I'm awfully close to getting one of these, but I have to wonder how big a deal it is that only the middle few inches of a stone can be used. At least that's what it looks like - from the roller to the blade edge in from the either edge of the stone can't be used because the roller needs something to support it. I was considering building a clamp/table fixture for the stone as seen here:
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the stone is clamped flush with a large reference surface made of acrylic or something, and the roller rolls on that rather than the stone's surface, giving you full use of the stone.
Get a long stone and the jig. Great item. Of course you can always use either end of a short stone or make a hole in a suitable thickness board and use the whole thing if you have a favorite, but a stone long enough to support the roller and an average blade short of center opens up the entire surface for use. I have diamond plates and Arkansas stones, and with the stickyback 220 grit available for the bigger 'oopses , my chisels may never see a wheel again
Hi! I was wondering if you couldn't do some strikes, and then turn around the stone to the opposite side. But probably the jig would be more practical, altough I seem to believe that the transition from the wooden base to the stone, should be almost perfect..
I have the MKII, and so far I can't ask for more. I use it for scary sharp, and as it's just sand paper, it doesn't really mind if you need to loose the first two inches (I seem to remember that's what the gap is for the standard 25 or 30 degrees blade position).
There is a honing guide available that is similar but has a roller wheel that rides on the table and adjusts to blade angle regardless of stone height. The stone can still set in a water dish when being used.
If you are already planning to build the stone vise on Brent Beach's site, then you might as well build his jig, also. I've built 4 in different heights: 1.5 cm, 3.3 cm, 4.2 cm, and 5.1 cm. I modified his design because I don't use back bevels. I use 10-32 brass machine screws and brass knurled nuts, both of which I got at Lowe's. The nuts are on top of the jig so I can tighten the nuts by hand without using a screwdriver. They work really well.
Of course those jigs require that you run the jig on the glass, not on the abrasive. If you don't already have the stones, you might also consider Scary Sharp with the 3M abrasives that Brent recommends. That also works really well.
I'm not sure that I'd go to that amount of trouble. I've had the Mk II for about a year and I simply cannot say enough about it.
I put my stone on a piece of towel - just a bit of friction in the fibres holds the stone to it and it to the top of the bench. It also picks up any water coming from the bottom of the stone.
My stone does get cupped in the center, but I consider that normal. I run the roller from the end of the stone until the blade I'm sharpening is about 1/4" from the other end of the stone. I can't remember how long my stone is - maybe 6-7" long, but that's more than enough to give a nice run on the blade. I also flip my stone end for end to try to even out the wear on it, but eventually I have to flatten the stone. I have a lapper that I think I got from Lee Valley, but it doesn't show up in their search for some reason. It's made by Norton and it's about $20 CDN and does a marvellous job on flattening the stone.
The Mk II is enormous bang for the buck. I spent years trying to get my blades consistently sharp with the angle I wanted. To no avail. Since I've had the Mk II the blades are scary sharp all the time and the angle never varies. I know there are guys here that sharpen simply by feel, but I'm not one of them.
Thanks all. Presently I have a jig like Leon is describing - made by General and I think it came from Home Depot. Repeatability is kind of a hassle to achieve. I had actually been considering building the stone vise with the stone clamped in sideways (rotated 90 degrees from where the site shows it) but I didn't mention it. Otherwise you have the same problem with the edge not being able to reach all of the stone, only worse because you have to unclamp and reclamp it to change ends. You can also use shorter, more stable rods. But even if the vise doesn't work out, it sounds like the jig is worthwhile, so I'll stop sweating it.
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