Vergez Blanchard : Adjustable Creaser (CORNETTE A JONC MANCHE BUIS)

This is a Vergez Blanchard adjustable creaser in french, CORNETTE A JONC MANCHE BUIS.

It is for right hand and handle is made of Boxwood.
Brass screw to adjust the gap.

This is for right hand so the screw is pointing out. 
which means It does not get in contact with the working object. 
Boxwood is hard dense wood which is excellent for tool handle. It is bright yellowish color. 
It has been used as a tool handle for many years in Europe.
Especially, Awl handle is made with Boxwood.


You can polish these or shape them differently.
Blanchard tool does not come fully finished. 
It is for users choice to how they finish.

You can use this tool heated up with alcohol lamp or just hand pressure. 

you can also thin down the line thickness with fileing. 

If you are just beginner, don't risk your tools.
only use fine sand paper(1200 grit above) to smooth out sharp area

if you are leather crafter and also tool collector as me.

please be careful buying Blanchard tool online,
as they come quiet unfinished, you might don't like them.

There are some alternatives to this tool.
You can use dividers to make lines also. 

here is the video how it is used

Vergez Blanchard : Paring Knife No.1 44mm (COUTEAU A PARER DROIT No.1 44mm)

This is a Vergez Blanchard Straight Paring Knife in french, COUTEAU A PARER DROIT.

Blade steel is unknown, because the manufacturer keeps it secret. I can assume that is carbon steel.
handle is Boxwood. normally, the handle comes in organge color painted wood. but this one is quite rare.

This knife is used to skive. Thin down the leather where two leathe meets. It has straight end, so it can be used with both hands. 


Some people use this to cut the leather but its angle is too low and steel is not that hard. you might roll the edge.
if you insist using this as a knife to cut leather, you need to
modify the cutting edge.

No.1 44mm as the number increases, it is wider.
Good stamping, I am lucky.

Blade length is almost 10.5cm
I have not seen how Blanchard heat treat the blade but if they heattreats the whole blade, we can use every cm of it.
 

but if they heatreat just first 5~6cm only, as we use more and more, the steel will wear out and soft steel remains.

Back side of the blade

It is flat. In western tool, there are no URA.  I will explain "URA" in detail later.

Vergez Blanchard : Special Paring Knife for Left Hand : COUTEAU A PARER SPECIAL GAUCHER

This is Vergez Blanchard Special Paring Knife in french, COUTEAU A PARER SPECIAL GAUCHER

Blanchard accept custom order from their retailers.

I heard that this one is special order from Hermes from retailer.

Blade shape, type and thickness is different from what they usually use.

The blade is about 3mm thick and steel is hard. 

they didn't mention what steel it is but it looks like some type of tool steel.

handle is wood with bright cherry color painted with varnish.

I bought this knife when these knives were first introduced.
Retailer told me that this knife was ordered from Hermes exclusively.
Steel is pretty hard. so it maintains the edge pretty nice.


It is 40mm wide. There are no No. with this knife. It comes only for left or right hand option.

Mine has some kind of matt finish. recent production ones are brushed finish.
I like this finish much better. This one can be modified to use as a "cutter" 
steel is thick and hard enough.





The blade is 10cm with longest part. It is new but only 10cm because they make left hand one from right hand one. recent production ones might be longer than this one.
please contact your retailer about the length.





on the back, there is a vergez blanchard logo. but it is some kind of seal sticker.
It easily removes with finger nail. It would have been much nicer with stamped logo or etching.





It is unknown wood. If you cut this, you can find whitish wood. red color is just a stain. it has hard surface finish.
some kind of varnish.




Comparing with straight paring knife
it is narrower but heavier because of the steel and thickness.

Vergez Blanchard : initie Knife (South Korean Special Order)

This is Vergez Blanchard Initie knife. Small but powerful knife.

The steel is different from other blanchard knives and it is somewhat different with Special Parking knife also. I think it is some kind of carbon steel. 

This is second South Korean special order knife from one of retailers called "Sympa" in South Korea.

First South Korean special order was "demi long" it was a japanese style leather knife made in france. It came only for right hand ones so I didn't buy it. so I can not do review on it. 
Demi long is no longer available now.

This one is small Japanese leather knife usable for both hands.

Vergez Blanchard : Diamond Awl (ALENE AUX PINCES) and Round Awl (ALENE RONDE)

This is a Vergez Blanchard Diamond Awl (ALENE AUX PINCES) and Round Awl (ALENE RONDE). Handle is made of Boxwood. Brass Ferrule

Top and bottom ones are round awl which has round handle.

Round awl handle has varnish finish.

Two middle ones are diamond awl which has flat cut.

Diamond awl had no finish. I think it's because when you hold in your hand and do saddle stitch, varnish is too slippery.

These awls are essential for leather craft. 

you need round awl to mark cutting lines and diamond awl to make stitch holes.

When you purchase any awl from any brand. you need to finish them on your own.
How you finish the awl depends on your style making holes. 
you need to mirror finish awl blade to minimized friction. 
Diamond awl shape looks like this ◆  which make too big holes. 
you need to shape the awl blade like this ()




Tool you need to shape the awl blade is file and sandpaper.

you start with file and coarse sand paper around grit#100.

after that, you go finer and finer. 
#100 → #200 → #300 → #400 → #600 → #800 → #1000 → #1200 → #1500 → #2000

you can also use Japanse water stone to sharpen the awl. 

one thing you should be aware is that.

1. DO NOT USE any power tools since they can mess up the heat treatment of the blade.
2. Becareful when you push againt the sandpaper or sharpening stone. if you push too hard, you might snap the blade.