Veritas Blades for Custom Hand Planes

O1 is a modern tool steel used extensively for woodworking tools. It sharpens easily and quickly resulting in an excellent, fine cutting edge. O1 blades are hardened to HRC 58-60 PM-V11 is a powdered metal (PM) alloy. The constituent elements once mixed and molten undergo atomisation. This produces a fine powder. Under heat and pressure the powder turns into a solid metal billet. Processing a billet of PM-V11 is then as conventional as any other steel. Hardened to HRC 61-63, PM-V11 steel has a fine, consistent structure. It provides significantly greater resistance to both impact and wear. It can take a keen edge and hold it at least twice as long before it needs sharpening. Once dull, the edge can be restored using water stones or other sharpening methods.