Zen-Wu Tool Steels

We currently offer three types of tool steels for our plane blades, all of which are at the forefront of modern metallurgy.

ZW-V1 steel

Edge retention several times higher than A2 steel, exceeds all common PM-steel edges.

• No micro chipping on ultra-hard woods
• Uniform steel crystal, can be sharpened to an ultra high degree
• Mirror finish on both hard and soft woods
• Our experiments (on European beech) detect sharpness decrease starting at at least 0.62 miles of continuous planing, with best experimental results reaching 1.55 miles depending on the board.

ZW-V2 steel

Edge retention nearly double that of ZW-V1.

• Minimal micro chipping on ultra-hard woods
• Uniform steel crystal, can be sharpened to a very high degree
• Mirror finish on both hard and soft woods
• Edge retention is even superior to ZW-V1, while still having hardness at HRC 61-62.
• Our experiments (on European beech) detect sharpness decrease starting at at least 1.24 miles of continuous planing, with best experimental results reaching 2.8 miles.

ZW-V3 steel

Planing experiments pending, initial tests show even higher edge retention and hardness than ZW-V2. Stay tuned.

Cheers,

Luke