A good craftsman should also be capable of making and improving their own tools. A woodworker with a bad chisel simply reshapes it.
Relating back to software as tools, this only works if you have access to the tool code.
Relating back to software as tools, this only works if you have access to the tool code.
There's a huge difference in steel quality among chisels/cutting tools. Anyone can sharpen a $2 chisel so it cuts nicely once, but a $50 chisel will hold its edge longer and cut nicely hundreds of times.
There's only so much maintenance you can do on a bad tool.