Spring-loaded front wheels on the Alisam let you press the tool down during honing.Īnodized a brilliant blue, Alisam’s #SS1 is a wheeled sharpening guide that’s designed and used differently than other wheeled guides. Optional Acessories: Side plates that allow use of thicker bench stones.

Useable Stones and Honing Places: Bench stones or honing plates up to 3″ wide and 1″ thick.

Guide Type: Back-and-forth on-stone roller Depending on the style of the guide, honing is done using either a standard whetstone (oil or water), diamond plate, or a honing plate with an abrasive film. Some also handle tools with tapered shanks, like dovetail chisels short blades, like spokeshave irons and/or thick-shanked tools. All of these guides are designed to sharpen typical thin, straightedged tools, like plane irons and chisel blades. In this article, I’ll give you a driver’s seat view of nine different honing guides and systems that range in price from less than $20 to nearly $200. While careful freehand sharpening can produce excellent results, unpracticed techniques typically yield inconsistent results and tools that aren’t as sharp as they could be.Īn attractive alternative to working freehand is using a honing guide, which can help you attain a wickedly sharp edge without hours and hours of practice. Traditionally, honing dull tools means it’s time to get out the oilstones and employ elbow grease mixed with a good dose of skill to bring edges back up to arm-hairshearing sharpness. We test and review nine different blade honing guides.

Saker edge tool