You can see the magnetic dial gauge angle finder is the exact same one Brian shows in his book... got it at Harbor Freight for $3. I am using Diamond Honing plates from HF ($10) for the course work (180/260/360), they are seen on the left next to the box in a stack; each one on a 1/4" piece of aluminum. Then I switch to a DMT DuoSharp Plus 600/1200 for fine sharpening (my wife got it for me for my birthday). I finish off with Pinnacle Honing Film on 3/8" sheet glass. Woodcraft sells 3 packs for $5 - they come in packs of 15, 5, and 0.3 micron equivalent to 1200, 4500, 90000 grit. The HF 180 isn't really course enough to start a new bevel, I'll have to look for something better (or I could use wet/dry sandpaper on sheet glass). But everything else works great.
Now for a neat story: Brian highly recommends the Veritas Standard Block plan (not the low angle one). He says the standard angle plane can be sharpened to get the same cutting angle as the low angle plane using the double bevel system, but the low angle one isn't as versatile with hardwoods. He says you only need 1 plane for lutherie, and no other plane will do. That Veritas plane is $130. I e-mailed him, asked if there was any other plane that is reasonable since I can't afford it. He replied that the Veritas is so good... and everything else is so bad... that he'd "deliver pizzas" to pay for it.
The exact same day I got his response, my wife was out talking to our neighbor. He is a retired Marine, bad knee. He said jokingly that he would pay her $25 to mow his yard. It takes him a long time because he can only mow for 10-15 minutes at a time due to his knee. I go over and tell him I'll mow it for $25. He agrees. Mowed it three times now, takes me 60-70 minutes. I should be able to make roughly $200 total from him over the rest of the year. That's enough to buy that plane, an extra blade and 2 more Hirsh chisels from Lee Valley!
