Sharpening by Hand

[Stick486]

Sharpening by Hand from LeeValley Veritas...

Sharpening by Hand

[Cherryville Chuck]

The 8000 and 12000 grit stones aren't out of reach but the 30000 at $500 is. After years of sharpening by eyeball basically I finally broke down and bought the generic $15 honing guide from LV a few months ago. I don't consider it a necessity for chisels because I use them in a skewed position probably more than half the time so whether the end is dead square is not important, only that the edge is sharp. I figure if I can easily shave hair off my arm with them they are sharp enough. Plane irons are a little fussier because they need to be square and uniformly sharp across the edge. The jig makes that a lot easier.

[Stick486]

after years of by eye and a trove of gizmos I got LV's MkII....
major improvements across the board...

[Stick486]

but the 30000 at $500 is.

use a sheet of glass or fine glossy stationary...