Honing Guide Set-up Aid

This is a simple jig that mounts onto a cupboard door under my bench. It has a number of different spacers (stored in the 3D-printed rack below) that can be fitted to help with setting up a honing guide. The (somewhat cryptic) labels on the spacers show the various things they can be used for: examples are "EP:35°" meaning the Eclipse honing guide, Plane blade jaws, 35° bevel angle and "T200/40:25°" meaning the Tormek square-edge jig with a 200 mm wheel (which I use on a non-Tormek slow-speed grinder with the Tormek BGM-100 bench grinder mount), a 40 mm diameter spacer for setting the mount location and a 25° bevel angle. An example of the spacers (which make setting the mount location very quick) referenced is shown in this photo:

The following photo shows how the set-up jig is used:

The jig in question is fitted loosely onto the blade to be sharpened and then the blade is placed on the jig with the blade against the spacer; the magnets hold the blade in place. The jig can then be slid down the blade to the stop and the screw tightened.

I've heard a few people say that sharpening without a honing guide is quicker but my experience has shown this not to be true. Setting up a honing guide with a jig like this one (or even with something simpler like a piece of plywood with a stop at the right distance screwed to it) takes about 15 seconds. Having set-up the honing guide, the blade can be moved on the stone three or more times faster than it can be done without a honing guide. The increased speed on the stones means that the actual sharpening time (for a light sharpen where not much material needs to be removed) is at least 15 seconds quicker so the overall time ends up being about the same. The main advantage of the honing guide is it's easier to keep the edge square to the sides (important for some planes like shoulder planes), but where a lot of material needs to be removed (e.g. for a chipped edge), the faster action on the stones means that the honing guide saves time overall.

However, it is still important to learn to sharpen free-hand as there are many tools (e.g. gouges) that simply can't be sharpened with a honing guide.

I am a hobbyist metalworker and woodworker. I work as an electronic design engineer and spend most of my working days in front of a computer so I enjoy having the opportunity to use my hands and make things in my spare time. I particularly enjoy making tools as I can then use them on other projects. This website showcases some of the things I've made.

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