Shop Built Chisel Honing Guide

Here’s my newest shop made jig (guide) for honing butt chisels. I made it out of purple heart, brass, 1/4 20 allen bolts with tapped wooden threads, and a couple of old router bit bearings.

Brian Tyirin butt chisel jig.jpg
Brian Tyirin chisel honing jig.jpg

The jig is made to produce a perfect 25 degree angle when the chisel is positioned exactly 2 inches from the front face.

Brian Tyirin butt chisel honing jig.jpg

The chisel and guide jig are sitting on a 2 inch thick black granite slab. The granite is perfectly flat and when used with extremely fine sandpaper the chisels edge can be honed to a very sharp edge. I like to wrap the granite in paper to protect the surface when I’m using it for sanding and flattening small wooden parts which is why it looks white in this image. If I was using it for sharpening I would remove the paper.

Brian Tyirin butt Chisel sharpening jig.jpg

The brass dowels were an afterthought but I’m really glad I put them in there because they add strength and they just look really nice to me!