I recently purchased two chisels - 3/4" and 1/2". Yep, I sold some tools and swallowed hard because they are expensive. However, there has been such good reviews about the PM-V11 I took the plunge. The steel is supposed to be tough and relatively easy to sharpen. I sharpen with a 25 degree primary bevel and a 30 degree secondary bevel.
I am building a cabinet with white oak that involves dovetailing. While the PM-V11chisels are easy to sharpen, the steel is definitely not durable. After one light pass to remove 1/32" - 1/16" while chopping dovetails, the edge on each chisel crumbled. That's right, crumbled. I have heard heat treatment can cause a weakened edge on chisels, plane irons, etc, so I sharpened each chisel several times to remove some material. My experience after sharpening each time was the same - the edge crumbled during one light pass.
Now granted white oak is a tough and hard wood. However, that is exactly why I spent the money to buy the PM-V11 chisels.
For comparison I have used Lie Nielsen A2 chisels, Japanese chisels - both laminated steel and special Hitachi HSS (non laminated) and O1 (old Stanley 750). The laminated Japanese chisel I have is an inexpensive store brand chisel from Japan Woodworker. It is easy to sharpen and durable. The Hitachi special HSS chisels were purchased from Traditional Woodworker. I love the Hitachi HSS steel chisels - durable, easy to sharpenand reasonably priced but Traditional Woodworker is out of business and I can't find these chisels anywhere.
What has been your experience with PM-V11 chisels? I will return these chisels - they are a big disappointment and are not worth the high price or even a low price.