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. When shopping for the right chisel for your woodworking applications, you could easily invest in the wrong chisel set. The older content from Pop Woodworking also seems to have plenty of explanation and justification for what they say and recommend. In case you’re wondering, the Chrome Manganese steel is responsible for the versatility of this chisel. It is also why it has excellent machinability and strength.

The new 8150 range Czech made NAREX RICHTER cabinetmakers chisels are forged from high quality Cr-V steel and are cryogenically treated and tempered to at least 62 HRc. The sides are ground thin to minimise friction when cutting which is very useful for dovetailing. So, without dismissing his findings or opinions about chisels out of hand, I wouldn't assume that what he says is particularly objective or reliable. It might be but it might not and how would we know?

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? :-)

Ash hardwood handles have solid stainless steel ferrules and leather washers. Individual chisels are supplied with plastic edge protectors. 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. 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. 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. 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 ......

Maintenance

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. The hardness spec provided with the richters is what I'd refer to as medium-hard temper. It's specified as chrome vanadium steel (there are tons of specs for chrome vanadium steel, at least as wide as 0.5% carbon to 1.5% carbon, so that doesn't tell us that much other than that it's probably fairly plain steel, which is good for chisels). 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? To mark their 100th anniversary, Narex has developed a line of chisels that are certainly some of the finest tools that this small, renowned Czech firm has ever produced. 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.