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Price is $300 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Laguiole Arbalete G. David 440
- Thread starter Mgestyk12
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2017
- Messages
- 830
Laguiole.com - Couteaux Laguiole un couteau de légende
Laguiole.com : votre site de référence du couteau Laguiole. Une fabrication artisanale française qui nait dans le petit village de montagne de l'Aveyron. Garantis à vie et personnalisables avec une gravure. Livraison sous 48h00 pour tous les Laguiole en stock.
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2013
- Messages
- 205
A lovely little knife, and a good find.
Nice knife. I would guess, rosewood handles. I have a number of G David Laguiole knives, and they are a good functional knife. And if it cuts, who cares about the rest?
I have a number of "Laguiole" knives. There are several claimants as to the "original" make, this is possibly the original
Since the French are on the metric system, a 12 cm knife has a 12 cm long blade.
This is a 9 cm
This is a 10 cm, about a four inch blade
I like the 10 cm as a kitchen knife. Which is the application for which I use these Laguiole pattern knives.
I have no idea if the 440 is 440A or 440B, and I really doubt it is 440C. Not that it really matters, the steel is tempered a little hard for a kitchen knife, but not impossibly hard to where it cannot be sharpened easily on a stone. The average user did not have diamond stones (diamond stones were unheard of till, maybe late 90's, middle 2000's?) nor a belt grinder in their kitchen. While there is planned obsolescence going on with Laguiole knives, that is the current crop of blades are 12C27 or 14C28, you can't prove by me that it makes a lot of difference on apples, oranges, celery, meat.
I recommend determining if the blade touches the mainspring when closed. I find this infuratating, as I have found this defect amoung all the brands. Well all the brands I can afford. If the edge touches the spring when closed, the best solution I have found (to date) is to cut a piece of sheet metal brass that will fit inside the blade cavity inside the handle. I slide that brass shim under the ricasso of the blade, trying to find a location which it just raises the edge or point above the spring, but leaves the point inside the handle channel. If the point is raised up, it will stick you. This knife construction leaves very little possible adjustment. Anyway, after bending, cutting, adjusting the shim, if I find a thickness and location that works, I will super glue the shim to the mainspring. This will take about half an hour because it is trail and error.
These G. David and Le Sabot knives are "competitively" priced, functional, high production knives with a minimum of polishing.
I have a number of G.David knives but this one is the first I have seen with a pin installed inside the handle, which rests on the ricasso. This positively keeps the edge above the spring when the blade is closed. The Le Sabot, the edge rested on the spring, so I installed a brass shim, cut, bent until the edge was above the spring, but with the point not above the handle
I have observed on the more expensive Laguiole knives, such as the Honore Durand
that the mainspring has a raised bump which rests against the ricasso, and thus keeps the edge/point from making contact. I have seen a number of grind marks on the ricasso where the knifemaker removed material to adjust the height of the blade in the channel. On the lower priced Laguiole knives, I seldom see any fitting marks on the ricasso, and it appears whether the edge/point rests on the spring is a matter of happenstance. Why the French built self dulling knives, I don't know, but they must not care whether the edge or the point is dulled by the spring.
Then, learn this, you slowly lower the blade. Hold it between a couple of fingers and lower it down without dropping. If you drop it, the edge will bounce off the mainspring spring. Even in those knives where the edge and point does not make contact with the spring at rest, you have to control the blade when lowering. And, because the blade is so easily pressed against the mainspring, it does not pocket carry worth a flip. At some point in the future, something will press the blade against the mainspring. The French sell a lot of belt scabbards, I assume just for this. I have enough stuff on my belt.
I have a number of "Laguiole" knives. There are several claimants as to the "original" make, this is possibly the original
Since the French are on the metric system, a 12 cm knife has a 12 cm long blade.
This is a 9 cm
This is a 10 cm, about a four inch blade
I like the 10 cm as a kitchen knife. Which is the application for which I use these Laguiole pattern knives.
I have no idea if the 440 is 440A or 440B, and I really doubt it is 440C. Not that it really matters, the steel is tempered a little hard for a kitchen knife, but not impossibly hard to where it cannot be sharpened easily on a stone. The average user did not have diamond stones (diamond stones were unheard of till, maybe late 90's, middle 2000's?) nor a belt grinder in their kitchen. While there is planned obsolescence going on with Laguiole knives, that is the current crop of blades are 12C27 or 14C28, you can't prove by me that it makes a lot of difference on apples, oranges, celery, meat.
I recommend determining if the blade touches the mainspring when closed. I find this infuratating, as I have found this defect amoung all the brands. Well all the brands I can afford. If the edge touches the spring when closed, the best solution I have found (to date) is to cut a piece of sheet metal brass that will fit inside the blade cavity inside the handle. I slide that brass shim under the ricasso of the blade, trying to find a location which it just raises the edge or point above the spring, but leaves the point inside the handle channel. If the point is raised up, it will stick you. This knife construction leaves very little possible adjustment. Anyway, after bending, cutting, adjusting the shim, if I find a thickness and location that works, I will super glue the shim to the mainspring. This will take about half an hour because it is trail and error.
These G. David and Le Sabot knives are "competitively" priced, functional, high production knives with a minimum of polishing.
I have a number of G.David knives but this one is the first I have seen with a pin installed inside the handle, which rests on the ricasso. This positively keeps the edge above the spring when the blade is closed. The Le Sabot, the edge rested on the spring, so I installed a brass shim, cut, bent until the edge was above the spring, but with the point not above the handle
I have observed on the more expensive Laguiole knives, such as the Honore Durand
that the mainspring has a raised bump which rests against the ricasso, and thus keeps the edge/point from making contact. I have seen a number of grind marks on the ricasso where the knifemaker removed material to adjust the height of the blade in the channel. On the lower priced Laguiole knives, I seldom see any fitting marks on the ricasso, and it appears whether the edge/point rests on the spring is a matter of happenstance. Why the French built self dulling knives, I don't know, but they must not care whether the edge or the point is dulled by the spring.
Then, learn this, you slowly lower the blade. Hold it between a couple of fingers and lower it down without dropping. If you drop it, the edge will bounce off the mainspring spring. Even in those knives where the edge and point does not make contact with the spring at rest, you have to control the blade when lowering. And, because the blade is so easily pressed against the mainspring, it does not pocket carry worth a flip. At some point in the future, something will press the blade against the mainspring. The French sell a lot of belt scabbards, I assume just for this. I have enough stuff on my belt.
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