Christopher Wellington
Contributor

On getting tool steel sharp -

Sorry for the PM, I no longer publicly post.
The very finest, sharpest edge I can achieve in my shop is with Carpenter XHP steel, which is very similar to PM V11. It has a tenacious wire edge, so it takes considerably longer to get there.

It's tough steel, so the edge is long lasting.

I prefer O1 because it's predictable, and with a buffed (rolled) edge on my chisels it's *very* close to what I can manage with powdered steel like PM V11.

A2 is hard, and skates across my Arkansas oil stones.
It's brittle by comparison to O1 and I can't get it as sharp as the others.

Search videos by DavidW on YouTube for a demonstration of the method I now use with O1 steel.

Fine India to shape bevel, quick buff on stiff cotton wheel.

That's it - no grinding, guides or gizmos.