Narex Richter Bevel Edge Chisel Set of 5

Product Information

So, thanks to the Cryogenic treatment of the blade, you’ll use it for a long time without the blade losing its quality and sharpness. Cryogenically Treated — Following initial hardening, cryogenic treatment is performed which cools the steel down to −190° C (-310° F) using liquid nitrogen. This alters the mechanical properties of the steel at the molecular level greatly increasing its strength, toughness and wear resistance. But that’s not enough to help you decide if this Richter chisel is worth it. Keep reading; we’ll tell you everything you should know about this chisel and the Narex brand. Features of Narex Richter Chisels

Premium Steel — Made from Highest quality Chrome Manganese (Cr-V) steel using traditional drop-forging methods. Blades are tempered to achieve a minimal hardness of 62 HRc. If you are looking for a premium quality chisel set at a value-based price, the Narex Richter offers real appeal. It rivals other premium chisels on the market and costs a lot less.

Sadly, after a few months of usage, they’d start to blur and eventually succumb to rust. Then, you’ll have to go chisel hunting again- that’s exhausting! Don't get swept into believing there's anything more in the Richter chisels than relatively common steel and a slightly harder temper than some of the other chisels. But all my Narex chisels are of the standard steel, main-range kind, not the Richters. I did look at Richters but came to the conclusion that, although they do have a better overall finish (polished handles, mainly) and a slightly different steel, they don't offer any meaningful advantage over Narex standard fare - which is already extremely good, especially for so little money. When shopping for the right chisel for your woodworking applications, you could easily invest in the wrong chisel set. The blade is impressive. There are no visible machine marks and no sharp edges apart from the cutting edge. It’s polished to a flawless satin sheen too. The chisel’s factory-ground 24° bevel is honed with a slight microbevel and suitable for use right out of the box. I still honed mine further to suit my personal preferences, allowing them to perform even better. The chrome-vanadium blades are tempered to achieve a minimum hardness of 62HRc. The quality of the steel and the way it is hardened and tempered makes the chisels very high quality. I could feel their hardness during the sharpening process. Although it was possible to sharpen with my traditional Japanese waterstones, it took a little extra time. Once sharp, though, the chisels stayed sharp for an extended period of time. Put this baby into the corner. The side bevels on these chisels taper to a thin edge. As a result, they fit excellently into tight and angled corners, so you won’t dent or bruise dovetails as you pare away waste.

Woodworking chisel handles come in different styles and different materials. Which is the best? I’ll answer that below… Please note; the1/8" (3mm) chisel sits within the ''Narex Richter Bevel Edge Chisel'' range, but to call it ''bevel edge'' is a bit of a stretch. The sides are close to parallel, and more resemble a mortice chisel. This is not all that uncommon in a 1/8" chisel, as often they are taller to give it strength, but this is not all that helpful when removing waste from dovetails.

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I have three Narex mortising chisels. Reading this thread I hurried off to the shed to make sure the handle flats and oval were properly aligned with the blades. Happily they're all perfectly aligned. This must be why I never noticed the handle orientation when chopping with them, eh. Perhaps MJ's moan about his prompted those Czechs to improve their production process? :-) Timber Frame Chisels VERITAS Mortise Chisels Stairmaker's Chisels Jap. Cranked Paring Chisels Corner Cutting Chisels The chisels are fitted with traditional pattern handles from Mr Richter's time, made from ash for lightness and strength, extremely smoothly finished and secured with a splitproof ground steel ferrule bearing the Richter logo and smartly trimmed with a thin leather bolster. The chisels are supplied coated with a light corrosion inhibiting oil with VCI protection for each individual chisel to ensure that they reach you in perfect condition." I have too many chisel sets, mortise, Registered, bench, skew, etc. I just could not justify the PM-VIIs for the amount of use they would get, so I figured the Richters were a better value. Plus I really wanted a set with very thin lands for dovetail work.

The older content from Pop Woodworking also seems to have plenty of explanation and justification for what they say and recommend. The sides (lands?) Seem very narrow to me, but once again my old chisels were vintage / antique chisels which were not a set. Basically just whatever I found.

Blades

Edit: Well, today I had 5min to escape to my garage. I went ahead and resharpen the chisel, this time I introduced a convex grind, the chisel peals end grain in maple just as beautiful as my other ones, I’ve probably mangled the edge somehow when I prepared it before and the convex grinding of the chisel cleaned it (I gives a more obtuse angle the my secondary). So all in all freshly sharpened it gives satisfying results, it’s also pretty refined chisel with nicely broken edges and almost flat from the wrap. That leather ring on the Richters (and on no other Narex chisel) seems to be part of the pretty-look marketing. However, there is blurb that claims the steel is significantly better as well; and is comparable to Veritas PM-V11 for both resilience and ease of sharpening. Now, the handle of this chisel is generally reasonable. You won’t need to change it before using it because of the materials harvested to create it.

I have the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 sizes to compliment my other size Lie Nielsen and Veritas PM-V11 chisels. Do not pay attention to other posters who don't own these chisels/they don't know what they are talking about...the finish/quality control is on par with my Veritas and Lie Nielsen's. The other Narex chisels are not even close to the finish and quality/workmanship Narex put into these.Mortise chisels (or “mortising chisels” or “mortice” chisels as they’re spelled in Britain) are used for “chopping” out mortise joints. They take a real beating, so they need to be tough. But many hand tool woodworkers opt for a weaker mortise chisel without even knowing it. Personally I find FWW still the benchmark for detailed, meaningful and usually well-supported WW information. It does have a touch of the PR-advert blurbs here and there but generally this can be easily spotted and winnowed from the extensive good crop of high quality guidance and advice.