Narex Richter Bevel Edge Chisel Set of 5

Product Information

I haven't used the chisels, but I have forged chisels from water hardening files and made a lot of tools. I've also had some of the narex chisels in the past (the basic line). Right after initial hardening, cryogenic treatment cools the steel down to very low temperatures by using liquid nitrogen to as low as −190 °C. This completes transformation of austenite, which increases both the hardness and toughness of the steel. 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

Generally, the fit and finish of the Narex Richter chisel are good. However, when we compared it with some other blades in its class, we noticed that the finishing needed more work. For reasons I won't drone on about, I recently exchanged many of my chisels of long use for Narex chisels. In truth it was partly to drum up some tool-buying cash by selling some rather expensive items (such as Blue Spruce) the cash from which bought about 10X Narex items compared to what the equivalent Sprucers would cost. Here is a Blighty advert from one of the on-line purveyors, going on about this better steel. Of course, this is sales blurb so ...... 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.Hence, you won’t watch the chisel degrade or lose its quality to rust. The chisel is also tough. That’s part of why woodworkers can use the chisel in several applications. You can read my comparison of Narex and Stanley Sweetheart chisels for better understanding as well! These features aren’t that big of a deal. In fact, we only noticed them when we tried to compare them with other chisels in its class. That's arrogant, solipsistic and something of a jarring cognitive dissonance, given that he portrays himself as a "woodworking guru" outputting his stuff largely via Youtube and other on-line channels, a lot of it paid-for "lessons" for which the free stuff appears to be the PR. And the "I make a point not to copy anyone anywhere" is such obvious nonsense. Did he make up all of woodworking by himself, then, like an Ayn Rand "hero" with a motor? The bottom line (ha ha) is that the standard Narex items work very well indeed; come near ready for work with only minimal fettling of the working end; and are inexpensive partly because they don't spend enormous efforts on the cosmetics rather than on the functional aspects.

Some don't like the fatter-handled version of Narex chisels but they do have other configurations of many bench chisels, with slimmer and more traditionally-shaped handles. Myself, I like the fatter handles because they fill my chiselling grip. 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. Another point of view is that as woodworkers we hope that people appreciate out hand-made creations and the effort that has gone into the work. In some cases machine made dovetails in items from the Far East will be more precise than mine, but mine are hand cut and that counts for something – I hope. In the same respect, I like to buy hand-made tools. i can aford them in small number and I love to use them because I know a guy from, for example, Ashley Iles (who have been mentioned here) ground them by hand. If we only promote cheap mass-produced items then why do we bother doing woodwork at all when it can be churned out by machines – is there any value in hand-made? I find it quite depressing when I shop for tools in large stores to find that its nearly all cheap and mass produced, and i’d argue a lot is rubbish and won’t last a lifetime at all (so I don’t buy it). In addition to all this, buying the likes of Ashley Iles and Clifton planes supports local craftsmen, when the craft has largely died out. If we as craftsmen don’t see the value in the crafft of toolmaking, why should we expect others to value our craft of woodwork? 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. 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.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. For starters, the handle is carved from European ash, responsible for its beautiful grain, toughness, and strength. The choice of wood shaped this handle into an ergonomic one. The process used to make the original narex chisels is different from typical, and they have a hardness ceiling and are usable chisels but are mediocre. The manufacturers took their time to design this handle with maximum comfort. When end-users grab it, they won’t need to invest too much physical effort into making it work. It naturally maximizes efficiency. Ash hardwood handles have solid stainless steel ferrules and leather washers. Individual chisels are supplied with plastic edge protectors.

There's an idealized test where these came out on top, but the test provides a bias for a chisel in the medium hard temper range, so it's not a surprise to see they'd come out on top. 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.A key feature to these chisels is their side bevels, which taper to a very fine edge, making them ideal for reaching into confined spaces and angled corners, like those common in dovetailing. But the edges aren’t so sharp they slice you; rather, they’re polished and softened. 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. Of course, the Narex Ritcher chisel feels like a perfect chisel. While it mostly is, we noticed some features that surely could use improvement.

These honing guides may be worth considering, especially if you use sandpaper on glass or diamond platesThe handle is made of European ash, an excellent choice for this purpose because of its hardness, toughness and beautiful grain. The handle has an ergonomic shape and is ground to a fine finish. A stainless steel ferrule prevents the handle from splitting and there is a leather disk to dampen hammer blows. The largest diameter of the handle for all chisel sizes is 31 to 32 mm. Bladewidth Sometimes a manufacturer will make substantial functional improvements to something and sell it as a premium item. Sometimes the improvements are largely to the image rather than the substance of that sold. I'm not saying this is necessarily true of the Narex Richter range .... but it could be. :-) My own Narex chisel collection is slowly growing as whenever I want an additional kind of chisel to those I already have, standard Narex has become the first choice. They are inexpensive - less than Crown, Sorby, Henry Taylor and others of that price point - yet much better made in terms of the much smaller amount of fettling required and the ability to take and hold an edge. Iles is their only competitor at lower price points.