Chisel doesn't fit in eclipse-style hone

[Wend]

Hi folks,

I recently used an eclipse-style honing guide for my plane blades for the first time, and found it worked a lot better than my previous sharpening attempts, so I thought I'd try it with my chisels too.

However, this chisel is quite wedge-shaped

and is 9.1mm at the handle end

This means that, at the 40mm protrusion, it doesn't fit between the chisel notch and the bars that hold the sides of the guide together.

These were bought as cheap DIY chisels decades ago, so are they thicker than chisels designed for wood working? Would filing the top face (by which I mean, the face pointing down in the photos) to make them fit the guide be a crazy thing to do? And would it take forever?

Should I just buy some better chisels?

Or am I missing a better solution / using the honing guide wrong?


Thanks!
Wend

 

[Orraloon]

A pic of it in the jig would help.
I can get a quite thick pig sticker in my eclipse jig.
Regards
John

 

[MikeG.]

Buy another guide (they're only a fiver or so), and file it to suit this chisel. They are made of cast aluminium and so are extremely easy to file. Indeed, they have so much gloopy paint on them that you'll find you are filing more paint than metal.

 

[David C]

One solution is to rest chisel on the bars.

You would have to calculate new projections but this is not difficult.

Yes they are probably rubbish chisels.

David Charlesworth

 

[Wend]

A pic of it in the jig would help.

Here it is with the chisel resting on the 2 bars:

Hopefully you can see that the right hand side (in the picture) doesn't quite fit under the ledge. It looks like you're resting the chisel on the bars and having the guide above the ledge hold the chisel, but that won't really work well here either, as the chisel isn't thick enough to be held securely.

I thought that the idea was that the chisel would be held under the ledge, like this:

(currently it's not held there very well, but I think that if I file the area under the ledge, as recommended towards the end of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBHd7x6ySSQ, then that will work better for the small chisel - but won't help the large one)

 

[MikeG.]

.........if I file the area under the ledge, as recommended towards the end of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBHd7x6ySSQ, then that will work better for the small chisel - but won't help the large one)

That's why I suggested buying another guide specifically for this chisel, or chisel set.

 

[Wend]

I'm not sure how I would modify the guide for this chisel. I think I'd have to file away the ledge, but then the sides would still be sloped, so the chisel would be pushed up and out of the guide.

 

[Ttrees]

I think I may have bought a 3 pack of the same ones...if they are, I don't recall them taking a good edge.
I think I set them aside to see if I could sort them, as they wouldn't cut hair after being lapped and honed which is quite unusual.
I would suggest looking out for some preferably longer chisels instead of buying another guide.
They don't have to be fancy, but hopefully have a handle which is not skewed to the left or right,
and have a back/face that is fairly flat already.

Tom

 

[MikeG.]

I'm not sure how I would modify the guide for this chisel. I think I'd have to file away the ledge, but then the sides would still be sloped, so the chisel would be pushed up and out of the guide.

Offer the chisel up in approx it's honing position, mark the guide where it touches, and file away whatever the marks reveal.

 

[Orraloon]

Before taking a file to the jig try a couple of hardwood shims as small jaw liners.
Its just a thought.
Regards
John

 

[rxh]

This is an extract from the Eclipse instruction sheet:
"Firmer Chisels
Over 38mm (1½”) in width use wider jaws as for plane irons and the same projections. Under 38mm (1½”) in width clamp down onto parallels. For 30° angle, project chisel 25mm (1”) from edge of jaws. For 25° angle, project chisel 35mm (1 3/8”) from edge of jaws.
Bevelled Chisels
3mm (1/8”) to 41mm (1 5/8”) wide: use narrow channelled jaws. For 30° angle, project chisel 30mm (1 3/16”) from edge of jaws. For 25° angle, project chisel 40mm (1 5/8”) from edge of jaws."