Veritas Sharpening Jig Problem

[Matt Van Heiden]

I forgot to ask in my original post- The bottom "clamp" that holds the blade/chisel is curved downward. It is to be extremely stout with no flex to it. So I doubt that it could have been bent by clamping pressure. What is the purpose of this? I would think it would lead to this problem due to less surface bearing area??

[Larry James]

Are you sure the bevel isn't out of square to begin with? When you're fixing a bevel to get it square it sometimes looks like you're grinding it WAY out of square, when in fact it's a small change and it's actually making it square.

That's just something to think about before blaming the jig or your technique.

I agree with John, I've had the same problem and it is hard to believe the blade is square in the jig. I use sand paper and have had to switch to a coarse grit (80 or 100) to square the blade. After that re-sharpening is usually not a problem.

I don't sharpen chisels less than 1/2" wide with the jig - very difficult to keep them square in the jig.

Larry

[Tom Winship]

About the time this thread hit the waves, I had just ordered a Veritas Mark II. I received it yesterday, and with some apprehension started honing my LN BU Jack blade. It was working great until I switched to the micro-bevel six o'clock position. After a few strokes, I thought I had ruined the blade because the intersection line of the two angles was so askew that it had to be out of square. I checked squareness with the best tools I had and the edge was still square.

I think what happened, at least in my case. is that the difference in the two angles (primary and micro-hone) is so slight (1-2 degrees) that any deviation from side to side exacerbates the appearance of squareness. I thougt about trying to apply some engineering logic (trigonometry) to this, but remembered why I retired over 3 years ago. Does my theory make sense?

P.S., I was honing on Norton coarse and extra fine diamond stones.

[Richard Gillespie]

Just experienced the same problem. Found that the chisels I was working with, the faces aren't parallel.

[Mike Zilis]

It's coincidental that this thread is active while I'm currently in a self imposed "sharpening hell". I've recently received three sets of new chisels (paring, bench and mortise) as well as 6 Hock blades for my old hand planes.

(Is that a stealth gloat?)

I started by flattening the backs of all the chisels and just an hour ago I completed the bevel side of the paring chisels using the LV Mk II honing guide. I had the same experience as many of you with one side of the chisels being honed more - however it appeared to be caused by a poor initial grinding by the manufacturer. My initial honing took much longer than expected but eventually the primary bevel turned out perfect. The micro-bevel then went on quickly and evenly.

I'm forcing myself to get through all of this sharpening before getting back to making sawdust. So I'm motivated to do it right. This thread has been very valuable to me. I appreciate all of you sharing your experiences here.

Mike