They say a workman is only as good as histools and it’s true that edge tools that are regularly honed will generally performbetter than those that are simply sharpened. Leading supplier of woodcarvingand woodturning tools and equipment, The ToolPost (http://www.toolpost.co.uk/), stocks awide range of tool honing products, both manual and power systems, that willhelp any wood craftsman or woman get the very best from their tools.
At the top end of the spectrum there’s theTormek System which combines toolhoning with toolsharpening in a wetstone system that works with just about every type of woodcarvingand woodturning tool out there as well as bench chisels and plane irons. Thispremium product is a worthwhile investment for the serious user, however, sofor those with less critical needs or for those simply looking for something alittle more affordable, The ToolPost has a great choice of Powerstrop andSlipstrop products, as well as the Ashley Iles honing and sharpening system andtheir very own hand leather honing strops.
Powerstrop, as the name suggests, is a powertoolhoning system: honing wheels that are mounted onto a power source such as awoodturning lathe,power drill or powered arbor, allowing for excellent honing of carving and edgetools. There are two products in this range available at The ToolPost: the PowerstropStandard Honing Kit with a single leather wheel, perfect for skew chisels,whittling tools and carving knives, and the Powerstrop Deluxe Honing Kit whichcomes with an extra inverted vee-shaped leather wheel for the inside of veetools and areas which are tricky to access. Both kits come with arbors, honingcompound as well as clear instructions on how to install and operate thesystem. The Ashley Iles system, muchfavoured by wood carvers, features a dense cotton honing wheel used incombination with a diamond impregnated rubber sharpening wheel to giveexcellent results.
The Slipstrop from Flexcut and alsoavailable at The ToolPost is a hand honing system – a moulded honing block withthe ability to match multiple blades which comes with the Flexcut Gold honingcompound. This is a great low-cost portable and flexible alternative to powerhoning systems.