Figure 1.
Choose the angle you wish to hone at (25° is the most common angle for sharpening chisels and plane blades). Undo and slide the little indicator until it slots into the pre-marked holes on the angle guide. Slide the angle setter onto the honing guide (you will notice some numbers in inches) and roughly set it at the size of your chisel. It is not critical to be dead on - it just helps to have your chisel centered in the honing guide. Now nip up the knob on the angle guide until it is just firm and don't over-tighten it.

Figure 3 : Once you are happy the blade is secure in the honing guide, remove the angle setter as it is no longer required. If you use waterstones to sharpen on, make sure you do not just roll in one spot. Work around the stone and rotate it regularly. This will help prevent hollows forming in the face of your stone. Start with a coarse grit if you are intending to give the blade a full grind (probably around 300 grit) and continue to sharpen until the entire edge is sharpened. You can feel a burr on the back of the blade and this will indicate that you have sharpened all the way along the blade. Change to an 800 grit stone and work your way to a 1200 grit and then finish on a 4000 grit or a 6000 grit. The 6000 grit water stone is broader and more suitable for use with the honing guide. If you don't want to give the blade a full grind, you can begin with the 800 grit stone.

Creating a Micro Bevel: On the bottom of the honing guide you will notice a knob with a mark on it. This will allow you to hone a micro bevel on your blade. Pull the knob out and turn it until the mark faces downwards. This raises the blade by one degree.

Using one of the finer stones, a 1200 grit for example, roll the guide over the stone and you will see the micro bevel begin to form along the very edge of the blade. Continue with finer and finer grits of stone until you have reached your desired level of sharpness. The advantage of a micro bevel is that between sharpenings it is possible to give your blade a touch-up by honing only this small bevel on a fine stone.

Accessories: The Veritas honing guide has two accessories that can be purchased separately. A cambered wheel is available to remove the square corners of a plane blade creating a slightly convex profile as you hone it. This prevents the corners of the blade from digging into the face of your work.

Another accessory is the skew angle setter. This is useful for setting angles on some carving and bench chisels.

There are many jigs out there that help sharpen your blades. I have found this one to be the simplest and most repeatable of all the jigs and recommend it to my students. It removes the frustration of getting a sharp edge, getting you back to your work faster - and isn't that what it's all about?!

Click here to purchase the Veritas Honing Guide