French regional knives...

Another good maker , friend with Jérôme Latreille , David Dauvillaire :

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The smaller one is from J. Latreille.
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Exquisite filework. Very nice! :thumbsup:
 
This thread is fantastic! I just found it today. I am also a fan of French knives (and knives of all sorts). But French knives speak to me. The thin blades (carbon steel or SS), filework, wood handles, great ergos, and excellent fit and finish. Simple, yet beautiful.

I will recycle a photo of my two favorite French knives which are lockbacks. I hope this is suitable for this thread. I live in Canada, and I sent these two back to France for engraving on the bolsters.
The walnut handle gets a lot of pocket time, it is my favorite. Please dont tell the other one. ;)
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Lovely specimens! And lockbacks I think are perfectly acceptable here.
 
This thread is fantastic! I just found it today. I am also a fan of French knives (and knives of all sorts). But French knives speak to me. The thin blades (carbon steel or SS), filework, wood handles, great ergos, and excellent fit and finish. Simple, yet beautiful.
That is the way I feel. I only have three so far: a Laguiole, an Opinel, and a Douk-Douk. They are some of my favourites. Gotta get some more!
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Jolipapa Jolipapa A truly fascinating cutlery work, how on earth did M.Pagé have the energy and resources to compile 6 vols in 8 years each c.1400 p??:eek: and no Internet to help out either! A cutlery equivalent of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, I'm not exaggerating.

The piece on the Duchy of Finland as it was was interesting: the population of Finland was about 2.5 million (5.5m today) Helsinki/Helsingfors claimed to have a population of 80k but it was almost certainly far bigger, censuses were tricky and inaccurate-nobody wanted to pay tax to either the govt.or the Russians in those days sigh!;) Viipuri/Viborg was the second largest city but confiscated by the USSR after 1944 when the war stopped here. Fiskars which gives its name to the metal/tool company (now some multi national corporation with not so much manufacturing in this country anymore like all the other supposed benefits of globalization ;)) is still a TINY village today about 1000 people but it is a crucible of metal industry. But the thing is the population was very small in those times and most people were still rural and widely scattered with poor communications, this restricted trade plus certain Russian tariffs but it meant a lot of knife smiths were local. They made puukkot, scissors, tools for local use etc but it's interesting to see that there were items exhibited internationally by Finnish makers too.I had to look up Rautalampi, it's some small place in Central Finland, a region I tend to avoid, Lapland too;):D But like Kauhava today, it was a place where local smiths were making quality knives on some scale.

Interestingly, the word Puukko is used internationally to describe a particular style of Finnish knife, but it doesn't come from one particular area/town as such, but the word is often used here by people to describe any fixed knife (assumption being that if it's fixed & here it will be a puukko even if it isn't:D) the word is also used by the Swedish speaking minority in Finland, to which I am attached, as a word in conversation. Similarly, many people associate the Laguiole as The French Knife when it is one, albeit dominant, of many interesting patterns as we can see here on these pages.

Thanks for this post, i've some interest for the Finnish metallurgy and the way Finn have produced in the past tools adapted to a way of life that seems to me to have been particularly frugal. Not only the well known puukkot but as well, and may be even more, axes. I would give almost all my knives for a Billnäs 12.3 axe. For those who could have some curiosity or interest for those very particular tools here's a link of a thread opened by an acknowledged expert, Agent H, member and important contributor of the axe subform. https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/finnish-earlier-scandi-axes-kirves.1428809/

It's dark 19 hours a day now up here at latitude 63° N and it is not only exhausting but confusing:eek: So I don't know if I've posted this one in this thread already;) but it's become a very much liked and carried knife. Very kind present from@Jolipapa:cool: This horn covered Pradel shows a frame filling long blade, all those pins are flush to the horn and no warp or flaking which can be a depressing feature on many improperly cured horn handles. Again, like many French knives, reasonable to open and a very demanding spring to close-just as it should be.

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The Pradel pattern was very popular in Brittany and commonly carried by farmers, fishermen and craftsmen when i was a kid. An other pattern with sheep foot blade and swayback handle was very popular, it was named "Sailor's knife" or "Sauzon kontell, English knife" by those who still spoke the Breton language. I've carried those knives and, somehow still do, although they are now made in USA. Here's how they look like:
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Except the lock back feature of the 99, those knives are excellent renditions of two regional knives of my youth!

Dan.
 
