Instead of buying a new honing guide to sharpen chisels and planes, I decided to make my own. The jig you see in the photo here is the result.
The jig is a block of maple cut into a wedge with a 25° angle. I cut a groove down the center of the angle to create an area to hold the tool. A piece of UHMW acts as a glider on the bottom of the block. As you can see in the drawing, I made the base wide enough to accept 2" plane irons, as well as chisels. Finally, I added a clamp to hold tools in place. The next slide shows some more details about the clamp and the base. The clamp consists of a studded knob inside a threaded insert. The knob tightens down on the tool. A plane iron may have a open slot down the center, but a shim will give the knob something to clamp down on. To adjust the jig for different bevel angles, I move the blade within a small range on the ramp until it’s set at the proper angle.
The clamp has a notch that makes room for the chisel or plane blade as you see in detail 'a'. The side section of the base (detail 'b'), shows the notch needed for the piece of UHMW plastic.
