Preparing brand new Veritas pmv 11 chisels first time

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

Hey everyone, I ordered a couple of Veritas pmv11 bench chisels,
I was wondering what if anything I should do to prepare them for first use.

I gather I shouldn't lap them, and I plan to hone a secondary bevel. My question is should I polish the back? Soften the edges (I know I need to keep the first 2 inches or so). My setup is a lie Nielsen honing guide, shapton pro 1000, 5000, and 12000 and an atoma 400 diamond plate.
Would love to hear different techniques worth considering


Thanks,
Assaf

[roger wiegand]

The edges come wicked sharp. Unless you want to use up your supply of bandaids I'd certainly recommend easing them. Other than that mine came pretty much ready to use. I tried them before honing myself and they were pretty darn good. A couple quick passes on a 10000 grit stone and the blade was nearly as sharp as those edges.

[Jim Matthews]

Remove from box.

Avoid looking directly at edges, if you want to keep your eyebrows. Perform paper test while filming.

Post on TikTok for exalted meme status.

[JOEL MONGEON]

452707
Yep, wicked sharp out of the box.

[Derek Cohen]

Assaf, congrats on getting really fine chisels.

The review I wrote on the O1 versions is applicable to the PM-V11 chisels. Here are a few extracts (from my website) ...

Veritas plane blades have a reputation for being flat. That is flat with a Capital Flat. They are lapped to 0.001”. The instructions state, “no lapping is required by the user”.


http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/VeritasChiselReview_html_4305c9a3.jpg


Believe this. It is true. Taking a new chisel out of the packing, I “lapped” it over a 12000 grit Pro Shapton. In less than 30 seconds the entire back had a mirror polish.

Below are three Veritas chisels. The one on the left is untouched, as it came from the packaging. The two on the right each required less than 30” to bring to this finished state.




http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/VeritasChiselReview_html_6305ec5c.jpg


The first task I would recommend is to remove some of the carefully manufactured minimal lands. These extend the full length of the shoulder, which is unnecessary.

Veritas have left them for the user to modify as preferred. No doubt others have discovered, as I did, that sharp lands cut fingers!


http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/VeritasChiselReview_html_m2689c0e3.jpg


The minimal lands are exceptionally useful when dovetailing, to avoid bruising the edges of the dovetails, especially with small dovetails where there is too little room to skew the blade ..


http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/VeritasChiselReview_html_m5245a4b6.jpg


It is important to retain the first 1” from the bevel with the existing sharp edge. From that point back, use a fine diamond plate to smooth over the sharp edge. A few swipes should do the job.

The new chisel comes with a flat bevel. In the case of the ½”, ¾” and 1”, the primary bevel is 25°. Below ½” the primary bevels are 30°. All arrive with a secondary microbevel of 2°.

Why the steeper primary bevel on the narrower chisels? The argument is that these are more likely to be subjected to greater force since the narrower chisels are more likely to be used with a mallet.

There is also another factor to take into account – the hardness of the wood. With softwoods one can lower the bevel more confidently. With harder woods one must use common sense and increase the bevel angle to offer optimum strength.

I chose to retain the primary bevel angles used by the factory, but hollow ground the blades as my preference is to freehand hone on the hollow. You may prefer instead to use a honing guide, in which case simply hone the existing micro secondary bevel.

The image below on the left shows a newly-ground primary bevel. This was created on a Tormek wet grinder, which allows one to grind to the edge of the bevel without risk of endangering the temper of the steel. The advantage here is that a minimal amount of steel needs to be removed when honing.


http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/VeritasChiselReview_html_m1e46babb.jpg


http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/VeritasChiselReview_html_m1479b491.jpg


The picture on the right is of a freshly honed and polished edge. Since the edge was so small, a microbevel was easy to achieve on a 6000 waterstone, and then was polished on a 13000 waterstone.
A sharp edge should pare end grain soft wood and leave a smooth finish. Below is the result on a piece of soft Jacaranda …


http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/VeritasChiselReview_html_m5290103d.jpg

Full Review here: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/VeritasChiselReview.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jon Snider]

Derek, I’ve been away for a while and haven’t kept fully up. Are you off your CBN wheel ultimate setup and back to the Tormex?

[Jon Snider]

Never mind. I read the web link and see it’s dated 2012 at the bottom.

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

Derek, I read your very helpful review of the O1 chisels already. The reason I posted the question was I wasn't sure if there was any special treatment involved with the PMV1 steel. So far my plan is this:

1) Lap the backs with the shapton 12k until polished
2) ease the edges of the chisel 1.5 inches above the tip
3) hone a new secondary microbevel 2 degrees higher than primary bevel from factory using shaptons 1k, 5k and 12k and Lie Nielsen honing guide
4) avoid looking directly at the edges without proper eye protection 😎

Am I missing anything?

[Derek Cohen]

4) avoid looking directly at the edges without proper eye protection ��

Fore warned is fore armed. The glare off 12000 candles can be blinding! :)

Enjoy!

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Koepke]

1) Lap the backs with the shapton 12k until polished

Why? Polishing the back will not improve its flatness. It may make it less flat.

So far my Veritas blades have been beyond the flatness of what can be done in my shop.

Be patient over time the removal of burs from sharpening the edge will do the polishing.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

Jim, flat is not the same as polished. As I recall, somewhere in the dimness I call a brain, the backs are lapped to 400 grit. If so, that is not helpful for sharpness, per se.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[George Yetka]

Out of the 5 I got I lapped all of them from 1000-10000. It took minimal effort but they werent dead flat at least the 1&3/4 were not. They were functional and sharp though