Veritas Small Blade Holder and the Mk.II Honing Guide

[wizer]

This is a hard one to explain. I got the small blade holder to sharpen the blades in my LN spokeshaves. When I put the blade into the holder, I am having problems setting it into the Mk.II Honing guide. The blade had a rounded top edge, which means it's hard to repeatably clamp square in the jig. Plus it's only held by RE magnets. Am I missing something, or should I invest in a different type of honing guide for these blades?

I'm aware that I should be able to hone freehand and that it's a valuable skill to have, etc, etc. But, really, i'd rather concentrate on making stuff (i know, i know).

TIA

 

[Paul Chapman]

I use the small blade holder in the side-clamping Eclipse jig. Works well in that.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[wizer]

Cheers Paul, are the eclipse style guides all the same? Is there a particular brand to go for?

 

[Paul Chapman]

The Eclipse is the original and well made. It will take blades up to 2 3/8" as you get in a #6 and #7 plane but not scraper plane blades which are wider. There is another one I have, which I bought from Pennyfarthing Tools, which is also well made which takes wider blades. No make marked on it - probably made in China, and much cheaper than the Eclipse (but neither of them are very expensive). In the photo below, the Eclipse is on the left and the Pennyfarthing Tools one on the right

You will see that I've modified the dark blue one. Bevel edge chisels are normally held like this

Which is not always satisfactory. The modification enables you to clamp them against the face side like this

Pinched the idea from Woodbloke. Here's his

He pinched the idea from David Charlesworth 8)

Whatever you do, don't buy the Eclipse look-a-like from B&Q - it's rubbish. Easy to spot - it's a horrible yellow colour.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

PS might be worth having a look at the new Trend honing guide. I think it has the same sort of modification that Woodbloke and I made for holding chisels and it has a wide roller. Not seen one in the flesh so can't comment on how good it is.

 

[woodbloke]

I've used a thinner gauge stainless steel than Paul which has been epoxied and screwed to the main body of the tool. This means that I can also use it to hold my plane blades on top as usual and it does also work really well with the Veritas small blade holder as well for 'shave blades - Rob

 

[Neil]

Wizer, I hone the blade from my Preston-style LN shave directly in the Veritas Mk. 2 - I'm sure the Boggs blade is larger so you shouldn't need the small blade holder. I'll have a look tonight to remind myself how I do it #-o

Cheers,
Neil

 

[PaulO]

I don't think the small blade holder is intended for blades with a a rounded rear edge. The bevel in the blade holder should both hold the blade and register it square. It can't do that with a rounded rear edge.

Can you grind the rear edge flat/square? Failing that I thing I would use a pair of small g clamps to clamp the blade to a piece of MDF or steel plate, then fix that in your jig (veritas or eclipse)

 

[PaulO]

I just noticed that all veritas spokeshave blades have square rear edges. I don't think your small blade holder is suitable for LN spokeshave blades.

 

[wizer]

Thanks guys. I can't seem to find anything but the very very cheap eclipse guides, will these suffice?

Neil, if you can tell me how to hold these blades in the Mk.II i'd be very grateful. I think I read somewhere that it can be done, but can't find any info on it now. The only way I can get it to hold in the Mk.II is by shortening the bevel to 30 degrees, then it only just clamps in. By my understanding, the blade is currently set to 25 degrees, not sure if it's ok to go to 30?

Paul, grinding the back off is an option I guess, but I don't currently have a grinder. Tho you have given me and idea to make my own holder for the blade. It shouldn't be too hard? tho it'd be better if made out of metal.

 

[tnimble]

Tom, IMO the shoft blade holder is more suited for the MK I of the veritas honing guide but can also be useful with the MK II for very very short blades. In what position do you have the roller set in those pics? The magnets should have more then enough holding power to hold the blade in place, it's the adjustable stop block that firmly holds the blade in place to take the force applied when honing. The magnets only prevent the blade from falling out. The back of your blade is fully curved? then the magnets should be strong enough to keep it from rotating. It would not consider this blade very small i.e. a bit biggish for the small blade holder.

 

[Neil]

Wizer, I think I remember how it was done - if this makes no sense, I'll head to the workshop this evening & check. You have to put the guide on the green 'back bevels' setting, then set it to the 50 degree position on the red scale, which corresponds to half that angle (i.e. 25 degrees) on the green setting but which isn't labelled as as such. The projection is then small enough to get your blade in & well clamped.

This is just a random pic I found of my guide so its set on yellow instead of green, but I've labelled the position you need on the scale:

Hope that helps,

Neil

 

[wizer]

I think that might be it Neil. I am going to try it now. Will report back later!

 

[Harbo]

I cannot remember having a problem sharpening my small blades but I also cannot remember which guide I used - I have the Veritas II, Kell II and an original Eclipse.

Will check and report back.

Rod

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Wizer

Roughly set up the blade and jig in the Mk II.

Working on a flat surface, set the bevel flat on this surface.

Now try various permutations of blade extention and knob settings until the wheel lies flat on the surface as well (at the same time). When the bevel and the wheel is coplanar, then you have your setting for honing. Make a note of this for the future.

Actually, you can set up any honing guide this way to repeat the angle already there. Just click down on the bevel angle, slide the guide into position, tighten up, and you're done. Mark this position for future reference.

I keep the small blade extension permanently set up in my Veritas Mk I. It is set for the Blum planes so that I can drop in a blade whenever needed.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[wizer]

Thanks Derek, that's basically what I did. It actually turned out to be the 35 degree yellow setting but the wheel was set to green.

Just honed up my spoke shaves... wow what a difference!! :shock: