Richter Bevel Edge Chisel 1/2" (13mm)

In the pictures, left to right: Veritas PMV-11 3/4", Lie Nielsen 1/2", Narex Richter 1/2", Stanley Bailey 1/2". I wanted a new set of chisels to replace my (not much liked) Stanley Baileys, and was undecided between the Narex Richter, the Lie Nielsen, and the Veritas PMV-11. I ordered one of each to try them out. I only did some slight paring with them (since I was going to return the ones I didn't like), and I did not sharpen them. Before you complain about not sharpening: all of these chisels are being used by master woodworkers, and can all be sharpened to perfection and will perform well. The differences in steel are minor. The purpose of my comparison was to get a feel for the handle, the overall shape of the chisel, and the overall look & feel. Let's get the Stanley Bailey out of the way first. This are a much lower class of chisel, and it is only in this comparison because the Baileys were my previous chisels. I've had these for 6 years and I've never really liked them. My main gripe is the handle - it is way, way to big for my medium hands, and it doesn't have a good shape (corners in all the wrong places, just not a well thought out handle). The original handle is also covered in a thick plastic paint which makes them very slippery and uncomfortable. I sanded that off, but the size and shape problems persist. They came so-so flat (required quite a bit of work on the back) and not sharp. Once you have flattened the back, you can get them sharp and they hold an edge quite well. The sides of the chisel are not very thin, so you can't get into corners with an overhang (e.g. if you want to do dovetails). Now about the other three, which is why you are here: - The difference in handle size is significant. The Narex is too big for my hands, and I find the handle too long. Out of the other two, the Veritas fits me slightly better but the LN is good as well. The LN is easier to control when holding it close to the front of the blade because the handle is lighter. The LN has a much shorter handle than the others, but since it's a socket chisel, the iron acts as an extension of the handle. - The handle on the Veritas has two flat spots to prevent rolling. It also gives you a feel of how the chisel is oriented when holding it by the handle. The other two have round handles. I prefer the flat spots. - The fit and finish on the handles is excellent on the Veritas and the LN, and very good on the Narex (very slightly less smooth than the other two - I would not have noticed if I didn't have the others next to it - definitely not a decider for me). - The grinding on the LN and the Veritas is superb and very fine. The Narex is polished so it's hard to say. Due to the polish, the Narex has very slightly rounded corners from the bottom. This will require some work if you want to cut with the corner of the chisel. - The steel on the Veritas and the LN is quite thick (about the same between the two). The Narex and the Stanley are significantly thinner (also about the same). I know from experience that you can feel some flex on the Stanley when chopping/levering, but it's not an issue most of the time. Definitely no problem at all when paring. - The edges of the Veritas are almost uncomfortably sharp. You can definitely cut yourself on them if you don't pay attention. The LN and the Narex have very thin edges but they won't cut you. - In my initial comparison, I did not sharpen them. However, the LN is A2, and the veritas is PMV-11. I have Veritas plane with a PMV-11 iron, and a LN with a A2 iron, and I find that I get a better edge with less work on the Veritas, so I assume that the same is true for chisels. - Since I bought the Veritas, I sharpened it later. The back was very flat (took maybe 2 minutes to hit it with the finest stone) and it took a fantastic edge very easily (as expected based on my experience with PMV-11). - If you must know, but I think that it is not a good comparison of chisels since you'll have to sharpen them anyway: the Veritas came absolutely razor sharp out of the box - I am not able to get it any sharper than that. The LN was acceptable but I could have improved it. The Richter wasn't that great - it did cut but not very well. My ranking: all in all I prefer Veritas, but the LN is coming pretty close especially given the lower price. The Richter did not do it for me due to the large handle. If it had a smaller handle, I would have considered it because of the much lower price.

Good quality, sharp, gets the work done, and the handle is so smooth and comfortable. Worth every penny.

Excellent chisel, very sharp and flat on arrival. I was able to use it right out of the box. Very comfortable in the hand. I have two other sizes and will be filling out the set. I'm trying to give it five stars, but the first star won't fill in. Hope it works!

I've been using Stanley and Irwin Marples bench chisels for 15+ years. Bought this based on Wood by Wright youtube reviews. Expected some improvement from my old chisels, but the Narex Richter was waaaay better than I thought. Didn't know what I was missing. Cuts walnut end grain in whisper thin shavings. Leaves a smooth, shiny surface on the cut end grains, with almost no tear out. Didn't know chisels could do that. Yes, it does require some work to start using, about 15 to 20 minutes total using diamond stones. Flattened the chisel back, it had a slightly hollow center. (About10 minutes). Sharpen and hone bevel to 30 degrees, (plus 2 degree secondary bevel) 1200 grit, then leather strop with green sharpening compound. It's light and nicely balanced for 1 1/2" chisel. I liked the "feel". Only downside so far is the sharp edges on the side of the chisel, may need a little sanding to keep from cutting fingers. Also, the sloping angle of the blade made it a bit challenging to secure the blade in a Veritas honing guide. Requires very tight compression to keep aligned.

