carbon steel – knives of France

September 28, 2023September 29, 2023

Coursolle sujet knife

Leon Coursolle, born 1877, was an intinerant merchant and ended up marrying the daughter of one of his vendors, a cutler named Fedit who was making novelty knives with bone sides and some simple scrimshaw.

Disappointed by his father in law’s production, he devised a new type of pocketknife, inspired by German production in Solingen.

Germans were the precursors of novelty knives with brass or aluminum handle by the end of the 18^th century, notably owned by the carriers. Some were also made in France in early 19^th century (see the history of the Napoleon knife) https://knives-of-france-blog.com/napoleon-knife/.

The handle of the knife, traditionally made of a liner and a cover (wood, horn, bone etc.) would be replaced by a single piece of brass, saving material and time for the assembly.

But what the customer was losing in refinement and aesthetics, Leon was making it up by putting a nice stamp on the brass.

Leon met a minter from the National Mint that made him the first matrix for his handles. The Coursolle sujet knife was born and the first one made in 1902.

The knife quickly became famous and sometimes called “yellow knife” for the color of the handle.

Leon trademarked first a wrench in 1905, then adjustable wrenches in 1926.

More recently Jean-Marc Couperier, now owner of the Coursolle cutlery, added his own vision of the Laguiole and Thiers knives with, obviously, brass handles.

How to make a Coursolle sujet knife

The side are first cut from a sheet of brass then power hammered in the dies where the embossing appears, some of the classics are the hunter, fisherman, spinner, venus etc.

The blade is classically made in carbon steel XC75, drop forged and water quenched. Some models are now available in stainless steel.

The knives come, since the beginning, in 4 sizes: 105mm, 90mm, 80mm and 70mm and in a variety of versions from a single blade to a 6 blades competing with the famous SAK. Each version has a number, the one attributed by Leon Coursolle a century ago.

The knives are then assembled using steel rivets, everything is still made like a 100 years ago, all by hand.

The only concession to modernity: a foot operated cutter is used to cut the rivets and the rivet heads are rounded by a power hammer.

Each brass side receives a clear coating.

Each piece is then inspected by the senior cutler to check the action and fix some defects (re-align the blade to seat in the handle once folded, adjustment of the kick to correct a proud tip etc.)

The production is true to the tradition and original manufacturing process, a new Coursolle is almost a NOS piece.

Find some on knives-of-france.com

November 22, 2022September 17, 2023

Pradel knife

No comments to show.

The Pradel knife is one of the few French knives that doesn’t have a city for name.

It gets its name from its inventor: Etienne Pradel, who created the type in 1867.

It is in fact inspired by English knives, from Sheffield, hence the large kick on the blade.

The success wasn’t great around Thiers where it was manufactured but it finally found interest in Normandy and Brittany with farmers and fishermen, especially those going on fishing campaigns around Newfoundland.

It was so popular that the pattern originally called “English style” finally adopted the name of its creator and that other manufacturers used the Pradel name for theirs, generating countless lawsuits.

The knife is simple, a spear blade, generally with a half-stop and a slightly trapezoidal, flat, handle with usually black horn covers and 4, 5 or 6 pins for extra sturdiness and a short bolster on top.

It was later developed in a multiblade version and countless sizes.

A simple worker’s knife, still popular today.

Find it on knives-of-france.com

October 28, 2022February 12, 2023

GALEAM

Sauvagnat-Grimaud was a cutlery in Thiers, created in 1860, and that no longer exist.

Eric Keller, from Thiers-Issard, came across an old stock of Sauvagnat-Grimaud’s blades from the 1930’s.

The history behind those blades is a bit unclear, but they are what remains of a big production run.

The blades still bear the SG mark with the cuirassier helmet, that represents the helmet of the Napoleonic imperial guard’s cuirassier cavalry.

The blades were made of forged Holtzer cast carbon steel, a steel really famous back in the days to make straight blade razors for example.

The original design of the handle is unknown, and Eric created a design matching what it could have been at the time, with an easy pull notch since the blades don’t have a nail nick.

He made 2 different patterns:

A classic 2 pins friction folder with a plain full handle.

And a slipjoint shadow pattern with a fileworked backspring.

On the 2 patterns, the blade is riveted using NOS rosettes to give an authentic feel.

Find those knives on https://knives-of-france.com/

April 5, 2022

Langres knife

The Langres knife gets its name from the eponym city, Langres, in eastern France.

Its origin can be dated to the end of the 16^th century, but since 1900 in its current form.

French knife Langres Parapluie a l'epreuve wood handle

It can be considered as the French equivalent of the boy’s knife with its rather small size and sheepsfoot style blade, it was traditionally given to boys for their religious confirmation, around 12/14 yo, which marked the end of childhood.

Vintage French knife Langres by Le Sabot

Vintage French folding knife Langres Le Sabot

Vintage French knife Langres Sheepsfoot blade

It’s a simple slipjoint, with traditionally a round handle with a single but strong top bolster and a sheepsfoot blade.

French knife Langres parts sheepsfoot blade

The handle can be of various materials: horn, synthetic or wood.

Vintage Langres French knife slipjoint black horn

Vintage Langres Brossard carbon steel knife

The size can vary, but it’s rather small

Vintage Langres knife alternative handle

A utilitarian knife, easy to slip in the pocket.

Langres French knife wood handle slipjoint folder

Find some on http://knives-of-france.com

March 22, 2022

Donjon knife

This strong knife gets its name from a village in the Allier region of France.

With its wide sheepsfoot blade, it was appreciated by farm workers and market gardeners.

As often with those traditional knives, the blade doesn’t have a kick and the tip rests on the spring. With that extremely wide blade, it allows for extensive sharpening without any proud tip issue.

The handle can be in horn or wood with a single bolster on top and the typical rounded end.

A tough knife made for heavy work

Find this knife on http://Knives-of-france.com

March 16, 2022March 21, 2022

Saint Martin knife

The Saint Martin is part of the central France style of knife, along with the Issoire, Yssingeaux or Laguiole.

The big difference is that this knife was not popular among the rural people but popular with the clergy.

Monks and priests liked its fineness to sharpen geese feathers and make quill pens.

The knife follows the center France style with a bourbon blade, end of the handle in form of a crow beak and a smooth mouche and the end of the back spring.

The handle often has top and bottom bolsters

An elegant knife, thin and easy to handle.

Find some on http://knives-of-france.com

May 30, 2021February 23, 2022

Vendedouk

Do you know the Douk-Douk? Do you know the Vendetta?

If not check my previous articles!

Do you know Fred Perrin?

Now take all that, mix it (shaken, not stirred…) and you get the Vendedouk.

Everything started during an evening party in Corsica when Laurent Bellini, Julien Moroselli, Elsa Fantino and the famous Fred Perrin, all knifemakers, were discussing knifemaking and souvenirs from Corsica.

Too much Asian made stuff, not enough made in France. They wanted something genuine, affordable and really made in France…

That’s when Pierre Cognet came into the game. He is at the head of the Cognet manufacture, which makes the famous Douk-Douk and all its offspring.

They came to an agreement and decided to make a Vendetta, based on the Douk-Douk. The Vendedouk was born.

The filiation with the Douk-Douk is obvious: ferro-blackened steel handle, carbon steel etched blade, slipjoint with the spring nestled in the handle…

However, the blade shape isn’t the Turkish clip anymore, but more like a needle point, that reminds the dagger that inspired the Vendetta, the etching has its own style of arabesque with a “Corsica” inscription. The handle gets the characteristic recess and is stamped with a stylized silhouette of Corsica

The knife keeps all the advantages of the Douk-Douk: flat, good construction, strong spring, excellent carbon steel blade, affordable price… with a different style.

Definitely a nice variation of the Douk-Douk… Unless it is a variation of the Vendetta?

Find some on http://knives-of-france.com

November 28, 2020October 4, 2021

Montpellier knife

The Montpellier knife gets its name from the city seating in South of France, next to the Mediterranean Sea.

It was primarily a sailor knife, created around the seventeenth or eighteenth century.

The knife itself is really simple, a 2 pins friction folder, like a Capucin, no spring or locking system here, it can’t be simpler.

The blade shape is difficult to define, between a clip point and a wharncliff. The straight cutting edge is typical of the sailor knife, like a sheepfoot, mainly dedicated to cut ropes.

The handle is faceted, slightly trapezoidal and with sometimes a hole at the end to affix a lanyard

Very popular with the sailors, it was produced in big quantities by many manufacturers, including Soanen Mondanet, that became Cognet. It lost popularity at the beginning of the Twentieth century, replaced by slipjoint knives, more modern, and the type was forgotten.

But recently some old books and blades were found in the attic of Cognet’s workshop and the knife re-made.

The new version is faithful to the original with an XC75 carbon steel blade.

An interesting piece, remnant from the past and full of character.

Find some on http://knives-of-france.com

October 10, 2020March 8, 2022

Barrel knife

The barrel knife (tonneau in French) gets its name from the shape of the handle, pretty round, that reminds the shape of a barrel.

Its origin is in the eighteenth century, from West Center France.

It is the typical worker’s knife. When farmers were hiring workers, they were giving them this knife as a sign of goodwill and good relationship.

It’s a simple knife, with a main blade in the sheepsfoot style and large bolsters on each side, but it was often on a multiblade style with a coping blade, an awl, a saw and sometimes a corkscrew.

It is one of the oldest multiblade.

The handle can be made of wood, horn or ivorine, a synthetic polymer that mimics ivory.

2 pieces barrel ivoirine — Barrel knife with an ivorine handle

Today, some modern versions are still made, often in carbon steel

Find some on http://knives-of-france.com

July 3, 2020

Napoleon knife

Soanen Mondanel was a big name in knife making in Thiers, the French capital, if not European, of knife making. It was famous in the 18th and 19th century for its brass handled motif knives representing artists or political figures

One of those knives was embossed with Napoleon, standing with, as usual, his hand in his waistcoat, with his seal and the French Imperial eagle, probably to celebrate his coronation as emperor in 1804.

After Napoleon was deposed and exiled to Saint Helena in 1815, the Bourbons were reinstated as royal family and Louis XVIII declared king. One of his acts to gain back control and erase Napoleon’s influence was to ban all the Napoleonic symbols.

Soanen Mondanel had to stop manufacturing their Napoleon knives but didn’t want to destroy the molds, maybe hoping that the emperor would be back. After all, he already came back from his first exile in Elba. The molds were buried next to the shop.

But Saint-Helena was probably remote enough and Napoleon never came back, the molds were forgotten.

In 1902, Antoine Cognet purchased the manufacture and gave it his name.

Today it is Pierre Cognet, his grand-son, who is running the factory. In 2005 the factory underwent renovations and the molds were discovered. After restoration, the molds were ready for a knife re-edition.

It is where enters a second knife maker, Couperier-Coursolle, who is still today the specialist of the brass handles and figurative knives.

Figurative brass handled navette by Coursolle

The knife is an alliance of those two manufacturers, Couperier-Coursolle making the handle and Cognet the XC75 carbon steel blade.

To symbolize this collaboration, the blade is marked with the two emblems, Cognet’s hare and Coursolle’s adjustable wrench.

Last reference to the past, the production was limited to 1815 pieces, in reference to the year when Napoleon was, for the second time and definitely, deposed, and all his symbols banned.