Sharpening Jig - What do you think?

[city17]

Hi all, I just came across this sharpening jig on Ali: Sharpening Jig

It's a very interesting concept, as it seems to improve on (from what I've seen and used) the existing sharpening jigs like the Veritas Mk II. On this jig, everything is fixed and the only motion you can make is back and forth over a linear rail.

Even on great jigs like the Veritas one you have to apply quite a bit of pressure still, and you could pivot it sideways slightly accidentally (although rare).

I'm kind of tempted to order it (as I'm quite a lazy sharpener), but I can see one flaw, which is that you can't raise or lower the height of the bed. This means that you'd have to measure the angle every time as the height of different stones is different, meaning a different angle.

Wondering if there's some sharpening experts here who can give their opinion on this jig?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Jacob will be along in a moment.

 

[D_W]

Looks like a hindrance to me. Grind and hone whatever you're going to grind and hone at a lower angle and just work the very tip with the finest stone you have (at a reasonably higher angle so that you know you're working the tip of the tool with the finest media) - that's the most effective method and it's freehand. It's the fastest effective method and won't have you working bunches of metal that have nothing to do with the cutting edge.

Spend $15 on a hand held USB microscope and every 10th time or so, look at the edge for 30 seconds to see if you sharpened with the finest stone all the way to it and adjust what you're doing until there's no question about it.

 

[John Brown]

Jacob will be along in a moment.

Or his American twin.

 

[TRITON]

If you disagree with someone on another thread stick to that thread, but carrying it about only puts yourself in a bad light as a bit of a bullying type.

 

[John Brown]

If you disagree with someone on another thread stick to that thread, but carrying it about only puts yourself in a bad light as a bit of a bullying type.

That's hilarious.
I disagree with people all the time, that's part of life.

It's the constant bullying that prompts me to post in the first place in cases like this.

 

[TRITON]

That's hilarious.
I disagree with people all the time, that's part of life.

It's the constant bullying that prompts me to post in the first place in cases like this.

Oops sorry chap, I was directing at Phil.

Apologies

@Phil
It's a thread on a nifty sharpening gadget, why bring your excess baggage in here

 

[city17]

Looks like a hindrance to me. Grind and hone whatever you're going to grind and hone at a lower angle and just work the very tip with the finest stone you have (at a reasonably higher angle so that you know you're working the tip of the tool with the finest media) - that's the most effective method and it's freehand. It's the fastest effective method and won't have you working bunches of metal that have nothing to do with the cutting edge.

Spend $15 on a hand held USB microscope and every 10th time or so, look at the edge for 30 seconds to see if you sharpened with the finest stone all the way to it and adjust what you're doing until there's no question about it.

Fair points, freehand can work well (or even better in skilled hands). I usually hone my blades freehand, but find that after some time the angle goes slightly off and prefer to use a jig like this (I have the Veritas one) to get the blade back to a straight and precise angle.

This jig is an alternative to the existing ones, and I was wondering what people think about this specific jig, not if a sharpening jig is useful in general (there's plenty topics on that probably).

 

[grumpycorn]

Wouldn't that possibly wear a groove down the stone (on softer stones at least)? With other jigs like the Veritas, you can at least move the blade about by making a 'W' to avoid uneven wear but if I've understood this one correctly it's not possible to do that.

Looks nice mind.

 

[city17]

Wouldn't that possibly wear a groove down the stone (on softer stones at least)? With other jigs like the Veritas, you can at least move the blade about by making a 'W' to avoid uneven wear but if I've understood this one correctly it's not possible to do that.

Looks nice mind.

Good point, I guess you could move the stone slightly left and right to avoid this. But that depends a bit on how much space you've got left (there's no dimensions mentioned, so hard to estimate). And it wouldn't be very convenient.

They could make the whole thing wider, and have the angled bracket be able to move sideways too, then it would work.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Oops sorry chap, I was directing at Phil.

Apologies

@Phil
It's a thread on a nifty sharpening gadget, why bring your excess baggage in here

I agree with Jacob 100% in these things. No excess baggage involved.

 

[Jacob]

I agree with Jacob 100% in these things. No excess baggage involved.

Really? I'm touched!
So we both agree that this jig is a bag of ***** and nobody should touch it with a barge pole.

 

[Sandyn]

Darn!!! Reading the title, I thought it was like a rain dance. Some ceremony you could perform to help get your blades sharp.

I'll put the head dress back into the cupboard..........

 

[D_W]

Fair points, freehand can work well (or even better in skilled hands). I usually hone my blades freehand, but find that after some time the angle goes slightly off and prefer to use a jig like this (I have the Veritas one) to get the blade back to a straight and precise angle.

This jig is an alternative to the existing ones, and I was wondering what people think about this specific jig, not if a sharpening jig is useful in general (there's plenty topics on that probably).

So, the issue here is and will probably be for everyone, to grind an hone the bulk of the steel away from the edge so that you're only honing a small amount. That will prevent you from chasing the bevel higher.

As much as everyone always loves to talk about how strong the tool edge will be if it's rounded or a single bevel, I've never gotten a well sharpened tool without clearance or edge bluntness issues like that. Grind and fast hone most of that away so that you're dealing with final honing only a small part that doesn't steepen.

when it does or if it does, then you know you need to grind more often.

Honing the entire bevel is a waste of time and it results in poor outcomes (and you can use a finer and cheaper/fine finishing step if you only work a tiny bit of the edge).

 

[Jacob]

......Honing the entire bevel is a waste of time and it results in poor outcomes (and you can use a finer and cheaper/fine finishing step if you only work a tiny bit of the edge).

It's quicker if you know how to do it , and a little and often means sharper more often..
Also nobody says rounded bevels are better in themselves, it's just that if you do the quick easy way they end up rounded whether you like it or not. There's no particular virtue in a flat bevel either but if that's what you want it is harder to achieve freehand. Only the edge counts but a shiny bevel whatever shape helps a bit by reducing friction.

 

[D_W]

Jacob - if someone used my tools and your tools and we counted time, you'd fare poorly. It's not my concern if you don't believe it. I get tools from people on a regular basis and see what they are doing and what the condition of things is. Site work, no problem.

If you're at a bench, there's no reason to do things poorly for arbitrary reasons and there's no reason not to spend one minute getting an iron sharper than any you've ever used, or about the same or a little less for a chisel.

I am sure on a job site building or fixing a window, you could bury me - especially on time spent. With sharpening and tool work, the situation is reversed, but it's what I do.

 

[D_W]

Or his American twin.

Jacob - we're twins!!

We need to coordinate on what we're wearing next time.

 

[Jacob]

... it's what I do.

Don't worry about it D_W I'm sure your methods work for you but not practical for me as a working woodworker.

 

[D_W]

not practical for site work, maybe, but there aren't many hobbyists doing site work. well, scratch that - if you ground the bevels and then honed on site, it'd still be faster. But there are a lot of people who know too much to do anything better.

Especially of the kind who state that they use mostly power tools for the last 3 decades.

 

[Jacob]

not practical for site work, maybe, but there aren't many hobbyists doing site work. well, scratch that - if you ground the bevels and then honed on site, it'd still be faster. But there are a lot of people who know too much to do anything better.

Especially of the kind who state that they use mostly power tools for the last 3 decades.

Well I haven't been deluded into hand planing tree trunks by way of "dimensioning" if that's what you mean.