Chartermade – MKII Lap Skiver (Right & Left Handed)
Presenting the Mark 2 lap skiver knife handcrafted by Terrick from Chartermade. Terrick is a masterful artisan that takes immense pride in his craft. He is both a skillful leatherwork and knifemaker. His love for both crafts has given birth to impeccable specialized leatherworking knives that are brilliantly designed and made by a masterful crafter for crafters. Reflected in all of his craft, he is driven by a meticulous attention to detail and constant desire for perfection. No detail is left untouched with every single material specially selected for its quality and rigour.
The blade is crafted from BOHLER N690 stainless steel – made exclusively by an Austrian company, Bohler. It is cobalt enriched steel that is greatly corrosion resistant with excellent edge holding capabilities. Additions of chromium and vanadium enhance edge holding capability, while cobalt and carbon help to retain great hardness.
The angled blade makes it excellent for both long and short skiving work, it allows a very comfortable angle for your hand to push the blade while slicing into the leather. This translates into greater control, especially important for smaller projects that require greater precision.
As fellow crafters that use this knife on a daily basis. We particularly enjoy the heft of the knife, it's reassuring in the hand and exudes an intangible confidence the moment you hold it. Its very well balanced with a contemporary design. Every edge of the knife has been meticulously chamfered for greater hand-comfort.
The knife is mind-boggling sharp right out of the box. After a few strokes on the strop it absolutely slices through anything with utmost ease.
Looking through the gallery photos, you'll notice a “candy floss” finish on the blade. In summary, this is a very unique finish which is obtained through firstly surface grinding the blade to ensure flatness. Next, it goes through a finishing process of being grinded from 60 grit to 1200 grit to create a polished mirror finish blade. It is then placed in a vibratory mixer with polishing stones and a secret recipe of chemicals.
The cutting edge is grinded to about 1mm thick before heat treatment then down to 0.3mm after heat treatment. But this process varies depending on the steel and knife.
The secondary (smaller) cutting edge on the blade is profiled at 15 to 18 degrees which are suited for slicing leather which is excellent for skiving work.
Every blade is heat treated to ensure it achieves the right level of hardness to ensure robust edge retention and longevity of the blade.
The handle is made from Wenge wood which is very difficult to work with. It's very dense and hard which typically blunt tools while shaping it, additionally, it's not easy to produce a smooth and clean finish. But once it's been properly handled, its contrasting grain structure and extreme robustness and durability are remarkable.
From the photos, you'll notice absolutely zero tolerance where the blade meets the handle, this is extremely precise work to ensure a perfect marriage between both components. Resulting in a robust and sturdy blade that will stand the test of time. The blade runs through the entire body of the handle, keeping it very sturdy with zero flex even when applying great pressure. The portion of the blade inside the handle has actually be drilled out “skeletonized” to ensure a balanced knife in the hand.
Finally, the chartermade logo is laser etched perfectly and the knife is presented in a black, sturdy and posh box with the chartermade logo precisely hot stamped in silver foil.
A tool that would be an heirloom piece for crafters.
This knife measurements are as follows:
Just the blade:
Width 4.5 cm at the cutting edge
Length 9.5 cm from the cutting edge to the wooden handle
Thickness Approximately 3.3mm
Blade with Handle:
Handle Width 2.8 cm at the thickest point
Handle length 10.5 cm
Total knife Length approximately 20 cm