I know of the chisels you're talking about. Japanese tools are
inherently more expensive (shipping, duties, taxes, etc.). Thus, when
you do buy a "cheap" Japanese tool -- or even English tool -- you are
paying more for it.

The thing with the Japan Woodworker brand is you don't really know who
the maker is. It could be an apprentice or some factory shlep. At
least with the higher end tools that may cost only slightly more...and
sometimes a lot more...you know the individual maker spent years
learning their craft to make the best possible tool for you.

If I'm not mistaken Mastumura, who's chisels aren't exorbitantly
priced, is considered a national "living treasure" by the government
of Japan.

Layne

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 02:09:00 GMT, (Adrian Mariano)
wrote:

I got a cheap Japanese chisel (the Japan Woodworker brand) and I find
that the edge chips out if I look at it the wrong way. It got
frustrating enough that I relegated it to scraping paint and got
something else to replace it. Hard to say if the Grizzly ones are
good or not, but if they're really cheap I'd be nervous. (Unless you
like sharpening your chisels all the time.)