I recommend Stubai. Read the review on the Diefenbacher website, as I
own a set I entirely agree with it. They hold the edge well and when I am
slamming (!) the blade into doug fir using a beech mallet, they do not*
take niks in the cutting edge, RC 60. Seriously.

I have sharpened the Stubais side by side with a Bahco/Sandvik (lots on
eBay) on Norton yellow 220 A/O and the Stuabi leaves a light grey dust,
a fast and easy to attain edge that is glass_smooth_razor_sharp. Perfect
quality steel.

The Sandvik (Sweden) leaves it very dark and "gummy" (so to speak) and
a harder to attain, not_as_good edge. These equalize with the cheap chrome
vanadium chisels from woodworker's supply, the older style set of which I
have (soft blue plastic handles, super cheap).

I have new Buck bros. chisels (hickory handles with leather tops) that are a
better steel that the Sandviks but they are RC 59 and did take some niks,
not hard enough. When sharpening, they leave a non gummy color that is
merely darker than the Stubais, but a powder and not as dark as the Sandvik.

I would not recommend the Sorbys just from what I have read, they add
too much silicon so that the metal is more absorbing of shock... so they
are softer and need sharpening more often, lower RC. They might take a
nice edge easily though. Great marketeers in business (what a "name").

Other folks in here recommend Two Cherries (a TON!), so here is a site
where a set is cheaper: http://www.carbide.com/ and lots of hard work
to flatten the backs from too much machine polishing.

Stuabi are cheaper and just as worth it: http://www.diefenbacher.com/
made Austria, very flat backs. Don't let the low price fool ya... and good
luck.

--
Alex - newbie_neander in woodworking
cravdraa_at-yahoo_dot-com
not my site: http://www.e-sword.net/