# An innovation in free-hand sharpening?



## Benvolio (Feb 10, 2013)

I've been thinking for ages that there *has* to be a better way to do free-hand sharpening….

Honing guides give a very controlled operation and a predictable outcome when used to sharpen a bevel on chisels and straight plane irons…

But think it's safe to say that most of us would prefer to have the skills to free-hand sharpen if we could. Free-handing is much much quicker, easier to camber the steel and there is no fiddly set up involved. It's also a skill perfected by our wood working ancestors that I'm sure some of us are mildly embarassed to say we're forgetting.

The mighty Paul Seller's advice on free hand sharpening is to ``feel for 30 degrees``. Fantastic if you've spent the last 40 years knowing what that feels like, but maybe a struggle for the weekend wood worker.

Rob Cosman has helpfully made an angle trainer I've never used this, but looking at it, it looks like it's more of a jig than a free hand method. It also has limitations that it can't be used on a leather strop (which is how I achieve my final hone). Nor can it be used to produce the more resilient convexed bevel that we get with free handing.

So I came up with this little device to help rest the chisel at the desired angle.










A thirty degree block of wood. Rare earth magnets on one side and a spirit level on top.

The idea is fairly self explanitory but in case my diagram doesn't explain it:

The block clicks onto the chisel or plane iron back with magnets. The steel to be sharpened is set at the correct bevel angle by the long ways motion of the spirit level bubble - when the bubble is centered, you know you're honing a dead square 30 degree bevel.

When honing, a slight rock of the steel (as with normal free hand sharpening) will show some movement in the bubble which after a short acclimatisation period, should give the user a predictable convex bevel to the blade.

The spirit level works in two dimensions so by getting to know your level, you can rock side to side to make cambers on your jack, jointer and scrub plane irons.

I'm not inclined to call this a `jig` as such. To me, that word is too closely linked to devices that hold tools or work pieces in such a way as to irrevocably extirpate dexterity from the wood worker. This is more of an instrument - an indicator that feeds back to the wood worker information on what he or she is doing but still leaves them in absolute control of the operation - and let's be honest, we all want to say we have those earthy fundimental woodworking skills!

Both the rare earth magnets and spirit level together ost me less than five pounds from ebay. The spirit level is sold as a ``Turntable level`` and is used to help DJs set up their electric grammarphones and only cost a couple of quid. 12mm x 6mm.

The magnets are just tiny 5mm ones CA glued into holes in the back of a scrap block of ash - which is then sanded flush to keep it all nice an accurate.

Anyway

Here is mine in action. (On setting up one of Jusfine's chisels  )


















The results of the guide were very good. Honed on 1000 and 4000 water stones then stropped on jewellers rouge. The chisel easily took the hair off my arm and well and truly passed the paper test.

All in all, this was super quick to make, cheaper than a conventional honing guide and gives you the benefits of free-hand sharpening with the certainty that you're hitting the desired angles every time.

To me, my favourite thing about this though is how quick it makes sharpening. So long as you have your little block to hand it's just `click` and you're ready to go - no more scrabbling around for the big screw driver and faffing around with those set up blocks for the honing guide and hoping at the end of it all that your tip is square.

I don't know whether I'm the first person to have this idea, but I haven't seen it else where. If anyone has any opinions on this, I've love to hear what you have to say.

Ben


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## mandatory66 (Jul 26, 2012)

What a great idea, I will be making one soon, thanks for posting.


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## sikrap (Mar 15, 2009)

Awesome idea!! Thanks!!


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## Tugboater78 (May 26, 2012)

That's a different way of looking at it, good idea!


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## DocBailey (Dec 9, 2011)

It is Brilliant in it's simplicity!


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## jusfine (May 22, 2010)

Great looking chisels, thanks for the tip!!


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## SebringDon (Feb 1, 2013)

I wonder how long it will be before this idea shows up in some catalog for $49.95?


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## sikrap (Mar 15, 2009)

I hope the OP submits this to the ww mags before someone steals the idea and submits it.


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

Great idea


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## dklyons87 (Sep 1, 2012)

Very ingenious! Being one of those wknd warriors I have always struggled with freehand sharpening, but this looks to be the solution. Thanks


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## WayneC (Mar 8, 2007)

Very Cool. First time I have seen something like this.


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## Benvolio (Feb 10, 2013)

Thanks for the kind words, chaps.

