French Le Thiers knives - traditional, or not?

[scud99]

Been in France for a while.There are various regional knife types, most of which are usually half hand-crafted.

Among them the most known two are Opinel and Laguiole,the former is one excellent budget everyday knife type,the latter has became one symbol of French traditional art knives.

Personally,for art knives,I prefer Le Thiers, which is less famous, and doesn't have a very long history. Still the elegant curves impress me most.

Here are a few fotos of 2 Le Thiers knives with horn scales.

And here is something interesting: French guys tend to make almost every type of regional knives with only Sandvik 12C27 inox...As far as I know, 12C27 is from Sweden,and its hardness can reach rather high with proper heat treatment. However, it seems that French guys care less about hardness but more about file-working and mirror polishing.

Such delicate file-working on liners and back could even put some custom art knives to shame imo . However, cleaning may become a disaster.

 

[9blades]

Traditional, several members carry them here. Beautiful knives by the way!

 

[markksr]

Beauties! :thumbup:

 

[Old & In The Way]

Traditional, and yours are beautiful examples. :thumb up: Here's a pic of my Juniper 1515 Le Thiers by Manu LaPlace and a Le Thiers Compact in curly birch.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Yep falls into the traditional backyard, at least in my book

Nice looking folders you have there, good shots too !

Click here to see a recent thread on Le Thiers knives

Here's one of my recent buys with Juniper wood scales;
The ones by Chambriard use slightly different steel for their blades, they use 13c26 which is known as a Razor Steel and takes a very nice edge too !

Good stuff, just need to be sure to close it by hand and not let them snap shut, otherwise the blade can overtravel and the edge smacks the back spring, otherwise, they're great.
G2

 

[knarfeng]

French Le Thiers knives - traditional, or not?

They are traditional. And if you were to do some searching I bet you would find a half dozen or so threads about them here in the Traditional Forum.

The term "Traditional" is not limited to "American Traditional".

 

[csisland]

If those are traditional than I would say the Buck 500 series is traditional also.

 

[knarfeng]

If those are traditional than I would say the Buck 500 series is traditional also.

We consider the Buck 500 Series Traditional, though the Le Thiers style is more traditional. The French design is older.

 

[scud99]

Yep falls into the traditional backyard, at least in my book

Nice looking folders you have there, good shots too !

Click here to see a recent thread on Le Thiers knives

Here's one of my recent buys with Juniper wood scales;
The ones by Chambriard use slightly different steel for their blades, they use 13c26 which is known as a Razor Steel and takes a very nice edge too !

Good stuff, just need to be sure to close it by hand and not let them snap shut, otherwise the blade can overtravel and the edge smacks the back spring, otherwise, they're great.
G2

Thanks for the additional info. There are many manufactures for this type ,among them Le Thiers par Chambriard always comes with nice fitting and finishing.

 

[pmew]

We consider the Buck 500 Series Traditional, though the Le Thiers style is more traditional. The French design is older.

Interestingly, the town of Thiers only founded the brotherhood of Le Thiers in 1994 and the first Le Thiers knife named as such was released a year later.
Of course there are many independent cutlery firms and artisans in Thiers as there have been for hundreds of years but I don't think they were called Le Thiers knives until the brotherhood was created to safeguard the name of the towns cutlery.

I don't own one myself, I love the notion of one in juniper. I'll have to indulge someday.

 

[harronek]

I love my Le Thiers , but dont seem to carry it much for some reason .
Mine has Norwegian Birch handles and is slightly unusual as I ordered a Carbone Blade instead of the usual Stainless steel .



Ken

 

[Will Power]

Unquestionably Traditional. A new company yes, and a re-interpretation of the conventional Laguiole to an extent.

The range of handles is impressive, I have two ebony le Compagnon and le Compact. The former is a great deal bigger than the latter. I used to have a compact en serf (Stag) which had really nice slabs that began to age, but it went MIA in September probably lost in a hotel. I try not to be possessive about items but its loss was and is a blow, mortified!

As for the Sandvik, I really favour this steel (you can get carbon too if wanted) it sharpens up very nicely indeed and looks well as crocus or matte. These are really worthwhile Traditional Europeans.

Thanks, Will

 

[pmew]

Unquestionably Traditional. A new company yes, and a re-interpretation of the conventional Laguiole to an extent.

The range of handles is impressive, I have two ebony le Compagnon and le Compact. The former is a great deal bigger than the latter. I used to have a compact en serf (Stag) which had really nice slabs that began to age, but it went MIA in September probably lost in a hotel. I try not to be possessive about items but its loss was and is a blow, mortified!

As for the Sandvik, I really favour this steel (you can get carbon too if wanted) it sharpens up very nicely indeed and looks well as crocus or matte. These are really worthwhile Traditional Europeans.

Thanks, Will

Will, where do you purchase yours from? Email me at pmew.uk at gmail.com if you can't PM.

 

[jon_slider]

be sure to close it by hand and not let them snap shut, otherwise the blade can overtravel and the edge smacks the back spring

Glad you pointed that out. Laguiole has the same problem, no kick on the blade. also true for Opinel, but those close into a wood handle, no backspring to hit. I would be tempted to put a toothpic in the pocket of a Laguiole or LeThiers, so if the blade gets pressed, it goes into wood, not the backspring. Total agreement that snapping a knife shut is not a great idea.

I find the LeThiers beautiful. As far as whether its traditional, yes, as pictured when assembled with pins. Borderline not traditional when assembled with hex head screws as some are.

 

[Will Power]

Paul, will do. But about to disappear to the countryside right now so in about a day:thumbup:

As for letting them snap shut, not a good idea although there is clearance inside. Not all Laguiole knives suffer from this, Fontenille-Pataud have a back stop preventing this.

 

[Humppa]

Beautiful knives - and traditional in any way!

 

[quattromori]

Beautiful knives for sure. And traditionals as well.

Fausto

 

[scud99]

Thanks for replying, folks. Although Le Thiers does not go a long way back, the designing and manufacturing do follow French tradition. I think this is one successful innovation in the field of traditional art.

 

[knarfeng]

Thanks for replying, folks. Although Le Thiers does not go a long way back, the designing and manufacturing do follow French tradition. I think this is one successful innovation in the field of traditional art.

Bingo. Exactly my point.

 

[pmew]

Thanks for replying, folks. Although Le Thiers does not go a long way back, the designing and manufacturing do follow French tradition. I think this is one successful innovation in the field of traditional art.

Well said. Great products.