Vertically oriented honing guide for sharpening edged tools

Abstract

A vertically oriented honing guide for sharpening edged tools is disclosed. The vertically oriented honing guide for sharpening edged tools eliminates nearly all setup time and is compatible with commercial products by orienting the tools vertically and through the use of a linear guide system. This eliminates the need for tool clamping, facilitates direct angle setting, improves ergonomics, and allows the use of generic sharpening media. Yet, the vertically oriented honing guide for sharpening edged tools may alternatively incorporate a clamping mechanism to clamp tools being sharpened.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A vertically oriented honing guide that orients edged tools vertically at specific angles for sharpening by a sharpening media block that moves linearly against the edges of the tools by way of a linear guide system, wherein the vertically oriented honing guide comprises:
 a baseplate assembly;   a rotating tool holder assembly; and   a sliding sharpening media holder assembly.   
     
     
         2 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 1 , wherein the baseplate assembly comprises a baseplate, a linear guide rail, an angle-setting mechanism, a locking knob threaded attachment point, and a threaded pivot attachment point. 
     
     
         3 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 2 , wherein the rotating tool holder assembly comprises a rotating plate with integrated shelf, a tool holder vertical backer, a tool ledge, a plunger, a locking knob, and a pivot that attaches to threaded pivot attachment point of the baseplate and enables rotation of the rotating plate, wherein the locking knob is configured to screw into the locking knob threaded attachment point of the baseplate to secure an angle set by the angle-setting mechanism, wherein the rotating of the rotating plate is prevented when the locking knob is screwed into the locking knob threaded attachment point of the baseplate. 
     
     
         4 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 3 , wherein the sliding sharpening media holder assembly comprises a gantry plate, a linear guide block attached to the gantry plate and mates to the linear guide rail of the baseplate assembly, a square block attached to the gantry plate, and a sharpening media holding plate to which a sharpening media block is affixed, wherein a first hand of a user grips the square block to move the sharpening media block affixed to the sharpening media holding plate back and forth along the linear guide rail of the baseplate assembly, wherein linear motion of and forward pressure applied to the sharpening media block grinds an edge of a tool positioned on the tool ledge and against the tool holder vertical backer. 
     
     
         5 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 4 , wherein the sharpening media holding plate comprises one or more magnet cutouts. 
     
     
         6 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 5  further comprising one or more magnets that are embedded in the one or more magnet cutouts. 
     
     
         7 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 6 , wherein the sharpening media block is affixed to the sharpening media holding plate by the one or more magnets. 
     
     
         8 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 4 , wherein the angle-setting mechanism comprises a plurality of detents indexed at a plurality of fixed angles (“indexed detents”), wherein the rotating tool holder assembly further comprises a spring ball plunger that sets to a particular detent in the plurality of detents. 
     
     
         9 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 4 , wherein a second hand of the user grips the tool holder vertical backer, wherein a thumb of the second hand of the user applies pressure to the tool to secure the tool against a mating surface of the tool holder vertical backer. 
     
     
         10 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 4  further comprises a clamping mechanism that secures the tool against a mating surface of the tool holder vertical backer when positioned on the tool ledge. 
     
     
         11 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 10 , wherein the clamping mechanism comprises a clamp, a clamp screw, and a screw hole. 
     
     
         12 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 11 , wherein the clamp faces the mating surface of the tool holder vertical backer and is affixed, at a bottom clamp edge, to the baseplate and, at a top clamp edge, to a top surface position of the tool holder vertical backer. 
     
     
         13 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 11 , wherein the tool comprises an edged tool, wherein the edged tool comprises one of a chisel, a handplane blade, and a particular edged tool, wherein the clamping mechanism applies pressure to the edged tool positioned on the tool ledge against the mating surface of the tool holder. 
     
     
         14 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 11 , wherein the screw hole is a first screw hole in a plurality of screw holes through the clamp. 
     
     
         15 . The vertically oriented honing guide of  claim 14 , wherein the clamping mechanism obviates the need for an angle setting mechanism.