TomD
"(i'll freely admit that if someone else went into as much nuttiness as I have about this, I'd make fun of them and tell them to make something. )"

I try not to rely on that argument, but at times it is irresistible.

I have been buying high quality tools since the 70s. My problem is that it really doesn't mater if someone solves the steel problem or not, because: 1) I will have ample reasons not to believe them; 2) More to the point I am stuck with a huge range of different "bests", acquired over 40 years, and I am not going to replace them with any one thing, any time soon. When I bought my Record planes around 1980, I added blue steel blades to all of them. They have given good service, and I still mostly use my Record jointer to this day. But I would never replace that set-up today, there are better options out there.