Eclipse style honing guide

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Man with many vises
Corporate Member
This ad popped up yesterday on My Facebook feed:

Looked like it was well made so I asked Dr. Google for some reviews. Strangely, no reviews other than the company site. Anyone have one?
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
My wife almost fell for the same scam last week. The site looked every bit like a real shoe store. Luckily she saw through it at the last moment.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
Nice wide roller. Looks sturdy. I like my Veritas, but that looks good. Aliexpress is for real though. They are trying to be the global equivalent of Amazon, but I don't buy off their WEB. I don't trust a Chinese company with my payment info.

FWIW, I only use a guide now if I had to grind an iron. Daily tough up I do by hand. Easier and quicker.
 

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Man with many vises
Corporate Member
I bought one a while back and it arrived recently. I have only sharpened one chisel and it seems to work well enough. Here are some first impressions:

This guide is symmetrical and works in either orientation. I did add some grease to the axle holes to keep help swarf out.
IMG_3650.jpeg


The screw has right and left hand threads of course. The RH threaded end was made longer for the knob. Unfortunately, this means "righty-loosey" and they should have made the LH threaded end longer instead.
IMG_3651.JPG


Despite their videos sometimes showing otherwise, Saker recommends the lower jaw faces for chisels and the tapered upper jaws for plane blades.
IMG_3652.JPG
My first thought was the lower jaws should be tapered too. But then, tightening would introduce an upward force from the bed which might make the wee guide grooves bind?
IMG_3654.JPG


Next try will be to use the upper tapered jaws to hold a chisel and see if that works OK. The wide roller is stable as they claim. Overall, I give this my "worth a sh*t" rating.
 

pop-pop

Man with many vises
Corporate Member
I bought one a while back and it arrived recently. I have only sharpened one chisel and it seems to work well enough. Here are some first impressions:

This guide is symmetrical and works in either orientation. I did add some grease to the axle holes to keep help swarf out.
View attachment 216371

The screw has right and left hand threads of course. The RH threaded end was made longer for the knob. Unfortunately, this means "righty-loosey" and they should have made the LH threaded end longer instead.
View attachment 216372

Despite their videos sometimes showing otherwise, Saker recommends the lower jaw faces for chisels and the tapered upper jaws for plane blades.
View attachment 216373 My first thought was the lower jaws should be tapered too. But then, tightening would introduce an upward force from the bed which might make the wee guide grooves bind?
View attachment 216374

Next try will be to use the upper tapered jaws to hold a chisel and see if that works OK. The wide roller is stable as they claim. Overall, I give this my "worth a sh*t" rating.

After several months of intermittent use, this guide works well and better than many in holding a chisel square. I have been using a Wixie to set the honing angle and that is fast enough for me and gives me confidence. The lefty-tighty thing is a minor nuisance, It took maybe three weeks to arrive.
 

Echd

C
User
I have one like it as well as a Veritas.

In the end after some practice I mostly go by hand now... it was good for acquiring habits but I'm not sure a honing guide is worth the trouble.
 

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