David Barnett
"I'm getting the impression that my Craftsman and Marples are not so good."

From whom or what are you getting this impression, Eliot? Have your chisels somehow let you down in some way? Perhaps the edges have chipped or rolled over while you were paring dovetails or fitting a tenon? Or perhaps they won't take an edge?

And why do you say "Apparently, the one good one I have is the Greenlee..."? Why is this apparent to you?

I ask because I've got both orphans and sets of chisels from vintage and contemporary makers. One of my favorite chisels is a wide Craftsman with a clear plastic handle from the 1970s that takes and holds a terrific edge. I bought it to trim books in a lying press when a plough would be inappropriate. It's hell on chisel corners to use one this way but the Craftsman did the job for years before I began working wood, had something to compare it to which made me appreciate my good fortune in buying it.

If it's your experience that would lead you to buy chisels from a different maker, that's one thing. If it's the reputation or the name that's off-putting, I'd give what you have a chance before deciding. Greenlee's are fine, of course, but they're hardly the only good chisels. I'm not saying you're rushing things, but sometimes it's instructive to become very familiar with what's at hand, pushing tools to their and your limits before deciding what you'll need. This goes for chisels, saws, planes, stones and just about every other category of hand tools.

Don't take me wrong. I'll spread considerable spondulicks on tools I've learned work better for me than others, but it took awhile to learn what and why. For example, my absolute favorite hand tool bar none is the discontinued Starrett 277-2 spring dividers, a little round-leg 2" wonder. I use several of these, often on the same object, and have paid well over... well, let's not even go there.

If your just jonesing to buy stuff, have it real bad, I can fully appreciate that. I think most of us have been there. One neat thing about buying assorted tools, whether from trusted and knowledgeable vintage tool sellers, garage sales, eBay or wherever, is the variety. I have several 1/2" chisels from different makers; long and short, older, newer, thicker, thinner, and so on. I now know what I'd look for in a chisel if I ever needed to buy another, which I don't. Same for saws.

I'm just sharing my viewpoint not to pass judgement but to warn of early obsessions, having bought damned near a hundred moulding planes before I discovered I don't like mouldings and furniture that has them. I so wanted to like period furniture because I was fascinated with moulding planes, especially English cabinet pitch moulding planes. I simply can't live in a house with Queen Ann furniture, a piecrust table or a Chippendale secretary. I can appreciate period furniture, but I loathe it for myself, so it was off to the auction house with all the family heirlooms. The cartharsis will only be complete when I get rid of several shelves of accursed moulders. Granted, I or whomever I leave them to will likely profit from them, but that's hardly the point.