Originally Posted by
Tony Zaffuto
Some very excellent points being made, that are well known, but outside woodworking! For example, in my industry (powder metallurgy), D2 is a tool steel that has a primary use for dies and a lesser extent, pins. It is not typically used for cored punches and when it is, it is typically subjected to a double draw, which would lead one to wonder why the toolmaker just didn't use a more suitable material in the first place. A2 or S7 would be a suitable use for punches.
In woodworking, I'm wondering why A2 was introduced for plane blades and chisels in the first place (always seem to have extra mumbo jumbo applied, such as cryo treatment). I also wonder why, when a vendor introduces a product, why they also don't give sharpening suggestions, tailored to the process used to make their products.
I also am of the opinion, that Lee Valley did a superb job with the development of their PMV-11 material and view it as a step forward with edge tool steels, while I also feel that A2 was a step backward. Lee Valley developed a material specifically tailored to the job. I am not sure who introduced A2, but it almost seems a tool steel specs were read and the material introduced, without full understanding if it was appropriate to the job being asked of it, in the specific shape of the tool in which it was used.