Thread: Tsunesaburo Blue Steel or PM-V11 ?

If you're lucky, Derek Cohen may see this and respond


But FWIW, given the timbers you say you normally work, I think you will find an O1 replacement blade from Lee Valley is your best choice, leaving change for something else.

I'll second Ian's opinion. I think there are trade-offs that you might want to consider. Whatever you use for sharpening very hard steels, it is more difficult to put a really keen edge on them. Yes, it can be done, and the more you do it the better you get (I've been at it for more than 50 years, & starting to get the hang of it). But it's just so easy to put a super keen edge on my Hock blades compared with my Academy blade (the hardest blade I own). They are amazingly durable despite that, & hold their keenness through a very useful amount of work. I could wish for nothing better to work the woods you nominated. OK, my Academy holds its edge longer, but because it is such a beast to deal with, I am more reluctant to whip it out & re-sharpen when it starts to go off a little. So I tend to push it til it's so dull I can't stand it any more, which means it takes even more effort to bring the edge back to life. It's a bit like carbide blades, you don't realise just how dull they get until you finally put a fresh one in. If you chip a glass-hard blade (& it does happen occasionally, no matter how careful you are) the consequent re-grind is twice the PITA it is for the 'softer' steels.

So after spending the first 30 years of my woodworking obsession hobby chasing the ultimate hard steels, it dawned on me some time ago that the planes with Hock & earlier LV blades were the ones I preferred to pull out for any job. One of the main benefits of after-market blades is the extra thickness, & these blades are thick enough to give a very noticeable improvement in performance in otherwise bog-standard Stanleys & Records, without being too thick & causing poor adjuster-cam engagement. They are dead easy to put a keen edge on, so I tend to resharpen them as soon as they go off a bit. Result: a much more satisfactory planning experience all-round. This has been my own journey, and everyone needs to discover things for themselves, but I wonder if any others have come to similar conclusions?

I have yet to encounter PM-VII, and if you believe all you read, it breaks the hard-but-hard-to-sharpen nexus, so maybe you can have your cake & eat it too. However, experience has taught me that there is always a catch, so I think I will plod along with what I've got for the time being, while you good folk discover any cons (apart from cost)......

Cheers,