I basically agree with everyone, but choose this message to respond to as I've a bit of disagreement here.
> Probably because they make a lot more selling slick-looking but poorly made crap to consumers who don't know any better... Also, there isn't really a big enough market for the more specialized tools to make it worth their while. There are some very well made modern tools, just not by the old standbys. Lie-Nelson planes, for instance, are probably as good as any antique. Not cheap, though. The problem is not consumers who don't know better, the problem is that there is no market for fine woodworking tools as there are few people who want to spend the time doing the work. Dick, gmbh in Germany has some fine chisels - but the cost with shipping is prohibitive to the US unless it is something you really need. It is not that Craftsman, and other majors, are making crap. Their tools are excellent for their market. My Craftsman chisels are fine for making gross work on 2 x 4s for construction - but can't cut the mustard for fine work. My pair of Buck Bros. chisels (Home Depot, don't know if they are an alloy or carbon steel) have the characteristics of carbon steel. They take a fine edge when honed on a waterstone, but dull quickly. The woodworker has the patience to rehone his tools regularly (fifteen minutes of work and I put my tools to the stone) - the home "repairman" doesn't, and shouldn't have to. The fine blades are available, mainly Japanese, but they do have a price. There is an old saw (no pun intended) "it is a poor workman that doesn't know his tools". It would be a waste to buy expensive tools for rough work, but it is a false economy to go with the wrong tools. I do wood turning and have some fine gouges and some cheap roughing tools. Dr. Oakroot didn't say it, but he implied it. There is a trade off on bladed tools. Some take a fine edge but need to be continually honed (not ground), and others hold their edge, but not so fine an edge. Which you choose for which job is a function of what you are doing. I don't think I'd want an old carbon steel chisel to make the mortise and tenon joints for a building extension, but that old chisel would be a lot better than a Craftsman for refining the mold and neckblock of the lute I'm building. It is less a matter of quality than of purpose. You can cut a tomato with any reasonbly sharp blade, but the thin slices of sushi require a fine blade (and a very steady hand). Best, Jon > To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
