I use the cheap "japanese" skiing knives but I put a new edge on them every time I buy a new one. The angle needs to be reduced to make them effective as a great tool. It doesn't take long, and it's the simplest blade to work on a stone. Spend an hour working from say 400 grit upto 3000 then strop both sides and you get a razor sharp tool. I do recommend people get into round knives early. Sharpening them is very tricky and up there at expert level though stroping is easy. but using them is actually quite simple. No idea why some people struggle with them? They are fantastic to free hand cut and speed up cutying work greatly. If you can understand surface area contact then they make perfect sense. They can be used for everything and in so many ways. Steer clear of large ones and use the smaller ones. How you hold them is important. They are held in a variety of ways for different cutting tasks. Be very aware of your free hand and the effort exerted and they are as safe as any blade. Use them on nothing thicker than medium leather whilst learning (upto 3mm at most) and you'll avoid frustration. If they aren't razor sharp they can be frustrating aswell.
There are two blade types you may be familiar with but have not shown. 1) is the Exacto #2 blade with holder. The #2 is thicker than the #11 and tends to bend much less. The handle is round but much thicker. Plus, with a strop and some rouge, you can keep the #2 blade sharp. The other 2) is the Olfa 9mm break off blade and holder. It is a compromise between a utility blade and a small blade. Bright yellow, stiff blade. Can be stropped but also broken off when a really sharp tip is needed. I must have over 15 leather knives. All different types (yes, I do have a l'indespencible blade holder) but these to mentioned here seem to be the ones I go to most often.
@@shamanbeartwo3819 If you watch Corter Leather, you'll see: When he rounds corners, he makes good use of the flexibility of the blade to follow those corners better.
Great video! I would add that the Tandy Industrial Knife with replaceable blades is an excellent all around knife for cutting thin and thick leathers. Very easy to learn to use with the curved blade for corner work.
Thanks for your message. I have a full video planned on why cheap replaceable blade knives are the best choice for learner craftsmen :D Love those things!
One improvement you MAY be able to make to L'Indispensable is to replace the slotted set screws with Allen or Torx set screws. They may not have the same classic look, but they won't be projecting up above the body, and they won't use the Devil's Own Screwdriver.
I'm just getting into leathercraft and am very grateful for this video!! I've been eyeing the rounded/semi circular knives and wondering if I trusted myself enough to use one. After hearing your thoughts I'm definitely going to hard pass on them for a good long while! Lol. Thank you again for this video!!!!
Hi Meg, glad this video helped you! I would strongly suggest looking at 30 degree replaceable blade utility knife to start off with. You can get some very qualitative options for just a couple of $$.
@@JamesBerry i got my Halfmoon & pattern knife made by a local knife maker for 15 $ & 12$ in high carbon steel. He gave me those with no sharpness. I worked on it two hours each till stropping on leather ....i changed a flat chisel ( for woodcraft) into Japanese style. Now all are working fine for cutting & skiving 👌👌
Hi Ira, yeah I saw your video and it was really interesting! Round knives are amazing as long as you know how to use them... and are not too afraid of it x) Thanks and keep up your own videos also :)
Merci James pour ce tour d'horizon ; j'attends avec impatience un test plus poussé (ou du moins un avis après usage intensif) des lames "Chartermade" dont j'ai déjà entendu parler... et qui remplaceraient avantageusement la lame d'origine de l'Indispensable avec laquelle j'ai les mêmes soucis que toi. Bref, keep on keeping on :-)
Merci pour ton commentaire encourageant Sébastien :) Oui je compte bien faire une petite présentation plus poussée de cette lame qui est vraiment excellente ! En plus j'ai eu l'occasion de parler avec Terry de chez Chartemade et je suis content de pouvoir dire que c'est quelqu'un d'adorable, très terre-à-terre et avec une belle inspiration pour ceux qui aiment travailler le cuir. Une belle petite entreprise à taille humaine :)
Amazon's got a 1/2 size half-moon version for about $25. It's a good carbon steel...easy to sharpen, holds a good edge, and you can see your work. It also helps you cut curves, too.
Just dropping in, because I saw the Indispensable knife in the thumbnail. Order at your own risk! Mine came and it couldn't even hold its blade as the bolts didn't go all the way through, and their heads were terribly pointy and uncomfortable. A knife handle that can't hold a knife is what I got. Chartermade got associated with these clowns, too bad.
I really want a Blanchard blade/chartermade but for tight corners I like my xacto blade the way it bends with pressure (controlled), and for straight cuts I usually don’t need anything special as it’s just a blade butted up against a straight edge..i say this but am still going to buy a Blanchard lol..
I went for this one because I like to place the flat side of the blade against my ruler. Also I tend to cut with the knife straight up and the project on the left side of the knife, so this gives me the best edge result.
I use the cheap "japanese" skiing knives but I put a new edge on them every time I buy a new one. The angle needs to be reduced to make them effective as a great tool. It doesn't take long, and it's the simplest blade to work on a stone. Spend an hour working from say 400 grit upto 3000 then strop both sides and you get a razor sharp tool.
I do recommend people get into round knives early. Sharpening them is very tricky and up there at expert level though stroping is easy. but using them is actually quite simple. No idea why some people struggle with them? They are fantastic to free hand cut and speed up cutying work greatly. If you can understand surface area contact then they make perfect sense. They can be used for everything and in so many ways. Steer clear of large ones and use the smaller ones. How you hold them is important. They are held in a variety of ways for different cutting tasks. Be very aware of your free hand and the effort exerted and they are as safe as any blade. Use them on nothing thicker than medium leather whilst learning (upto 3mm at most) and you'll avoid frustration. If they aren't razor sharp they can be frustrating aswell.
There are two blade types you may be familiar with but have not shown. 1) is the Exacto #2 blade with holder. The #2 is thicker than the #11 and tends to bend much less. The handle is round but much thicker. Plus, with a strop and some rouge, you can keep the #2 blade sharp. The other 2) is the Olfa 9mm break off blade and holder. It is a compromise between a utility blade and a small blade. Bright yellow, stiff blade. Can be stropped but also broken off when a really sharp tip is needed. I must have over 15 leather knives. All different types (yes, I do have a l'indespencible blade holder) but these to mentioned here seem to be the ones I go to most often.
@@shamanbeartwo3819 If you watch Corter Leather, you'll see: When he rounds corners, he makes good use of the flexibility of the blade to follow those corners better.
Great video! I would add that the Tandy Industrial Knife with replaceable blades is an excellent all around knife for cutting thin and thick leathers. Very easy to learn to use with the curved blade for corner work.
Thanks for your message. I have a full video planned on why cheap replaceable blade knives are the best choice for learner craftsmen :D
Love those things!
One improvement you MAY be able to make to L'Indispensable is to replace the slotted set screws with Allen or Torx set screws. They may not have the same classic look, but they won't be projecting up above the body, and they won't use the Devil's Own Screwdriver.
The part about the Devil's Own Screwdriver made me laugh :D
Great tip about changing the screw type, thank you!
I'm just getting into leathercraft and am very grateful for this video!! I've been eyeing the rounded/semi circular knives and wondering if I trusted myself enough to use one. After hearing your thoughts I'm definitely going to hard pass on them for a good long while! Lol. Thank you again for this video!!!!
Hi Meg, glad this video helped you!
I would strongly suggest looking at 30 degree replaceable blade utility knife to start off with. You can get some very qualitative options for just a couple of $$.
I have exacto, utility, Japanese style, half moon and pattern knife. But the traditional Halfmoon really makes me to LEARN how. 👌
Yeah that halfmoon is tough to learn but looks like it could be a great tool once you know how
@@JamesBerry i got my Halfmoon & pattern knife made by a local knife maker for 15 $ & 12$ in high carbon steel. He gave me those with no sharpness. I worked on it two hours each till stropping on leather ....i changed a flat chisel ( for woodcraft) into Japanese style. Now all are working fine for cutting & skiving 👌👌
All about the chartermade blade, it was super easy to sharpen head over to their page
Loving the new blade after just one week, makes a huge difference !
@@JamesBerry did you bite the bullet and pay for shipping from South Africa or have you managed to find a UK vendor?!
Hey great video! I did a similar one a few months ago. Of course my opinion of a round knife was slightly different than yours 😂
Keep it up!
Hi Ira, yeah I saw your video and it was really interesting!
Round knives are amazing as long as you know how to use them... and are not too afraid of it x)
Thanks and keep up your own videos also :)
@@JamesBerry thanks man! Ya I’m doing videos as much as I can. Cheers!
Merci James pour ce tour d'horizon ; j'attends avec impatience un test plus poussé (ou du moins un avis après usage intensif) des lames "Chartermade" dont j'ai déjà entendu parler... et qui remplaceraient avantageusement la lame d'origine de l'Indispensable avec laquelle j'ai les mêmes soucis que toi. Bref, keep on keeping on :-)
Merci pour ton commentaire encourageant Sébastien :)
Oui je compte bien faire une petite présentation plus poussée de cette lame qui est vraiment excellente !
En plus j'ai eu l'occasion de parler avec Terry de chez Chartemade et je suis content de pouvoir dire que c'est quelqu'un d'adorable, très terre-à-terre et avec une belle inspiration pour ceux qui aiment travailler le cuir. Une belle petite entreprise à taille humaine :)
I have the round head knife and I agree with you. It's hard to use especially for small projects. The giant knife blocks the view on small projects
So true! I'll have to test it on larger pieces to see if I find it easier to work with there.
Amazon's got a 1/2 size half-moon version for about $25. It's a good carbon steel...easy to sharpen, holds a good edge, and you can see your work. It also helps you cut curves, too.
I think Charter blade will be better because the maker is leather craftier & steel maker too.
So much better! Have been using it for a week and love it already :D
I wish there were X-acto-style blades that were beveled on only one side, like the Chartermade blade.
Just dropping in, because I saw the Indispensable knife in the thumbnail. Order at your own risk! Mine came and it couldn't even hold its blade as the bolts didn't go all the way through, and their heads were terribly pointy and uncomfortable. A knife handle that can't hold a knife is what I got. Chartermade got associated with these clowns, too bad.
I really want a Blanchard blade/chartermade but for tight corners I like my xacto blade the way it bends with pressure (controlled), and for straight cuts I usually don’t need anything special as it’s just a blade butted up against a straight edge..i say this but am still going to buy a Blanchard lol..
Hahah yeah there's so much that can be done with simple tools... but having nice tools (not just functional) is awesome xD
I have skivid leather with the Mora companion.
Thanks
Came here from WoW to find out what a knife has to do with leatherworking.
I still haven't quite figured it out, but interesting video nonetheless. :P
Hahah, the CZcams algorythm is a thing of wonder and mystery :D
Glad you ended up here and happy to hear you enjoyed the video!
why you choose left handed blade?
I went for this one because I like to place the flat side of the blade against my ruler. Also I tend to cut with the knife straight up and the project on the left side of the knife, so this gives me the best edge result.
@@JamesBerry This is the best way to see your line as you cut, while making it easier to keep the cut edge vertical.
Doesn’t the Chartermade blade come right or left-handed beveled?
They do indeed!
Terry from Chartermade has a very good video on his channel about it.
Get the chartermade blades for the indispensable.
Haha I should’ve finished the video!