Evaluation of the LV PM-V11 chisel for chopping dovetails

[Mike Henderson]

Some time back, I expressed an interest (in a forum post here) in the new Lee Valley PM-V11 chisels for use in chopping dovetails. Rob Lee contacted me and offered to send me a 3/8" chisel to evaluate, providing I gave him feedback on it. I set up a testing procedure and tested the LV chisel against several other chisels that I had in my shop. I've documented the tests and the results here.

For those of you who want to jump ahead, or don't want to read a long evaluation, the result is that the new PM-V11 steel holds up very well when used for chopping out dovetails, better than any of the chisels I tested it against.

I'd appreciate your comments on the testing procedure. And if you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them here.

Mike

[Tri Hoang]

Thanks, Mike, for offering your very detailed evaluation. How much longer do you think the PM-11 chisel last as compared to A2/O1 chisel (LN, Blue Spruce)? LV mentioned that the PM-11 is especially good at low angle (20-25*), even for chopping. What's your take on that? Last but not least, would you replace your (mostly commonly used) current A2 chisels with the PM-11 ones?

[Mike Henderson]

Thanks, Mike, for offering your very detailed evaluation. How much longer do you think the PM-11 chisel last as compared to A2/O1 chisel (LN, Blue Spruce)? LV mentioned that the PM-11 is especially good at low angle (20-25*), even for chopping. What's your take on that? Last but not least, would you replace your (mostly commonly used) current A2 chisels with the PM-11 ones?

Let me see if I can answer your questions in order.

It's very difficult to put a measure on "how much longer will the LV chisels last?" All I can tell you is that from examining the edges, when the other chisels showed edge wear, the LV edge was still straight and sharp. It'll take more time for me to get a feeling for how much longer the LV chisels will go between sharpenings.

I didn't try lower angles on the production chisel sent to me. I kind of doubt that a 25* bevel will hold up well when chopping but I don't have any test results to back that up with.

I won't replace my LN chisels with the LV chisels but I plan to buy a few of the LV chisels in the sizes I use the most. If, after using them some more, I think it's worth while, I'll start replacing the A2 chisels. But I'll have to see. If I was starting from scratch, I'd buy the LV chisels.

Mike

[Paul Saffold]

Thanks Mike for taking the time to perform the evaluation. It's nice to hear results from someone we feel we know, even if only online, that back up claims made by a retailer.
Paul

[bob blakeborough]

Thanks, Mike, for offering your very detailed evaluation. How much longer do you think the PM-11 chisel last as compared to A2/O1 chisel (LN, Blue Spruce)?

My take is the Blue Spruce was not tested against it? I would be interested in that comparison as well. I have the full BS bench chisel set as well as the set of 4 DT paring chisels so I might just have to buy one of the new PMV11 chisels in a common size to my BS Bench and DT chisels and compare both chopping and paring properties between them for myself... I just honed one of the new PMV11 plane blades at 50 degrees and gave it a go in my BU Smoother in some gnarly quilted maple and I am so far rather impressed!

Nice test Mike!

[Mike Henderson]

My take is the Blue Spruce was not tested against it? I would be interested in that comparison as well. I have the full BS bench chisel set as well as the set of 4 DT paring chisels so I might just have to buy one of the new PMV11 chisels in a common size to my BS Bench and DT chisels and compare both chopping and paring properties between them for myself... I just honed one of the new PMV11 plane blades at 50 degrees and gave it a go in my BU Smoother in some gnarly quilted maple and I am so far rather impressed!

Nice test Mike!

No, the Blue Spruce shown in the pictures was not tested against the LV. I only have a couple of BS chisels and none are 3/8". My experience with my BS chisels is that they're about the same in performance as the LN chisels - I have not seen significantly longer edge life in the BS compared to the LN chisels. And that's over a lot of time using them.

Mike

[Jim R Edwards]

I would like to upgrade my blue marples chisels and have been waiting on the LV chisels. By looking at your measurement of the LV chisel it appears that the handle is the same size as the marples chisel. That might be a deal breaker for me as I do not care for the length of the marples chisel. I prefer the handles on my Stanley 750s which are shorter than the marples.

[Salem Ganzhorn]

Thanks for the review Mike. I just had one question: you mentioned there is no landing between the bevel and the bottom of the chisel? Did you find the need to round over the edge? Otherwise I would think you would easily cut yourself when paring.
Salem

[Mike Henderson]

Thanks for the review Mike. I just had one question: you mentioned there is no landing between the bevel and the bottom of the chisel? Did you find the need to round over the edge? Otherwise I would think you would easily cut yourself when paring.
Salem

The arris there is a bit sharp but I didn't knock it back and I didn't cut myself when using it. Someone could take a piece of fine sandpaper and hit the edge if they were worried about it, or found it too sharp.

Odd things around the shop can cut you, however. I once got cut from an edge on one of my water stones after flattening it. That was a shock.

Mike

[glenn bradley]

The arris there is a bit sharp but I didn't knock it back and I didn't cut myself when using it. Someone could take a piece of fine sandpaper and hit the edge if they were worried about it, or found it too sharp.

Odd things around the shop can cut you, however. I once got cut from an edge on one of my water stones after flattening it. That was a shock.

Mike

And a melamine edge can do some damage as well although I don't handle it much . Thank you Mike. I enjoyed the review and the detailed explanation of your testing. Folks, having met the man, I would take his opinion to the bank and give it more weight than many magazine reviews I've seen.