david weaver
If that chart is correct, no A2 has a chance on a comparable basis.

I have used a lot of A2 tools (i actually stroke tested - stupidly - a few different brands of it), and at the risk of pissing someone off, the Lie Nielsen A2 of a couple of years ago (last I ordered anything from them) was tops. It is tough, it doesn't chip out, it doesn't release stuff and leave little lines everywhere.

But if the LV stuff hangs with M4 in abrasives, the A2 has no chance, they are on separate orders of magnitude that are mutually exclusive.

That said, I like A2, and none of my A2 will be replaced by any powder metal, I've just got no reason to do it, and I already feel like A2 irons last a ton compared to carbon steel when they're both good - when you dimension wood by hand and have to do several of the same size large panels, if the A2 is used as the fore or jack plane, you can tell just in how many panels you can work.

In chisels, I'm not likely to ever notice a difference in anything, it takes too little time to sharpen chisels to worry about it.