Which sharpening guide?

[Sirgreggins]

woodcraft one: http://www.woodcraft.com/PRODUCT/200...FUZN4AodiSNrXQ

rockler one: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...7&site=ROCKLER

Money's not the issue here. Which one do you guys think will do a better job?

[Keystone]

Either one works.

[lwilliams]

The Woodcraft one will give you fits when switching between stones because the stones will inevitably be of different heights which will change the angle you're working at. That said, the best honing guides are the ones you were born with. Honing the bevel on a properly maintained chisel or plane iron with traditional sharpening techniques requires very little honing on the bevel. The difficult part of sharpening and where I see all the problems when out teaching workshops is in maintaining a flat back that's honed all the way to the edge. Honing guides cause people to focus on the bevel which is a huge mistake that leads to unpredictable results.

The best, easiest system for sharpening woodworking tools evolved over Centuries. Joseph Moxon alluded to it in his book in the late 1600s, Peter Nicholson described it in his book in the 1830s and it's the same that Stanley had in their instructions as late as the 1970s. Here are Stanley's instructions on the back of a block plane iron package from the 1970s:
Stanley.jpg