Comments on: Veritas’s New PM-V11 Steel Coming Soon

By: MCARUFE

MCARUFE — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:03:08 +0000

After using PM V11 for the last couple of months in small BU smoother and the larger LV Jack, I can say that it is a fantastic steel. I was not disappointed with any of the claims made by Lee Valley.

Sharpening is more difficult than A2, but at the same time not as gummy on waterstones. The edge in terms of sharpness potential is ne plus ultra. Arm hair melts in front of the edge. For me it is the perfection of carbon steel. Hard to believe in essence that is all it is, but the grain structure is probably about as good as it gets.

In performance on curly maple, the PM V11 stays sharp longer and gets dull more gracefully. I was able to use very low bevel angles on PM V11 that are not possible in a practicle way with A 2.
My suggestion for people already having A2 blades is to keep using them for larger bevel angles and at least get a PM V11 blade for low bevel angles for end grain.
For people tooling up, LV offers the PM V11 for a modest premium that in my opinion, it would be foolish to not go with it.
Mike Carufe
Violin Maker and tool nut

By: Big Mike

Big Mike — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 23:23:49 +0000

I’ve been a woodworker and carpenter for the last thirty five years in Northern California. I’ve been playing with different hand tools since the mid 80′s. I’ve had two Hock high carbon plane blades, an assortment of Japanese chisels and planes, Chinese “tool” steel planes, as well as a Lie Nielson low angle block plane with an A2 blade. On a recent exotic job in San Francisco I had to fit some lucite lenses to a metal frame set in a floor. I tried all my different planes as well as scrapers to trim the edges of the lenses. Now I know shaving lucite is a tough test for any blades but the ones that held up best were the Chinese and Japanese planes followed closely by the Hock and then the LN A2. The edge on the A2 broke down quickly and was totally unacceptable. My partner on that job was Chinese Master from Hong Kong and his LN gave the same results. We were both disappointed since we had such high hopes for the finely made LN block plane. We had the same results doing end grain on some black walnut. When I called LN just to pass on this report they suggested that I sharpen the blades at a steeper angle. I sharpen all my plane blades at 28 deg with a couple more deg added in the honing.

Just saying here….I’m not a big fan of LN A2 steel or A2 in general. I’m hoping this new PM V11 steel from Veritas will up the game some. As it stands now my favorite plane blades are the HOCK high carbon blades. Easy to sharpen and will take a nice edge. Their durability is good but not great. The Japanese blades and chisels are the true class of them all but are much harder to sharpen and are real expensive. I was lucky to have bought mine in the mid 80′s when prices were reasonable. Now if I ding one of those dear blades I almost cry. They are, however, like all thoroughbreds, beautiful beasts. A2….Nope. Don’t like it.

By: MCARUFE

MCARUFE — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:39:58 +0000

Thanks Megan, I was always amazed how well LV BU family planes worked with A2 sharpened on synthetics like Shapton and Nortons. Edge life has never been an issue making microbevels with jig and a tool I made to give me quick angles. Actualy, compared to honing carving tools, plane blades honing is quite relaxing, quick and easy.

For someone like me who does not dread sharpening, I never even gave a thought to look for something new or better. But as mentioned to have a blade handy to handle bevel angles around 20-25 degrees would definitely expand the utility of the most versitile, easy to set up and well made planes in my shop. The lowest angle on any of my blades has been 30 degrees for end grain and the results have been great, but i can’t wait to try an even lower angle on some end grain!

By: Megan Fitzpatrick

Megan Fitzpatrick — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 14:38:29 +0000

Mike, all we know on the PM-V11 is what’s on the LV site, which indicates they’ll be available soon, and will cost approximately 20 percent more than the 01.

By: MCARUFE

MCARUFE — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 06:11:34 +0000

Hi Chris,

I use mostly LA planes with A2 steel and really have no complaints with it especially when jointing and working curly maple for making fiddles. Keep it sharp and microbevels work great on LA planes and is quick and rewarding sharpening work for me.

I could definitely see a couple of PM V11 blades dedicated for low bevel angles for my LA Jack and the newer Small BU Smoother. When will they be here, I just orderd some stuff from LV and did not see them listed? Do you have any new info on pricing for LA BU LV planes yet?
Mike

By: Steve_OH

Steve_OH — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 12:48:18 +0000

I think that whatever you save in material cost by using less of the powdered metal would be offset by the added cost of additional fabrication steps.

-Steve

By: alegr

alegr — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 21:18:14 +0000

*less expensive steel substrate

By: Bill Rittner

Bill Rittner — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 20:35:55 +0000

The CNC shop I work part time for just tried a powdered metal boring bar on a job that has been giving us trouble for several years. The new bar cured all the problems with the bore. Now the Veritas A2 iron is a winner with me and it is cheaper than it’s competitors offerings. The new material sounds expensive so for me at least it had better be far ahead of the A2 to get me to part with more dollars. But I will keep an open mind.

By: Erik Wiklund

Erik Wiklund — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 06:46:04 +0000

Alegr… This isn’t an exotic steel.

By: Milford

Milford — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 22:22:17 +0000

Chris,
I understand you’re not much of a “steel nerd,” but you should know that “alloy” is not a single added ingredient, but the whole mix – i.e. not the baking powder or the buttermilk, but the entire pancake batter. It can also be used as a verb (to form a mixture) or possibly an adjective (alloying elements), but not by itself to designate a component of an alloy such as steel, of which the basic element is iron. There are also alloys in which the major element is aluminum, and in fact, in the bicycle trade, the word “alloy” alone is used as an adjective to refer to parts made of aluminum alloys (e.g. alloy chainwheel). It is not generally used for mixtures containing mercury (amalgams) or copper (brass or bronze).