Simplicity with Perfection

One of the first purchases I made was a Veritas sharpening jig. I had been researching woodworking for several years before buying a single tool while I attended MTU. One thing I noticed time and time again was the fact that tools must be sharp. Beyond sharp they must be properly sharp, with a proper angle, back bevel and micro bevel!

After much intimidation about the whole process I decided to pick up the Veritas jig. I purchased it in the full kit with an included waterstone to get me going.

When it arrived it was expertly packaged and didn’t jiggle an inch.

At first glance I was sort of perplexed, I had only sharpened knives and at that by hand. So I turned to the instructions. Now I don’t know who they have writing it, but they have a talent for writing superb and understandable instructions. I’ve written a few sets of instructions and it is an extremely difficult process compounded with anything mechanical. (Write down every single step it takes to make pancakes once!)

When finished reading the instructions I slapped a low dollar chisel into it and came out with the sharpest chisel I had ever seen in my life. In the few months I’ve used it now I have sharpened every single edged tool I have on it. The clean up and disassembly is both very quick and easy.

The one area I always expect to have trouble it the bar that clamps down on the blade. It has two set screws which each clamp independently. If you get it skewed by tightening one all the way than the other the blade will slide towards the loose side, but it happens once and then you balance the tightening. The screws almost can get too tight, but I have yet to need a pair of pliers even with wet hand to remove the blade.

The micro bevel is very easy to set, just a simple pull and flip of a side knob. One other nice thing is the ease of flipping over a tool and doing the back side as well without removing it from the jig.

I have used it both on the enclosed waterstones, and on a granite plate with sandpaper, both work very well. One thing of note is not to place the waterstones on any surface which may flex (foam antislip pad). This will cause a very slight rocking and a rounding over of the edges.

All in all, I will probably have this tool for a lifetime. I also suspect there is a good chance that someone will be using it once I am gone.

-- Casey, Engineer, Escanaba, MI