Thanks for this post, i've some interest for the Finnish metallurgy and the way Finn have produced in the past tools adapted to a way of life that seems to me to have been particularly frugal. Not only the well known puukkot but as well, and may be even more, axes. I would give almost all my knives for a Billnäs 12.3 axe. For those who could have some curiosity or interest for those very particular tools here's a link of a thread opened by an acknowledged expert, Agent H, member and important contributor of the axe subform. https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/finnish-earlier-scandi-axes-kirves.1428809/



The Pradel pattern was very popular in Brittany and commonly carried by farmers, fishermen and craftsmen when i was a kid. An other pattern with sheep foot blade and swayback handle was very popular, it was named "Sailor's knife" or "Sauzon kontell, English knife" by those who still spoke the Breton language. I've carried those knives and, somehow still do, although they are now made in USA. Here's how they look like:
DH952rGh.jpg


Except the lock back feature of the 99, those knives are excellent renditions of two regional knives of my youth!

Dan.
One can deny they all originate in Sheffield but there's a few differences in construction (number of pins and length), the Pradel never had a lockback, the London's sheepfoot is much wider. And typical handles are cow horn.
 
I had in mind the fact that if these US patterns most probably came from England, brought by English cutlers, the pattern existed in Germany where these or very similar ones were made since long.
The never ending question about who came first, the egg or the hen. :)


I agree about the origin of the Pradel pattern. Such a simple design has probably been created without outside influence by many cutlers whatever their nationality. It's an all around task knife, best at nothing, good at everything. Every one needs such a pattern.
For the sheep foot swayback pattern, it doesn't seem to me that simple. I used to collect catalog pages from German, British and French makers on my computer. I've lost them cause of a problem located between the chair and the keyboard but i remember that this pattern was rare in Germany, could be found in France and was very common in Great Britain. It's often said it was a sailor pattern and the maritime history of Great Britain could then confirm the fact. I know, by first hand experience that, at least in the west of France, the single blade sheep foot pattern was praised by wood workers, particularly by marine carpenters of the time there were still wooden boats and those knives were often called "sailor" or "English" knives. I've never heard the word "London" for them but it was may be the case in the north.
Whatever the patterns origins, GEC has made excellent renditions of those workmanlike knives. I would like them to make others, with a punch blade please.

Dan.
 
I agree about the origin of the Pradel pattern. Such a simple design has probably been created without outside influence by many cutlers whatever their nationality. It's an all around task knife, best at nothing, good at everything. Every one needs such a pattern.
For the sheep foot swayback pattern, it doesn't seem to me that simple. I used to collect catalog pages from German, British and French makers on my computer. I've lost them cause of a problem located between the chair and the keyboard but i remember that this pattern was rare in Germany, could be found in France and was very common in Great Britain. It's often said it was a sailor pattern and the maritime history of Great Britain could then confirm the fact. I know, by first hand experience that, at least in the west of France, the single blade sheep foot pattern was praised by wood workers, particularly by marine carpenters of the time there were still wooden boats and those knives were often called "sailor" or "English" knives. I've never heard the word "London" for them but it was may be the case in the north.
Whatever the patterns origins, GEC has made excellent renditions of those workmanlike knives. I would like them to make others, with a punch blade please.

Dan.
There always was many exchange between Western France and Southern England, moonshine or legal.


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London is the common name today.
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In Germany it is called Ankermesser.

The German influence over the british steel industry is very old, German Protestants brought Solingen sword steel secrets to Sheffield when they were prosecuted.
 
Those with wood handles are the first to contain a NFC chip and are connected to your smartphone to show a video of the making of the knife (there a quick view toward the end of the youtube).
Old maybe, but still smart! ;):thumbsup:
Puy Cervier (stag mountain) is the name of the mountain where La Monnerie sits.
Enjoy (but lower the sound before :rolleyes::D) :
 
Hey guys/gals...
Im really getting into traditionals, and have picked up a few already. Im greatly interested in french traditionals, and was curious to whether you know if this particular model/brand is any good.
Roger Orfevre Le Thiers 387
Thank you all, and sorry to butt in again, Im still learning history of French knives, so I dont feel I have much to say.
 
Hey guys/gals...
Im really getting into traditionals, and have picked up a few already. Im greatly interested in french traditionals, and was curious to whether you know if this particular model/brand is any good.
Roger Orfevre Le Thiers 387
Thank you all, and sorry to butt in again, Im still learning history of French knives, so I dont feel I have much to say.

I don't know the answer to this but I'm curious as well. I love the Thiers pattern. My companion question would be, how does it compare to Chambriard or Cognet? Those are very well made IMHO.
 
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