Sikrap, I took your advice and emailed out the ww magazines who seem interested.

If anyone else ends up building one of these, I'd love to see pictures!!

B


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## Benvolio (Feb 10, 2013)

P.s - I finally decided on a name for it.

The *Honing Level*.


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Trademark it and or patent it.


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## redSLED (Mar 21, 2013)

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing this.

Hear something? Sounds like the Veritas product development lab just got busy.


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## BigMig (Mar 31, 2011)

What about placing the block on the stone side (underneath the blade/iron)? Certqainly the stone is harder than the wood, so it shouldn't wear the stone? Then you'd have a certain 30 degree angle all the time. Right? Or would the wood bits keep the iron from sharpening?


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## Sanding2day (May 6, 2013)

Very cool… Added to favorites… Thanks for sharing


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## CFrye (May 13, 2013)

Just what the doctor ordered! Gotta make one. Thanks for sharing Ben!


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## Benvolio (Feb 10, 2013)

BigMig - the set up where the block rests beneath the chisel is what's used in Rob Cosman's Angle Trainer (linked in the OP)

I think the *Honing Level* improves on this as it allows you to sharpen a convex point to the steel, as well as a controlled camber.

Also, this can be used on any sharpening surface, whether it's stone, strop, tormek etc.

Finally, I think a stone would abrade the wood block and, as you mentioned, the abraded wood shavings would taint the swarf on the water stone and clog up the diamond stones.

B


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## RaggedKerf (Aug 5, 2012)

Looks like a brilliant idea and love the name! But I have one question that immediately popped into my mind. I know for a FACT that my bench is not level. It's flat, just off kilter a bit. Does that make a difference? I find myself unable to answer this question which seems like it should be a no-brainer. Sorry lol


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## jap (Oct 10, 2012)

smart


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## Benvolio (Feb 10, 2013)

Ragged kerf - yer this'll still work if you shim the lowest most end of your stone so they're level.

Just put your stone where you normally do, grab a conventional spirit level and lay it across both directions. Pack yor stone from underneath til you find the sweet spot.

Ben


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## RaggedKerf (Aug 5, 2012)

Thanks Ben! A new project! Hah I knew it was something simple I just couldn't grasp. Been a long day. Thanks again.


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## sikrap (Mar 15, 2009)

Good Luck Ben!!


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## mantwi (Mar 17, 2013)

Be sure and save this post to provide evidence for any litigation that may occur if someone steals the idea. I really think you are on to something here. It's simple and would no doubt be affordable even in the woodworking boutiques. Best wishes.


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## DKV (Jul 18, 2011)

Double brilliant…this is something, if priced right, every woodworker would buy just to see if it works.


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## BustedClock (Jun 30, 2011)

Echoing waho6o9, get that sucker patented! Maybe it won't make you rich, but it's always nice to have a few extra bucks come in from time to time.


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

What about skewed chisels? Will this work on those? I have a few skewed blades and since I don't have the fancy Veritas jig I have to sharpen and hone by hand. Or perhaps a different level with a compound miter where the *Honing Level* (Nice Name BTW) attaches to the iron?


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## Benvolio (Feb 10, 2013)

I can see it working for skew chisels… If you knew the angle of the skew, you'd just need to shim up the side of the stone by that amount and sharpen as usual.

If working out the angle is a hassle, just estimate by propping up the stone, then trying the *honing level* on the existing skew, adjust as necessary and sharpen as usual.


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## Benvolio (Feb 10, 2013)

... And in response to peer pressure, ill look at patenting this.

Any anyone has any tips, advice or ideas of costigs in taking this sort of thing to patent and market, feel free to drop me a message.

Ben


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## RobynHoodridge (Jan 9, 2012)

Totally great solution! Truly inspired.

Do look at patenting, just to learn about the system. But i'll burst that bubble for you now before you get too excited. One of the requirements to patent something is that it hasn't been in the public domain yet. In fact technically you can't have told anyone. So now you can't patent it, but neither can anyone else including big companies. They can use it, but they can't steal it as in stop you from producing it in competition to them. That's not to say they won't be interested in working with you to develop this into a product…..
Well, you could try to slip it passed the Brittish office as if you had never mentioned it here. You never know, they may not find this thread.


