Richtag Kitchen Knives

Does anyone have one and are they really as good as say a modern day Devin in terms of heat treatment?? (I've been reading about him, he apparently developed the equivalent of some modern day heat treatments a 100 years ago and was written up in Ripley's believe it or not!)

Also did he ever make a chef knife, the ones I've seen are more shorter utility or butchery knives...

It doesn't seem from the info that I've found that his shop made any deep chef knives. Here's an article that a fellow knifemaker friend sent me about him a few months back. https://clarksonhistory.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/secrets-of-the-dead-the-richtig-knife/

Before this I was not aware of him or his knives. The process and result is not amazing or ideal for blades, it simply emphasizes toughness. Bainite structure is not as good as martensite structure for knife blades, but it is incredibly tough. The real interest was that he was using the austempering process before it was understood well and was a backyard pioneer in the heat treatment of steel. I would take a Devin over a Richtig any day though!

~Luke

I believe that Colin had a whole slew of his knives at one time. I have a utility/steak knife that was gifted to me from Colin. I've always meant to take the time to sit down and hand sharpen it to see what the deal was but never did, one day I suppose.

That is an interesting article. Thanks for sharing Luke.