Comments on: Tune Up a Cheap Honing Guide

By: Heavansabove

Heavansabove — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:09:06 +0000

I checked 5 original, genuine Eclipse guides of various vintages, and 4 were flat; and one had a slight incline down to the middle (what Chris did with the file above). The only clone I have, had the hump in the middle. The answer is to snatch up a genuine Eclipse when you see one.
Peter

By: jammer

jammer — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:51:47 +0000

I have one of these little guys and will make the modifications – a great idea. Having said that, I also have one of the high end Veritas rigs mentioned in an earlier posting and I’m very happy my dissatisfaction with the little guy’s performance (which should now get better) caused me to pucker up and buy it. One great advantage is the angle setup jig that allows you to exactly duplicate the sharpening angle time after time thus greatly reducing the amount of work you need to do to keep your blades up once you get them sharp the first time. Also having the ability to add that little tip re-grind Micro-bevel is a nice feature.

By: BobGroh

BobGroh — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:38:23 +0000

Now we need a bit of wisdom on tuning up these little beauties for handling chisels. One way of course is NOT to use them for chisels but that is kind of a defeatist attitude! Or buy a Veritas rig or the like (but that is a bit defeatist also!)

Yes, I know they are supposed to handle chisels. But the gap provided for chisels is just not sized correctly to hold most chisels (even my Stanley contractor types). The profile of the gap is way too small to handle thick backs which all good chisels (?) have.

For myself, I now have (trumpets please!!) a new 8″ low speed grinder setup with a OneWay lathe chisel alignment rig and that, with an appropriate sled for the platform (along the line of the Veritas rig), will do the job for me. Still thinking on how to do that.

But I wander off the subject a bit – it would still be nice to have my little rig be able to do chisels also. So much to do and so little time!

Thanks for the blog, by the way. Always enjoy reading it.

By: Eric R

Eric R — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 02:56:59 +0000

Thanks Chris.
I have this same guide and tuned it up today.
I’m getting MUCH better results.
Thanks again.
Eric

By: Sean A

Sean A — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:02:33 +0000

Am I the only one that now has an annoying Black Eyed Peas song in my head? Thanks a lot, Chris!

By: CessnapilotBarry

CessnapilotBarry — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:27:51 +0000

Excellent tip. I’m going to do this today.

I’d also like to thank “tms” for the chalk tip!

By: tsstahl

tsstahl — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:16:30 +0000

You have to pronounce ‘hollow’ like David Charlesworth to sound even more credible.

By: Mark Singleton

Mark Singleton — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:40:46 +0000

Yup.Chalk your file. Old timer machinist tip. Keep a big piece of chalk near the file rack just for that purpose…

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:56:34 +0000

There are few problems in life that cannot be solved with a judicious application of thermite.

By: PeteW

PeteW — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:09:37 +0000

Might be worth noting that you should do this well away from your grinding station. Aluminum filings plus iron oxide (ie, rust) equals thermite. Add a spark from your grinder and you have an excellent way to burn down your workshop.

See this Wikipedia article for more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermite