Share your French traditional/regional pocket knives

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Bon matin, mes amis! Un couteau uncommun pour le désign Le Thiers, je pense: Liner lock ("serrure de doublure" selon un traduction de l'internet, ha!), et pliant à friction (sans verrouillage au dos). Autrement, l'acier ordinaire pour Le Sabot, 12C27, et le profil parfait pour le désign Le Thiers. Je le porte dans une pochette car il aime s'ouvrir un peu.

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Let’s start with the pros

1. beautiful covers—the Ebony is dark but with some character streaks, and the juniper is nicely burled and smells great!
2. Sharp edge with even plunge grinds and secondary bevels
3. Decent action and solid lock up—not bank vault but suitable for a gentleman’s folder
4. Good ergonomics with the slightly thicker scales and elegant Le Thiers curves

Unfortunately there are some cons:
1. Gaps in the liners and covers where the covers transition as well as by the liners in sports.
2. Crack in the Ebony that looks to have come from the pin in the butt; and the pivot pin and pin near where the top bolster would be are not finished well.
3. Blade is noticeably off center, but no rub that I can see
4. The primary grind on the blade isn’t perfect so there’s a little asymmetry as you look down the blade
5. There’s a slight recurve on the spine of the blade as it reaches the tip—I’ve never seen that in a Le Thiers so I’m not sure if it is intentional
6. There appear to be some small burrs where the liners meet the covers and some of the shaping and polishing transitions are not smooth and even.

Overall the knife is a solid user but doesn’t reach what you’d expect for the price. The covers are exquisite but that doesn’t make up for the imperfections elsewhere. It doesn’t meet the standards of a Chambriard, but is closer the a standard Au Sabot (but not the premier line Au Sabot). I’m a little annoyed that the seller didn’t mention the crack and I’ll probably inquire about it, and the price was impacted by the import costs I’m sure. I’m still pretty pleased about getting the honing steel as part of the deal as it’s quality seems to match the reputation.
Here are some more pictures:

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For Le Thiers models I personally think Cognet makes the best. I have quite a few of their knives and the quality is consistently top notch.



Their Capuchin is among my favorite friction folders and I am an aficionado!



Savignac is pretty amazing as well. These are the stainless versions. I just realized I need to photograph the carbon ones as they have pins with collars as opposed to the hex screws.





 
Will Power said:
JTB_5 JTB_5 did you buy it new or secondhand? Finish does not look that super I'll admit but it could be due to shrink/cracking of the wood being kept in an ultra dry environment??
Click to expand...
That’s a good question, Will. The seller is in the USA and gets his stock from France, so it is “new” but may vary depending on how the seller stores and cares for his knives. It shipped from North Carolina which is not a dry environment. The seller made a big to do about the quality of the knives made in Thiers as compared to “Chinese” made knives, so depending on what he has experienced this knife could be in another league entirely! I’ve met plenty of guys whose only experience with knives is the gas station variety.
 
JTB_5 JTB_5 your situation saddens me and if you ever need to let that go to lessen your experience I would be willing to help you out
;)
Very nice sorry not everything was as you expected it happens but still looks great
G2
 
JTB_5 said:
Let’s start with the pros

1. beautiful covers—the Ebony is dark but with some character streaks, and the juniper is nicely burled and smells great!
2. Sharp edge with even plunge grinds and secondary bevels
3. Decent action and solid lock up—not bank vault but suitable for a gentleman’s folder
4. Good ergonomics with the slightly thicker scales and elegant Le Thiers curves

Unfortunately there are some cons:
1. Gaps in the liners and covers where the covers transition as well as by the liners in sports.
2. Crack in the Ebony that looks to have come from the pin in the butt; and the pivot pin and pin near where the top bolster would be are not finished well.
3. Blade is noticeably off center, but no rub that I can see
4. The primary grind on the blade isn’t perfect so there’s a little asymmetry as you look down the blade
5. There’s a slight recurve on the spine of the blade as it reaches the tip—I’ve never seen that in a Le Thiers so I’m not sure if it is intentional
6. There appear to be some small burrs where the liners meet the covers and some of the shaping and polishing transitions are not smooth and even.

Overall the knife is a solid user but doesn’t reach what you’d expect for the price. The covers are exquisite but that doesn’t make up for the imperfections elsewhere. It doesn’t meet the standards of a Chambriard, but is closer the a standard Au Sabot (but not the premier line Au Sabot). I’m a little annoyed that the seller didn’t mention the crack and I’ll probably inquire about it, and the price was impacted by the import costs I’m sure. I’m still pretty pleased about getting the honing steel as part of the deal as it’s quality seems to match the reputation.
Here are some more pictures:

View attachment 1613284View attachment 1613285View attachment 1613286View attachment 1613287View attachment 1613288View attachment 1613289View attachment 1613290View attachment 1613291View attachment 1613292View attachment 1613293
Click to expand...


That is a really pretty knife! I'm sorry to hear it wasn't quite what you thought it should be. Something I've come to find from most european knives, especially French ones is that the cost for good quality is generally quite a bit more than what we are used to here in the US. Also, I've seen a lot of knives with expensive handle materials and guilloche which are not built or finished well. Instead, the maker takes a slap it together as fast as possible approach and sell it for a lot because of the fancy handle material.

At any rate, that knife looks like it could be a real stunner with a bit of sanding and polishing. Thanks for sharing!!
 
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