The very first tool all leatherworkers grab every time is a knife. Cutting leather to size, trimming edges and skiving may be some of the most critical steps at making good products.

Today lets take a look and review the Indispensable Replacement Blade by Chartermade.

It started with a problem called Vergez Blanchard

L’Indispensable knife by Vergez Blanchard (literally translated “the one you can’t do without”) is a cool concept comprising of a metal strip with a sharpened tip and a brass case. It’s cool because you can adjust the length of the blade to your liking or take out the blade to sharpen or change it within the space of a couple of seconds.

HOWEVER, there is a big but (and don’t we just love those..) in the fact that the quality of the steel provided by Vergez Blanchard really leaves a lot to be desired. While using it I found myself needing to sharpen it numerous times throughout a single project, often wondering if my sharpening technique, which I am now quite “ok” at, is the problem (it was not).

The solution was obvious, ditch the blade and find a suitable replacement for it!

Welcome Chartermade!

There are many great knife makers out there but only a few who specialize in making tools for leatherwork, and Chartermade was one of the first I had stumbled upon during my early leatherwork days. The brand offers premium tools with some distinctive designs that had caught my eye but, the price being quite high, it was hard for me to justify such a purchase considering I was still learning this craft (more of a hobby really for me).

So I didn’t purchase anything from them … for a long time … at first at any rate.

About a year ago, seeing the relative growth and success of my YouTube channel, I reached out to them and asked if they would kindly send over one of their Indispensable Replacement Blades to test out in exchange for a YouTube video review. Charlene, Terrick’s wife and partner in the Chartermade endeavor, quickly responded to confirm they would be happy to. She also helped me sort out a time when I could talk to Terrick directly via Whatsapp which was a really nice touch and turned into a very fun and informative chat.

The promised YouTube review never came (sorry Terrick)!

L’Indispensable Replacement Blade review

The Chartermade Indispensable replacement blade is a single blade made from high quality D2 hardened steel, hand engraved logo, designed to fit the L'indispensable Brass handle.

Terrick has designed the blade with a single bevel to allow for easier sharpening as well as providing the blade with a sharper cutting angle. It comes with the bevel either on the left or right side of the blade to fit your personal preference, so you’ll want to chose wisely which one is best for you.

The blade arrived quickly and was packaged simply but well: a heavy paper sheath with protective backing and heavy duty red tape on the tip, wrapped in several layers of bubble-wrap, inside a simple cardboard envelope. There was no chance of it being damaged in transit.

The new Indispensable blade was an instant hit for me: it was sharp out of the box, stayed sharp for a VERY long time and was very easy to sharpen again by stropping it rapidly before every project. It quickly became my go-to blade, and the original Indispensable blade quickly forgotten.

So this was a huge improvement!

Chosing which side you want the bevel

Terrick has designed the blade to have the bevel on the inside of the cut - if you hold your knife in your right hand, the bevel will be on the side you can see, towards your left hand. This is done so the natural way to hold the knife, with your hand at at slight tilt, will easily bring the bevel to a comfortable 90° cut against the leather.

HOWEVER, I’ve long since gotten used to holding my knife as straight as possible, meaning that if I want the blade at 90° from the leather I need to chose the left hand blade with the right side bevel.

I must admit it’s a bit complicated to wrap your head around at first.

So here’s a video of Terrick explaining it to you.

What’s wrong with the Indispensable Replacement Blade?

Apart from the initial complexity of choosing the correct sided bevel for you, the real problem with this blade is that it will suddenly make you rethink what you thought was “sharp”!

Upon getting it and after using it for a couple of weeks I realized just how bad my other knives were, only ever getting moderately sharp, losing their edge half way through a project and needing constant sharpening on sharpening stones, while this new Chartermade blade only required a few strops before a project to be as good as new.

It was infuriating.

So much so that I took a dive and purchased the Original Leather Skiver from Chartermade also - an investment that was, at the time, the biggest I had made yet in my arsenal of tools.

Watch the video review

To see the Chartermade l’Indispensable replacement blade in action alongside its big brother, the original leather skiver, check out my video review below.

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