I got out my Aldis last night and did a significant reshape on the handles. Now they look better/plainer and feel better in-hand than the originals. Sharpened at 22*, I use them only for paring softwood. But as I was putting them back in their rack, I looked at my Marples bench chisels (blue handles with white rings) and thought "Geez, these work fine. How much better could expensive chisels actually work?"
So I got on the web and studied up on Blue Spruce, LV & LN. Just for fun I looked at the new Stanley 750s, too. Though they arent priced in the Premium category, I was interested in socket chisels. (We have a couple excellent threads in the archives about the new 750s, BTW.) From what I can tell just reading - lotsa reading, but only reading - the biggest differences between cheaper vs Premium brands are: edge durability, thickness of the lands, the quality/finish of the machined surfaces AND the aestetics - how they look and how they feel.
So, I think I'm going to order 1-2 LNs and find out for myself whether a Premium chisel is nicer-enough to warrant the cost. I doubt it will improve the quality of my work in the slightest. But then I'll know for myself.
Has anyone else upgraded from cheapos to LNs? Was there any real difference in the way the tool handled, aside from edge durability?
Fred