The NarexRichter cryo chisel is good enough to be compared to the LieNielsen line. NR chisel is thinner, but you would only notice that if you were banging out a mortise with a dull edge. The handle and socket are comfortable but are a different shape than LieNielsen, so just depends on your hand. My hands are average, i have a slight preference for the shorter LN handle with the thicker blade, feels more stable to me. But this NR is a very close second. NR steel is quite hard, I had to sharpen through the grits a lot longer than usual. I did notice that while doing the secondary bevel there was a slight curl on the back side, noticeably more than the LN A2 steel. The chisel came polished with a fair primary bevel. The back needed a little flattening, a challenge with such hard steel. I have used this NR chisel for a few weeks for light work and do not have to continually strop the edge like my old IrwinMarples. So it holds an edge very well, similar to the LN. Overall, not quite as good as LieNielsen, but pretty close. At half the price !
Update after several months ..... the NR chisels hold their edge for a long time, even after chopping out a mortise. Edge is easily refreshed by a strop with honing compound, a 30 second operation. I do not use a micro bevel but have not had to re-establish the primary bevel yet. I use Shapton glass/ceramic stones and they work great with these Narex chisels. These NR chisels compare very favorably with LieNielsen.

i have an old set (30 years old) of Marple chisels with blue plastic handles and lately have gotten into cutting dovetails. Thought I could improve my skill level with a better set of chisels, not really. I have sharpened my Marple chisels with 1,000 diamond stone, 4,000 & 8,000 Japanese water stones but I had nothing to compare them to. Out of the box the Narex Richter chisels are polished on the back side but not as flat or polished as my Marples were after I sharpened them. Compared the two on some Ash and found my Marples cut better than the Narex. I then sharpened the Narex chisels the same as the Marples and they did a better job but only as good as the Marples, no better. Well at least I know now....

Not the top of the line in chisels but this was an addition to a set I have of the same brand and I've had good luck with them. To me sharp is all that matters with a chisel, sharpen it correctly and it'll give you great service.

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.

Se ve de muy buena calidad, tengo varios Narex normales y este R, pesa bastante más que uno más grande