"Doug Payne" wrote in message
...
On 26/04/2006 1:48 PM, Chris Friesen wrote:

I think you're confusing the MKI and the MKII.

Could be, I'd never heard of the Mk-I; when I bought mine, it wasn't
called the Mk-anything, near as I can remember. Now it's just called the
"sharpening system".

No, the "cambered lower roller" is a roller that is not actually a
cylinder, but rather slightly tapered towards both ends. The idea is to
allow you to hone a slight radius to the blade.

Interesting. Neither the catalogue nor the Web site makes any mention of
that, that I can see. Makes me even more convinced that I should stick
with what I have; a tapered roller would probably just drive me nuts,
and I can already get a radiused edge on plane blades by applying a bit
of extra pressure on either side of the blade. Thanks for the info.

Doug (et al) -

I have and use the first version - and will continue to do so. All a guide
is - is training wheels for muscle memory. If your techique is reasonable -
just about any guide will work. If you rely on guide to set and ensure
geometry despite technique - that's asking a lot. The MKII version is closer
to a fixture, than a guide.

A few more random comments:

1) squareness has never been an issue for me withthe old guide... in fact, I
found it an advantage that chisels and blades could move slightly...that way
differential pressure could be applied to crown blades, or keep edges
straight - all under user control (with good technique). Basically - it
probably works well for you if you hold and move the chisel, while the guide
works to keep the angle. It didn't work well for you, if you pushed the jig
back and forth, relying on it to control geometry.

2) the new guide squares and clamps better - an improvement for most, but a
bit restrictive now for those that have good technique. For example - it's
more difficult to crown a blade - hence the upcoming additional roller.
And - at more cost. The "old" guide isn't obsolete... we just have a second
version now, with different attributes.

3) narrow chisels - yup - the clamping method just isn't appropriate for
narrow chisels (under 1/4"). The appropriate guide for those has always been
a side clamping guide. They're about $10. To add side clamping ability to
our guide would add far more than $10 to the price - and it's just not good
value. We won't do it.

Have to run - meeting in two minutes.. but will check back later....

Cheers -

Rob