Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)
Thank you David. I went to Chris' blog in the link you supplied. In this he stated ..

But to be candid, edge life doesn’t impress me terribly. As long as I’m not sharpening the tool every hour, I’m OK. What I really care about is sharpenability – how easy the tool is to sharpen – and how keen an edge it takes. On this front, the PM-V11 is a real champ.

In fact, the biggest surprise came when I tried sharpening the PM-V11 on my oilstones. It was exactly like sharpening high-carbon steel. The soft Arkansas bit right into the cutter and turned a burr with ease. The hard and translucent Arkansas stones did their jobs quickly and easily. Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I would have sworn I was sharpening high-carbon steel.

The highlights are mine.

Firstly, these are statements with which I wholly agree. No one will want to use a long-lasting steel, no matter how long it lasts, if they struggle to re-sharpen it once it dulls. This is the attraction of O1 for so many. Chris is noting here the ease of sharpening PM-VII on really basic equipment.

The second point is why there should be such a variance between this review (June blog) and the one Bill cited (in the latest Oct PW mag I understand, which I have yet to read). It draws the opposite conclusions to that above. Is this really what has been published in the forthcoming (to me) PW mag?

Discombobulated in Perth

Derek