MikeW (22 Aug 2005)

bugbear":jdr6l3ch said:


> > It's not an easy task to switch rollers
> 
> 
> Since I don't have one of your esteemed jigs, could you say why?
> ...


Hey, if I can do it...
It's just a matter of having an allen wrench of the proper size and not losing the couple bits that need to go back on: a couple special washers and a spring.

One also needs, due to the eccentricity of the roller (the hole is offset from center. Used to make a 1-2 degree micro-bevel), to keep the notched knob in relation to the roller when putting it back together.

Mike
(who can smell the bridges burning in the distance)


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## bugbear (23 Aug 2005)

> due to the eccentricity of the roller



Axle?
I hope the roller isn't eccentric.

BugBear


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## Anonymous (23 Aug 2005)

Rob Lee":10x8xwyv said:


> Tony":10x8xwyv said:
> 
> 
> > I like the idea of a cambered roller as an additional option. Any chance Rob?
> ...



At half the cost of the full jig (£15), I would definitely buy one


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## Derek Cohen (Perth Oz) (23 Aug 2005)

The new LV Honing Guide Mk II excels at honing square bevels on blades. One of the areas in which a modification or accessory is being evaluated that of honing a camber on a blade. Below I am offering my strategy for honing the camber on scrub plane blades using this guide. I have no idea if LV will take this seriously – you are more likely to laugh when you first read my description – but it is a serious recommendation. I have used it successfully on a number of occasions, and will demonstrate this below.

I might add that there might be potential here for adding other forms of camber, such as to jack or smoother blades, but this is not its intended use at present since I am still evaluating it in that regard. 

For scrub blade use, the only modification to the Honing Guide is the addition of a washer under the Blade Carrier Locking Knob (see Picture #1). This is to raise the height of the knob.

Set the Registration Jig for a 30° bevel angle (see Picture #2), lock it to the Guide, and then insert the blade upside down (i.e. as if you were going to hone the back of the blade – see Picture #3). 

I hone on waterstones, and depicted here is my King 8000. The scrub blade has already been ground to 30 degrees (in this case on my belt sander jig, but alternately you could either use the existing factory grind if using the LV Scrub plane, or you could first hone a camber on a blade on lower grit waterstones). 

Onto the waterstone I place a steel card scraper, and then onto this I place the Honing Guide upside-down so that it is riding on the Blade Carrier Locking Knob. This scraper blade raises the angle enough to hone a 1° micro bevel (see Pictures #4 and #5). 

I pull the blade towards myself since pushing it is likely to cause it to dig in. It requires only a few strokes to create a full micro-bevelled edge (see Picture #6 – you can see the glint of the micro-bevel). 

Stroke off the wire edge (or use David Charlesworth’s Ruler Trick to do so), and you are ready to go.

Here are the pictures: http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=12114

Regards from Perth

Derek


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## ydb1md (23 Aug 2005)

Way to go Derek! Very creative!


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## Alf (23 Aug 2005)

Well it's an interesting approach... :-k 

Cheers, Alf


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## Chris Knight (23 Aug 2005)

Derek,

No surprises here. You live upside down in Oz so it really is the only logical way to use the tool :lol:


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## ydb1md (23 Aug 2005)

Does the water in your toilets spin the wrong way, like the water over in Australia?


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