I was just looking through some old FWW mags and ran across an article on
chisels in the Dec/1999, issue 139. They looked at 17 different chisels and
tested their hardness and toughness. It might be worth looking at if you
have a copy although it's 4 years old now.

FWIW, they ranked the Marples Blue Chip as coming in 16th out of the 17
chisels tested, IOW almost dead last. Craftsman came in 9th. The chisels
that tested best for toughness were White Steel ($32 for a 1/2" chisel)
first, then Blue Steel ($38 for a 1/2" chisel), and in third was Iyori ($156
for a set of 4 chisels).

Double FWIW, the Craftsman rated better for toughness than Japan Woodworker
(10th), Garrett Wade (11th), Robert Sorby Gilt-Edge (12th), Lee Valley
(13th), Robert Sorby Octagonal (14th), Stanley 5002 (15th), Marples Blue
Chip (16th), and Pfeil (17th).

Again, this test is now 4 years old and they were only testing current
models of chisels and they didn't test all models (e.g. Marples Protech),
but maybe this helps explain why your Sears holds up better than your
Marples.

--
Larry C in Auburn, WA

"Bay Area Dave" wrote in message
...
I just picked up 3 Marples protouch chisels, wasted my time to sharpen
the 3/8" one and then proceeded to put chisel to wood; namely red oak.
Before getting more than 4 sides of a mortise started the chisel's edge
was so nicked that I could see it without my reading glasses! That's
saying something. BTW, I sharpened it on 3 diamond stones and then up
to around 5k+ papers. I used the Lee Valley honing guide...

I've got a Sears chisel, 3/4" that holds an edge for quite a while.
What's up with these Marples?

dave