Arrived faster than I expected. Quality is all I hoped for. Pretty sharp out of the box, but I anticipated some tune up. The back wasn't perfectly flat, but flattened easily on a 1200 grit diamond stone. I've had decent chisels that had to be ground flat on 300 grit, then lapped and polished. Mine was hollow down the middle--concave--which is much better than bellied--convex. Really, it was usable without the work, but this is made for a perfectionist, and a lot less expensive than some that may arrive a little better. Worth the time to tune up, and even the best need honed. This is a replacement for a Sandvik I bought 40 years ago for 8 dollars. It's back was actually flatter and it sharpened really well. This is harder, so it sharpens slower, but should hold it's edge longer. At least as importantly. the edges are beveled correctly for fine working. I don't know that I'll ever use a 1.5 inch to pare dovetails, but I won't hesitate to buy the smaller sixes for that. This is probably the best chisel you can buy on Amazon

As received it had a moderate edge and was beautifully made. Under more direct scrutiny a couple issues were found that ding it from a better rating. Along the sides of the flat I saw several cracks that only seemed to exist on the most outermost material. When hitting the edges with 220 grit sandpaper some of these sections broke free and the line of the edge became a bit rougher. It was also extremely unflat. It took about an hour with 120grit sandpaper and glass to flatten everything out before polishing it. After breaking the jagged edges a bit more to round them, flattening, and sharpening - it feels amazing, it's just unfortunate it took almost 2 hours of effort to get it there.

Buy it/them already, seriously. When I first grabbed the handle I just froze in amazement. I swear the handle was made for my hand, I just stared in complete wonder the first time I grabbed the handle. They were all ground as flat as any verified straight edge that I have, I couldn't find anything that was not flat. My one complaint is that I could not find a 12mm or 1/2" as a single blade... Go add to cart and checkout, you can read this afterward... Wood types make a difference so: I usually work with old growth, storm damaged, fallen trees in Southwest Virginia. I mill and air dry my wood. These were used on: Sugar Maple/Black maple Walnut (english and black) Cherry. Exotics that I used these on are: Bocote Bubinga Purple heart I rarely use a mallet, and keep my chisels as sharp.as possible so they push easier. If you use a mallet your results may differ. Did you already add to cart/checkout? If not, you should do that now. These are the best blades that I have. No hesitation saying that. I cannot say that these are the best you can get now, because my shop does not have the budget to compare these to the likes of Veritas and Lie Nielson. I have some Stanley sweetheart socket chisels, an Ashley Iles 12mm butt, a few regular narex, and a ragged selection of cheap beater chisels. I purchased the 3/4" because I do not like having to constantly stop to strop the stanley in mid project, now the stanley is generally unused. The Ashley Iles has good steel, but does not hold a candle to the edge retention on these. The Richter chisels hold their edge very very well. The shoulders/side bevels and overall geometry on these things is amazing. The Richter's have thinner side bevel than the Ashley Iles 1/2 butt chisel. It used to be my go-to for cleaning out dovetails, not anymore. The Richters will slip in tighter corners. I love these and if I see one in half inch I will be grabbing it asap. Checking for the 1/2" Richter is what brought me here today, then I realized that I had not written a review for these awesome chisels. They deserve a review. This will be posted 3 times... Once for each purchased product. Need to make sure it is seen if someone filters by size.

Don’t make the same mistake that I did. Within a minute of unwrapping this chisel I knew immediately I had made a grave error. I started the return process so that I could instead get the whole box set. These chisels are friggin beautiful. I’d been obsessing for the last couple weeks over which chisels to get, checking out local stores, watching videos and reading a gazillion reviews. I only needed a couple, bought the most used 1/2 and 3/4, but after holding the first I just had to have more. Although I did not take them to the sharpening plate a straight edge showed the back to be true flat. They seemed sharp out of the box, although I expect to tune them up in pursuit of perfection like I would with any good chisel. Unfortunately I can’t speak yet to how well they work, they’re already enroute back to the very cooperative and super fast shipping seller, but check on YouTube and see what some expert craftsman have to say about them. I think these are a tremendous value for a premium quality chisel. Go ahead and get one, you too will regret not getting more before the Richter run is all gone.