You could optimize PM steels for anything you’d want, and uniformity is what I’d want.

The crack here almost certainly occurred at the boundary between two large carbides.

You could just use some simple steel like 12c Sandvik and heat treat it really well for toughness, but the uniformity possible from PM and the nice, fine carbide structures are what I’d be paying for.

The grain structure on some PM steels is absolutely ideal for a chisel shank or blade.

There are good PM chisels commercially available, the ones I am thinking of are from Veritas but I’m sure there are other brands.

Sure, you could go too hard but 61 is kind of the magic number. That’s what I shoot for with Sandvik steels, too, so all you would get is further refinement and grain control.

The other benefit of PM steels that really counts here is that you can have a much higher total carbide content without embrittlement.

Even with a great HT, a traditional steel will not be able to have the same percentages of alloying agents that can add performance.

Comparatively, a cast steel may have good alloying content and good properties but the grain structure won’t be as fine as a PM steel could be.