I mainly build fine furniture by hand, with little if any machinery input after rough milling, and although perfection can be elusive, that's what I strive for. So I appreciate your comment! Chisels are great tools when they are prepared well, but can ruin your work when they're not. My videos on sharpening were some of the first I made, and frankly they could do with replacing - the content is good, but the camera work and presentation are pretty poor. If you can stick with them though, you'll see what works well for me. I'm not a great advocate of expensive chisels for people starting out in woodworking - I have a small range of expensive ones in sizes I use most often, but the rest are mostly cheap or very cheap ones. The difference once prepared - well to be honest the cheaper ones take a sharper edge, and the expensive ones stay sharp for longer. I can see a video idea emerging. In direct answer to your question though, harder steels will hold an edge longer if used right. Happy woodworking, Mitch

I'll add it to the list of requests - sounds fun. I do use both, and have for years, but I can't say off the top of my head why I choose one over the other for any particular job! Cheers, Mitch

Hi Josh, Good idea, it's now on my request list. Meanwhile, watch my sharpening series (sorry, these early videos are poor on camera work and presentation) and see if you can figure out how to apply to the bent iron of the router plane. Happy woodworking, Mitch

Thanks :)

Josh Hall Hi Josh, I've filmed a quick demonstration of sharpening the router plane iron, and it should be edited and uploaded later today or tomorrow. Hope you find it useful. Thanks again for suggesting it, Mitch