Hongdui HD29 Honing Guide Full Review + Enjoywood Combi Square Set Giveaway! [GIFTED]

[@BischBaschBosch]

I had a response from Hongdui regarding the minor issues! They have said they will slim down the tightening thumb screw for the angle stop so it will seat in the 50 degree positive stop. On the issue of being unable to tighten the angle stop to the honer body when using the long jaws with a spoke shave blade fitted, they pointed out that the long jaws seat the blades at a different height to the short ones. Something I didn't notice at first. As such, use of the stop is pointless anyway. They instead recommend laying a straight edge/ruler from the roller and across the blade bevel, until the bevel seats flush with the ruler. This is a fairly traditional technique for setting a blade or chisel in a honer tbh. On the issue of the long jaws not being able to skew, they reason that, if set at a skew angle, it doesn't leave much room on your sharpening stones for the roller. It's a good point. However, even with the short jaws at say, a 30 degree skew, a skew plane iron with a 25 degree bevel would face the same issue?! A steeper bevel on skew plane irons would be the way to go I think. I have my eye out for an old Stanley or Record skew plane to try it in earnest. Lastly, I asked them whether they are able to supply spares for worn, damaged or missing parts. To this they said yes and that it's something they've always done. Nice! You would need to contact them via their own website ( hongduitools.com ) to arrange this. Pretty impressed with the speed of their response and how concise it was. They replied the very same afternoon I emailed them. Cheers😁

[@michael.knight]

Nice review. Hongdui build quality is always excellent, but it does seem overengineered (also why I got rid of the Veritas MK2). But I do appreciate Hongdui trying some new approaches, always good to have some innovation and competition for the traditional manufacturers.

[@BischBaschBosch]

My go to for years has been the Kell honer - an exercise in simplicity itself - so I understand people saying this Hongdui is overengineered. It is. There is purpose to the engineering to be fair though (the fancy knobs being the exception). It's about the most versatile honing system out there as a result. But yeah, really happy to see original concepts from them.👍

[@paulcooper9187]

You are very right there, retired and at last got some time for doing some woodworking. The high end stuff is great, but smuggling it past my ever observant chancellor is always a challenge 😂 Difficult to justify.

[@BischBaschBosch]

Ha. True enough. Even though it's my job, I have to justify a purchase with the authorities!😁 I'm very fortunate I get to try these products. 👍

[@Parafinn1970]

Great review - I hope they address the issues you found.

[@BischBaschBosch]

Will email them today. They seem to have been fairly responsive to others so 🤞 The issues aren't major, just annoying on a premium tool.🤷‍♂️👍

[@keith-w5s]

Good review as usual. Yee haws lol, you guys kill me with the terms that you use for American measurements.

[@BischBaschBosch]

@@keith-w5s Cheers. It's a bit rich from us here in the UK I admit. We still use imperial for a lot of stuff too. All just a bit of fun😁👍

[@paulhodgson4790]

​@@BischBaschBosch Ben and his "Freedom Units" 😂

[@Pete.Ty1]

👍👍👍. Great review's. Thank you

[@BischBaschBosch]

Thank you mate 👍

[@paulcooper9187]

Great insight, love the honing guide, but a touch expensive

[@BischBaschBosch]

Thanks mate. Yeah, it's quite the investment alright. Still, it's aiming to rival Bridge City and Veritas and the like, so not for everyone. 👍

[@SibeJanKramer]

Thanks for your review! How does this Honing Guide compare to the Mohoo one? Results of the latter for me are quite okay, although not consistent regarding 90º angle (chisel is not perfectly square (say 0,25-0,5mm at 24mm wide chisel), and I need to relocate the chisel in the guide to get it square)

[@BischBaschBosch]

0 5mm over 24mm is quite big! The mohoo was a giveaway prize so I didn't use it in anger to keep it as new. I did however check the blocks/jaws for square and that the chisel and plane irons were square to the honer - which they were. Does you honer check square? Worth checking the wheels too. if ones loose or covered in debris, it'll skew. Double check too, how it holds your chisel - that it isn't obstructed, is seated correctly - and that the chisel sides themselves are actually straight/parallel. Common issue.

[@AmazingWood188]

Great video thanks for sharing

[@BischBaschBosch]

Nice one, thanks👍

[@bradleytuckwell4881]

Nice bit of kit

[@BischBaschBosch]

Yup. It's pretty fancy! 👍

[@samrix5793]

Great review!

[@BischBaschBosch]

Cheers mate 👍

[@David-ee9zg]

The honing guide appears over engineered to me. I'll happily ignore it and stick with my Veritas.

[@pointerish]

Funny that you say that because the Veritas is also over engineered.

[@David-ee9zg]

@@pointerish HaHa! Funny indeed. But it suits me.

[@BischBaschBosch]

No disagreement from me about it being over engineered. Especially aesthetically. Functionally, everything serves a purpose and allows for the widest variety of blades. Ben at Hew & Awe said he preferred the Hongdui to his Veritas but, I think if you already have the Veritas or other premium offerings, you're probably alright. Unless you want to reliably sharpen a skew of course.👍

[@David-ee9zg]

@@BischBaschBosch Tormek.

[@BischBaschBosch]

@@David-ee9zg Bloody 'ell! At 400 odd quid, it makes the Hongdui seem a bargain 😂