Can you give us some guidance on honing?

[Rhino]

After some practice, I am very happy with the tormek.  I think the instructions are a bit brief with regards to honing.

What is the goal of my honing?  Since the tool is already sharp by that stage, honing should be a short affair to slightly touch up each side?

What is the angle?  Should it be the same as the grinding angle?  Should it be more to remove blurs?  Is there a danger of too much honing?  I am guessing that honing should be short, a little bit on each side.

Thanks for your advice.  I enjoy the Tormek T7 very much.

[Jeff Farris]

The primary goal of honing is to remove the burr. The secondary goal is to further refine the scratch pattern in the steel. If you don't bring your angle up too steep, there's no such thing as "too much" honing. It will only improve the edge, never degrade it. However, that qualifier about the angle is critical. If you do bring the angle up too steep you will round over the edge.

It becomes a matter of feel. I do my honing freehand.  While most jigs will work on most tools for part of the process, eventually you need to go back and forth, honing one side for a bit, and then the other, and then reversing. This process does not lend itself to using the jigs.

The best way to describe my approach to the correct angle is to "sneak up on it". There's no penalty for having the angle too flat, except spending more time at the machine. The penalty for have the angle too steep is a rounded edge. So, work the edge at the back of the bevel and slowly increase the angle until you think the entire bevel surface is in contact.

Practice makes perfect.

[Rhino]

Jeff,  Thank you for the insights.  I'll go practice on some inexpensive chisels I used to install doors.

Thanks again.