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## SRRieman (May 31, 2012)

Ben, not to burst your "bubble", so to speak…I recently read a paul sellers article from the past regarding bevel down plane irons and the idea that 30 degrees is not really any different from 40 because the frog design ultimately controls the pitch of the iron. Chisels are a different story of course. His article was to encourage the use of free hand sharpening and to tell readers that things don't always require precision. And sure he had been doing this longer than many of us have even been alive, but I'm sure he wasn't a failure his first ten years either. You might want to check it out. Nevertheless, cool idea.


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## Benvolio (Feb 10, 2013)

*PATENT IS FILED!!!*

I didn't pay for a search to see if anyone else has come up with this before. I'll do that if any one wants to make money with this idea, but for now, the governent knows this is my idea and that's a nice feeling.

(.... unless any of you have filed it for yourselves already!! I'mma comin for ya!)

Anyway. Thanks for the advice, guys.

Next question:

anyone know someone who wants to manufacture my thneed?

Ben


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## Benvolio (Feb 10, 2013)

BUT WAIT - THERE'S MORE!!

David Barron Furniture has put this into production.

Here's a video showing the guide in action. 




enjoy


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## CFrye (May 13, 2013)

Congratulations, Ben!


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## DocBailey (Dec 9, 2011)

I first saw one of these about ten or so years ago, and have seen the idea crop up from time to time.
Here is one of several patents:

http://www.google.com/patents/US7987608


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

Great idea, I love the simplicity and the only moving part is a bubble. Scrabbling and faffing are my new favorite words.


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## PaulSiegel (Nov 27, 2013)

NM, I need to read better.


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## KentuckyJoe (Sep 20, 2014)

Great sharpeing aid, Ben. Could you add a horizontal line part way "up" the bubble to show the bubble location for a microbevel hone.


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## derekcohen (Jul 15, 2007)

The easiest way to freehand is to hollow grind the blade at the desired angle, and then just keep the hollow flat on the stone as you move it around.










(Note, in the last picture, my right hand is moved out of the way for visibility. I would grip it differently in practice)

Regards from Perth

Derek


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

> Be sure and save this post to provide evidence for any litigation that may occur if someone steals the idea. I really think you are on to something here. It s simple and would no doubt be affordable even in the woodworking boutiques. Best wishes.
> 
> - mantwi


It's probably too late. The Chinese may already have it in production and will be on the shelves of Harbor Freight shortly.


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## loneturtle (Sep 2, 2015)

Paul Sellers also advocates honing on the grinding bevel rather than putting a secondary 'microbevel' on the edge. Obviously, the advantages of a secondary bevel is speed. You're removing less metal at a time… but this is at a cost. The more obtuse the angle, the less efficient the cut.You might achieve a razor sharp edge but it is less efficient at 30 degrees than at 25.
It does take a lot of initial work to hone past the factory grinding marks to achieve a mirror polish on the full bevel but it's worth it. It also takes the guesswork out of the equation. Setting the tool on the full bevel is easy to get right and you are honing at the most acute angle, giving a more efficient cutting edge.
My old school woodwork teacher (this was back in the days before it was wood machining class) used to say that the objective of honing was to achieve… nothing. An edge tool is essentially two flat planes that eventually converge. The longer they take to get there, the better the edge. The edge is the point at which the two planes converge and cancel each other out, becoming nothing. It's that 'nothing' that does the work. Sharpness is important of course. But what makes the edge a cutting edge is the angle between the two planes. You could achieve a perfect edge even if the planes are set at 90 degrees… but it wouldn't be a cutting edge. The more acute the angle, the more efficiently it separates the fibres.

As for stropping, I've stopped using leather. I have a stereo microscope attached to my scrollsaw for fine detailed work and I occasionally check the edges on this. Leather removes the burr very effectively but, because it has so much give, it also slightly rounds the edge. I've found that a sheet of plate glass sprayed with WD40 and rubbed with an aluminium (or aluminum, depending on which side of The Pond you're from) oxide polishing block rubbed into it to form a slurry does the job beautifully. Just a few strokes flat on the bevel and a few on the back takes care of the burr and leaves an edge that looks as sharp under a microscope as it does with the naked eye. I also find that periodically giving it a few strokes on the glass as you work keeps the edge extra keen so it cuts as efficiently at the end of the job as at the start… depending on what you're cutting, of course.


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## diverlloyd (Apr 25, 2013)

Try emailing the guys at fastcap something like that is right up their alley.


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