I hesitated before deciding to post pictures of the new version of this jig. It is more like an engineer’s daydream made real than a woodworker’s jig. This is not how I hone when doing actual cabinetmaking. For that I hone freehand, using the hollow ground bevel of the blade to set the angle.

The jig shown below was developed to help me quickly put a precise bevel on abrasion-resistant steels.

The main improvement is the holder for the waterstone, which puts the top surface of the stone at a consistent height regardless of the stone’s thickness. The holder also rocks back and forth with only slight pressure, so that the entire blade edge rests on the stone even if the blade is skewed slightly in the jig.

The wooden part clamped to the blade is a back bevel guide that allows a precise angle to be honed as shown below.

Behind the jig is the angle gauge. When adjusting the jig for bevel angle, I sight across the back of the blade and turn the knob until the blade is parallel to the line on the angle gauge. Here’s a close-up of the gauge:

For more pictures of this jig, click here.