I've been wanting to purchase some proper mortise chisels for some time. The Ray Iles mortise chisels were always at the top of my list. I also considered the Lie-Nielsen mortise chisels, but I'm not a big fan of the socket handles. I have a full set of their bench chisels and the handles are always popping out. Anyway, this week I received email from Lee Valley introducing their new Veritas mortise chisels.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...&WT.tsrc=Email

I like their handles and I've always been very happy with Veritas products I've purchased in the past. I was contemplating purchasing these with the A2 steel over the Ray Iles chisels which have D2 steel. I'm hesitant to spend considerably more for the Lee Valley PM-V11 steel since I don't make mortises with hand tools exclusively.

I realize no one has yet seen these new chisels to make an informed assessment, but is there a reason I should pass on these and go with the Ray Iles?