honing guide

All the reviews I’ve seen in woodworking magazines have ranked the Veritas MKII the best sharpening jig. You can find reviews on it on the Internet. Here’s one example:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/ToolGuide/ToolGuideProduct.aspx?id=25695

-- The time I enjoy wasting is not time wasted

are you familiar with the pinnacle honing guide? it also clamps from the top, and has a rail system the guide runs along over top of a stone. it also cost twice the price. I know both are nice guides, just wondered how they compare.
http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2020080/19122/Pinnacle-Honing-Guide.aspx

You can’t go wrong with the Varitas.Had it for 5 years and it can’t be beat.

I’d be inclined not to mess with a good thing and go with the Veritas, even though I use my Eclipse instead of my Veritas;) The Pinnacle looks really cool and it looks well made.

I don’t mean to offend anyone, but it just seems overly extravagant to me. We’ll all eventually gravitate toward freehand anyway.

Edit: the Pinnacle also offers a 20” rail accessory.

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

I started with the side clamping Eclipse; solid piece and won’t break the bank. I moved to the Veritas versions and LOVE them. I got lucky and found a great deal with all pieces (cambering attachemnt, things to check angles, the whole lot) on Ebay. I haven’t touched the Eclipse ever since. Great tools.

This Pinnacle looks nice, but will it allow cambering necessary for smooth plane blades or jack planes? It looks like it will only sharpen a straight blade. I read the website page for this item and it does not say you can put a camber on a blade. No big deal if you don’t camber blades I guess.

-- Mike

no you cant put a camber on it, or skew, and reviews complain about the time it takes to switch blocks, and you have to remove the blade to switch to the back side. It allows for longer strokes while sharpening thus speeding the process. and if your not paying attention sitting around honing back and forth, thinking about other things as i often do it can be easy to roll a jig to close to the end of the stone and possibly off of it. The MK2 seems to have more features once you add the accesories, and the pinnacle seems like it may be slighty more precise on straight honing eliminating any chance of side to side roll. Either way is an upgrade from my eclipse. I dont think its very accurate to freehand secondary bevels, but if some say they can more power to them.