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| Introduction |
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| The Veritas® Mk.II Honing Guide was introduced with a
wide roller, providing a stable base so that blade edges remain perfectly
straight and square to the blade. This is desirable for most blades; however,
with larger smoothing planes, a perfectly straight blade can result in "plane
tracks," small steps in the surface of the wood between plane strokes. |
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| To avoid this, it is beneficial to add a slight camber or curve to the
edge of the blade, rather than keep the edge straight. The result is that
the blade takes a slightly scalloped cut and the resulting surface will
be slightly wavy, a feature that is recognized as a hallmark of quality
hand woodworking. |
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Figure 1: Typical plane blade with camber.
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| To facilitate the process of adding a slight camber to the edge of a blade,
we have developed a barrel-shaped roller that allows the guide to rock slightly
as pressure is applied across the blade. It is important to note that the
amount of camber is controlled by the amount of pressure applied across
the blade and the number of strokes taken at any one position. The resulting
camber is not controlled by the shape of the roller. |
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| Assembly |
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| Remove the standard roller assembly from the Mk.II honing guide and attach
the camber roller assembly, as shown in Figure 2. The major diameter
of the camber roller is the same as the standard roller, so all bevel angle
projections remain the same. |
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Figure 2: Installing the camber roller assembly.
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| Adding a Camber to the Edge of a Blade |
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| There are many different theories regarding the amount of camber that
is necessary and how to go about achieving it. In general, the basic procedure
is to apply consistent finger pressure to various locations across the blade
and to count the number of strokes at each location to ensure that equal
amounts of metal are being removed. |
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| Some references recommend using three locations (left, right and middle
of the blade), others recommend five or more locations. The camber roller
has a flat section in the middle to indicate a position straight across
the blade. |
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| Since these techniques will result in a blade that is slightly faceted
across its bevel, some techniques call for taking a few strokes while varying
the pressure across the blade during the stroke, in an effort to smooth
out the curve. |
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| Once you have obtained a smooth camber on the primary bevel, you can add
a micro-bevel. Switch the honing guide eccentric to the desired location
and repeat the process, again varying pressure across the blade and taking
consistent numbers of strokes at each location. |
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| In all cases, adding a camber to the edge of a blade requires a careful
and consistent technique to get a consistent and even curve across the blade.
With practice, you will develop just the right procedure. |
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Figure 3: Basic process for honing a camber onto
a blade. |