friction folder – knives of France

June 27, 2024June 27, 2024

Eustache knife

The Eustache was first made in 1789, year of the French revolution, by Eustache Benoit, a cutler from Saint Etienne.

It’s a friction folder, the slipjoints were not very common yet. The blade has no locking system, only the tighness of the pivot keeps it open.

It has a typical and very pronounced clip point blade.

The handle is made of a single piece of wood (like an Opinel or a Montpellier) with a long metallic sleeve, sort of bolster, covering around 2/3 of the handle.

The end of the handle has the shape of a boot, a bit like a jambette knife, to accommodate the tip once folded.

The cheapest versions had the wood blackened in a hot mold.

The knife is rather large per today’s standard and was popular at the time.

It is mentioned in the chronicles “The Mysteries of Paris” by Eugene Sue in 1842. The name even became a generic term for a knife in French slang.

I fell into oblivion with the advent of the slipjoints by the mid Nineteenth century but was revived for the celebrations of the 200 years of the French revolution.

Today, Thiers Issard is using some old stock and is making a re-edition true to the original shape and size with a boxwood handle and a sleeve engraved with a French revolution theme.

A real piece of history, testament of what was a folding knife some 235 years ago!

Find some on https://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/

December 19, 2020October 4, 2021

Savoyard’s tap

All the wood handled friction folders, like Opinel, Capucin or even Nontron might have the blade stuck in the handle.

Wood is a living material and change in humidity or temperature might make it swell, or even dirt can be stuck in the mechanism.

Clog handle Nontron — Nontron No25 with clog handle

The “coup du savoyard” or Savoyard’s hit or tap is a simple technic to get it free, it is mainly used for Opinels (hence the Savoyard name) and it is even part of the quality checks at the end of manufacturing.

It is a technic known since the first Opinel (maybe before?) and the best way to get the blade free without damaging the knife like by trying to pry on the nail nick.

-For a recent Opinel, make sure that the lock ring is open (!!!)

-Hold the knife by the axis side

-Tap the other end on a hard surface. The best would be a wooden table, avoid any uneven or hard surface that would damage the handle, like concrete for example. Avoid also fragile surface like a glass table of course.

The blade should move a little, enough to be able to open it.

If it is still stuck, you can apply a bit of oil on the axis.

Now, the best way to avoid using that Savoyard’s tap is to take good care of the knife, always wipe the blade after use and store it in a dry place.

Find Opinel and Montpellier knives on http://knives-of-france.com