Lost Art Press

The Accurate Eyeball

Posted on by Lost Art Press

As mentioned in my last post, I set my tools at the proper angle in my honing guides by sighting the tools against a little block of wood that is marked with the various angles I use.

As I prepared to sharpen my smoothing plane iron this morning, I took some photos so you could see how I do this quickly, accurately and without getting sliced open like a hog’s jugular.

First, a word about honing guides. In addition to the small Kell honing guide I use for chisels, I use an Eclipse 36 guide for plane irons. The Eclipse 36 was the DNA for the $10 to $15 Taiwanese honing guides in every catalog today. But like a photocopy, the Taiwanese versions aren’t as sharp as the original.

In general, the paint on the Taiwanese guides is too thick and pools where you don’t want it to (especially in the dovetailed ways that are designed to hold chisels). Plus, the copies don’t hold tools as firmly because things just don’t line up like they do on the Eclipse.

As I’ve seen hundreds of honing guides in my 13 years at Popular Woodworking; and my opinion on this is as firm as my love for Belgian ales.

Here’s the part where you hate me. It appears the Eclipse 36 is no longer made. (If I’m wrong here, give me a shout.) I bought mine from Highland Hardware, but that catalog no longer carries it. All my other searches for a U.S. supplier have turned up naught.

If you’re a little cracked (like me), then I recommend you search eBay’s United Kingdom site. They turn up there frequently, even guides that are new in the box.

Setting the Tool in the Guide
The first step is to position your little block of wood perfectly flush to the end of your bench. Use your fingertips – this will get you within a thousandth of an inch.

Now secure the tool in the guide but clamp its jaws loosely on the tool. You want to be able to shift the guide forward and back on the tool with finger pressure. But you don’t want the guide to fall off.

Place the guide on your benchtop and roll the edge up to the end of your bench. Place the fingers of your right hand on top of the tool and press down. Move the edge of the tool to the end of the benchtop as shown in the photo. I have never cut myself through three (now four) presidential administrations.

With your left hand, push the honing guide forward (or back) until the tool lines up with the angled line on your block. For plane irons, I grind the bevel at 25° and sharpen a 35° secondary bevel. So I’m lining up the tool with the 35° line.

Now take your left hand and tighten the guide enough to lock your setting. Then use a screwdriver to really lock the sucker down. Then get to sharpening.

— Christopher Schwarz

16 thoughts on “The Accurate Eyeball”

  2. Chris

    I know you are also fond of the Kell guides. Has anyone tried the new wide Kell guide or have any information on it? How does it compare with the eclipse?

  3. Kip,

    I’ve seen the wide Kell guide. The issue is that it is too wide for standard sharpening stones. Especially when you put a jointer plane blade in it.

    Chris

  6. Amen to the fact that the knockoffs are made poorly.

    I’d love to use this guide more but I cannot for the life of me get a plane blade to sit square in either of the 2 guides I have–all due to the excess metal (I don’t think it’s just paint) in a bump on the right side of the clasp which holds the blades.

    I’m sure you’ve seen Deneb’s "stop block" jig or variations thereof. I’m a big fan of that approach. One less thing I have to think about.

  7. Is there a "better" guide for smaller chisels, I have a Blue Spruce 1/4" Dovetail, and the standard guide I’m using seems to be wobbly on the stone. Looking for help I can get in keeping the bevel flat on the stone. Or is it all technique?

  10. Whats your opinion of the Veritas Mk II honing guide? Is it better than an Eclipse knockoff? Thanks

  11. Of course, there is always just doing edge tools freehand…

    You know there was going to some idiot like me to mention that, didn’t you?

    Ok. I too have an Eclipse-a-like. As for the Eclipse-a-like’s all too sloppy of manufacture, it is a simple matter to file the ways and the upper clamp edges to make the things hold an edge tool properly. Takes but a couple minutes.

    As for the Kell, one can still make a stop-block to use with it, but it is fussy to use. Less fussy, quicker and more accurate though than eye-balling the angle though.

    Take care, Mike

  12. The copies can work OK like you said. And I hate to send people off buying stuff that’s difficult to find. Sorry about that.

    And I *can* hone freehand. Do it all the time. I just like the repeatability easily offered by a guide (and you knew I say that, too!).

    Chris

  13. {g}

    They (Eclipse) *do* show up very frequent on eBay UK and even in the US. Not too difficult to get one. They *are* better made. I think the one factor I like about the original is if it is in good condition, it even rolls and adjust/tightens on the edge tool smoother.

    Like many people, I keep waiting for Tom’s to come out. From the pictures I have seen (ahem), I think they will be a tool I’ll get from Tom.

    Why? Because like other manual tasks, sometimes I am just not with it sometimes. It is then I really appreciate a guide, nearly any guide. For correcting skewed blades (even my very vintage panel fielding plane), the Veritas with the skew angle registration jig saves some sanity. So too with my MF honing guide when I want something quick and simple:

    http://wenzloffandsons.com/temp/mf_honing_guide/mf_honing_guide_0003.jpg

    Ah, so many fun tools out there.

    Take care, Mike

  14. Price Hike Alert – The Power of Schwarz

    Original Eclipse are common on UK ebay – usually sell in the sub £5 bracket. Last one I saw sold the other week for £4, one sold yesterday for £13 :-O. I note with interest the winning bid was placed at 03:00 hrs our time…………

    Interesting post btw – I’ll try that.

    Regards from Blighty

    simonm

  15. Mike,

    I’ve *used* the Lie-Nielsen guides. Tom loaned the prototypes to me for a few months. It killed me to give them back. Last I heard they were wrestling with materials issues. Then they were trying to keep up with a flood of orders.

    Now they have turned more attention to developing new products (more on that later). I ask Tom about the honing guides so much I must sound like a broken record.

    Chris

  16. Rob,

    The new Veritas guide is a nice piece of engineering and opens up a whole world of honing angles unavailable to other guides. It takes some practice to secure tools in the guide so they are dead square.

    And you have to use a light touch initially. I have found that if I am trying to square an off-kilter edge that the tool can twist in the guide when it contacts the stone.

    Chris

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