Carbide blades for handplanes?

[John C Cox]

HSS will *work* for a plane iron and they are available. I have a few super cheap Japanese planes that use a HSS iron.

But, I wouldn't recommend them. They're a pain to sharpen. I mean, at least they are much more "sharpenable" than carbide, but...

There are much better steels for the handtool woodworker. There's a reason vintage steels, O1, PMV-11, and Japanese White and Blue Steels, among others, are so popular among handtool woodworkers.

That was my point. Many people need to test things for themselves, though.