What were the test criteria?

When we started the process of evaluating new blade materials, we looked at characteristics that woodworkers really care about.

These included:

• How well does the blade handle impact?
• How well does the blade wear?
• How easy is it to sharpen the blade?

With these criteria in mind, we developed a test suite to determine which material performed the best.

What types of blades were tested?

We tested 21 different metals, some with a variety of heat treatments. Included in our test suite were metals that are commonly used in blades: O1, A2, M2 and M4. Every metal was tested with bevel angles of 20°, 25°, 30° and 35°. Every blade was lapped to the Veritas Tools standard of 5μin.

How did we test the blades?

We developed specific test procedures to determine the different performance characteristics of the blades.

How did the PM-V11 alloy perform relative to the other metals?

This graph presents performance on the impact and wear tests. (Note: PM-V11, O1, A2 and M4 are the only named metals.)

The PM-V11 alloy was the clear winner on the impact test, surpassing all the other metals. Most significantly, PM-V11 blades were able to hold a bevel angle of 25° during impact testing. On the wear test, PM-V11 blades tied for the second position.

We tested the top-performing blades on the impact and wear tests (as well as O1 and A2) to assess their ease of sharpening.

Our sharpening tests showed that O1 is still the easiest metal to sharpen, but the PM-V11 alloy was a close second, even a bit easier to sharpen than A2.