# Setting up a honing guide for sharpening



## kmetzger (Jun 4, 2013)

I've been woodworking for 30 years and never realized how sloppy I've been about grinding and sharpening until I was asked to teach teenagers how to sharpen here at our school for woodworking in Mexico. After a lot of research I decided to go with the Eclipse honing guide on waterstones and grind to a 25° for both chisels and plane irons. I found two handy articles on an easy way to set up the honing guide, but to set up the honing guide for this angle I get a very different result than what I found in these two articles.

Christopher Schwarz says: The bottom line is that if I put the thinnest plane iron in my honing guide and set it to extend 1-1/2" from the front of the jig, it will sharpen the tool at 30°. If I put the thickest plane iron I have in my shop in the honing guide and set it to extend 1-1/2" from the guide, then it will sharpen the tool at a little more than 31°. Does that matter? No, no and no.
The point is that a 1-1/2" projection will return your tool to that same angle every time you sharpen. This will greatly reduce your time on the stones and save abrasive material, steel ….
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/sharpening-angles-for-dullards

The Lie-Nielsen article recommends
1 9/16" = 30°
2 1/8" - 25° 
https://www.lie-nielsen.com/content/documents/instructions/AngleSettingJig.pdf

But I get 25° (checking with my brass Richard Kell angle gauge) by setting my honing guide 2 5/8" from the edge. That's a whopping ½ inch difference.

If anyone out there has a honing guide and a digital angle finder, I'd appreciate it if you could do some checking and let me know how far from the front of the jig you set a blade to get a 25° angle.


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## DavidWhite (Jun 2, 2009)

I have given up on honing guides as I never got good results with them. Instead I have practised hand sharpening with the scary sharp method until I can do it pretty well. Yesterday I sharpened my block plane blade to razor sharp in about 2 minutes.


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## robertb574 (Jan 12, 2011)

The Eclipses have been discontinued. The Eclipse clones may not be built to the original dimensions. There may even variability among the clones themselves. This could explain your 1/2 inch difference.


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## kmetzger (Jun 4, 2013)

Hi Robert - I know they've been discontinued, but I have an original Eclipse.


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## Bonka (Apr 13, 2012)

I never thought I could hand sharpen. After giving it a go a few times I now waste little time in keeping blades sharp.
My next self training will be grinding. I still have a horrible time even with a jig.


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