ATLIN Honing Guide - Sharpening Jig for Chisels 1/8” to 1-7/8”, Planer Blades 1-3/8” to 3-1/8”

Simple tool, helped me sharpen my chisel. Yeah, read the directions. But...with one wheel, your results do end up only as straight as you can hold it. I suppose two wheels would help a lot, but I never saw any with that. Maybe my case was special because I was correcting an incorrect angle from a previous poor resharpening attempt. I rated it 5 stars because it is everything I expected for the price; however, you still can end up with a poor edge if you don't keep it straight. This is a perfectly fine product for what it is, just know that if you are expecting a perfect, amazing edge, it's only as good as how well you use the tool. If you are one of those people who want perfection, keep looking. But if you just want to sharpen a chisel for simple work, this will do the trick.

This is a good sharpening aid for someone who can't afford or just doesn't want to pay the money for a premium or semi-premium honing guide.The machining and casting is better than any other imitations of the Eclipse #23 that I have used. The flexing of the jaws on the parallel guide bars is minimal. I used to own a genuine Eclipse honing guide. It was very old. By the time I had purchased it the jaws were flexing as badly as the jaws on the knock-offs. Eventually the flexing of the jaws on the Aitlin guide will get worse too. If you get ten years of service for $15.00 (2021) that is a good value IMO.If you read and follow the directions you will get good results. However, be aware of the possibility that your blade can twist in all three positions of the jaws. The center position (for bevel edged chisels) is especially prone to this when using narrow chisels of say 1/4" or less. Loosening the jaws ever so slightly will allow you to correct the twist without having to reset the tool all over again. I haven't had any of the quality control issues like some other reviewers.This guide works great on abrasive films (dry) diamond plates (wet or dry) and water stones up to 8000 grit. However, the wheel will not roll on 1 micron films that have been wetted with a water based lubricant. It drags. Likewise, the wheel drags on a black Arkansas stone that has been lubricated with mineral oil. It doesn't drag on a lubricated soft Arkansas stone.FYI-I bought this just to try it out. I typically use a Veritas Mk II honing guide. In fact I own the whole system. It is a substantial investment. The Aitlin guide delivers similar results but requires more vigilance and fiddling. I also know how to sharpen freehand. I prefer a good guide because it is easier for me to get consistent results. I've never used a Lie-Nielsen honing guide. Therefore, I cannot compare it to the Aitlin. I hope this review is helpful.

First time using a honing guide and have thus far sharpened several chisels and a blade from my block plane, to my satisfaction and far better than what I was able to achieve previously via freehand.Before you use the honing guide and to achieve quality results if your tools are in poor cutting condition is to start by getting the completely flat side of your chisel/blade honed flat to a mirror like finish as much as possible. I accomplished this by hand, without the honing guide, using a very flat piece of granite under my sandpaper and moving through progressively finer grits of wet sandpaper, applying flat and even pressure, many, many, many strokes and lots of patience. The harder your steel, the more time you must devote but the end result will be superb.Once this step is accomplished, just follow the provided honing guide blade mounting directions and move your blade through progressively finer wet sanding paper stages as you did when working the completely flat side of your blade mentioned earlier.With the honing guide, I can now more easily achieve that scalpel type cutting edge we strive for. There are numerous Utube videos for using honing guides which I'd recommend prior to using any honing guide. The directions for using the honing guide are pretty much limited to "how to mount your chisel/blade to the guide and at the angle you desire". I found these instructions and the functionality to be quite sufficient thus far. I guess time and use will tell but thus far it seems to be quite sturdy and is bringing me into a new dimension of "sharp".Thanks Atlin!PS) I think that if the roller on the bottom side of the guide was broader, perhaps as much as 1.5-2" in width, it would be even easier to use and help deliver even greater precision in keeping the tool blade really tight and flat to the sandpaper surface. I think some additional general directions on sharpening techniques coupled with how to "move the guide" and where/how to apply blade pressure would help some of the folks who are not getting positive results with this honing guide. Just a thought..

Me gusto mucho la calidad de la herramienta. Buenos acabados.