Description
A quick, effective aid to sharpening plane blades at 25° and 30° bevel angles, this tool is modelled closely on the Stanley #50 honing guide, patented in the U.K. in 1945. Straightforward to use and compact enough to carry in a toolbox, it was widely used in the trades, allowing a worker to touch up an edge whenever needed with minimal time and fuss.
Like the original, our version uses a roller that clamps onto the blade, keeping it held at the correct angle as you run it back and forth against a sharpening stone. For use with bevel-down blades with a 7/16" to 9/16" wide cap-iron slot, it has a machined aluminum body and a hinged stainless-steel registration arm, with etched markings to indicate the correct placement to register the blade at 25° or 30° to the stone. Simply align the blade edge with the chosen mark, tighten the knurled brass thumbscrew to lock the blade in the guide, swing the arm out of the way and sharpen the edge.
The brass roller has a slightly bellied profile, which, even if the guide is accidentally misaligned in the blade slot, helps prevent skewing the blade edge, since it creates a single point of contact with the surface of the stone yet permits a slight side-to-side rocking action to form a cambered edge.
Almost elegant in its simplicity, it is a decidedly low-tech tool, exactly as precise as your ability to align the blade edge with the reference marks by eye. While it may not offer the same reassurances of accuracy and repeatability as a modern guide, it provides a reliable, practical and easily portable way to quickly restore a serviceable edge.
Made in Canada.
