The “forced notch” mechanism is an evolution of the traditional slipjoint system, and often found on French knives such as Laguioles, Saint-Martin or Thiers for instance.
It’s somewhere between a classic flat slipjoint and a lockback.
The blade has a little notch where a part of the backspring comes to lock. Unlike a lockback, it’s rounded and will slip when pushing on the blade to fold the knife. It’s an added safety to prevent the knife from closing involuntarily.
The lock must be “broken” before the blade can be folded slowly in the handle.
As seen in a previous post, Thiers has been the French knife making capital for centuries.
Cutlers from the city and its surrounding were so famous and efficient that they ended up manufacturing the so called “regional knives”, the knives from different regions and cities of France like the Aurillac, the Laguiole, the Rouennais, the Yssingeaux etc.
All those knives have specific design and style originally elaborated in those regions.
However, Thiers, filled with cutleries and making all those different knives, never had its own knife style. This was solved in 1994, when several cutleries from Thiers created a guild to define a design for a knife belonging to Thiers.
The design is registered with a distinctive double wave and opposite oblique ends on each side of the handle giving a timeless and true to French tradition design.
More than a detailed design, it is a set of rules and guidelines, giving some room for each cutler’s interpretation.
Banned designs
But to be validated and receive the distinctive T logo, symbol of authenticity, each cutler has to follow the guild rules.:
Having at least 5 years of experience as a cutler
The cutler must be accepted as part of the guild and registered
The design proposed has to be accepted by the guild
The knife has to be marked with the T logo and “Le Thiers par…” including the name of the manufacturer.
The cutler will never have any part of the manufacturing done outside of Thiers and its surrounding.
The parts and raw materials used must be of quality and approved by the guild.
This origin control is important to protect the knife from Asian copies, something that, for instance, the Laguiole knife was lacking, reason why you can find countless cheap copies of this great knife.
What started as a project from a handful of passionate knife-makers turned into a real success with almost 60 manufacturers and independents making their version of the knife.
Le Thiers by Coursolle with brass sides
Le Thiers by Claude Dozorme
Le thiers by Arbalete
Le Thiers by Robert David
Le Thiers by Jean Dubost
Le Thiers by Fernando Ramos
Le Thiers by Cognet
If you are looking for French elegance and controlled quality and origin, look for the T logo!
The city of Thiers finds its origin in the medieval age and can claim six centuries of cutlery tradition.
The legend says that the Crusaders bring back the secret of steel but the history of knife making can be dated back to the fifteenth century as tax registers mention thirty knife makers in the city that will turn to be 200 in the sixteenth century.
Oddly enough, the city didn’t have real assets to become the capital of knife making, there is no iron ore for the blades or sandstone to make grinding wheels, but there is the Durolle, the torrent that will provide enough energy for the cutlery machines, and the obstinacy and hard work of people living on a rocky, steep and hard territory, working in the fields in summer and making blades in winter.
Long before Henry Ford, it is in the fifteenth Century that the division of labor started in Thiers with people specialized in the various steps of knife making, to the final assembly. It was not anymore a single cutler that was making the entire knife.
The working conditions were really hard. The cutlers shaping the blades on the grinding wheels were called the “yellow bellies”, because, in the unique Thiers style, they were grinding the blades laying over the wheel, with a dog on their legs to keep them warm.
They were working down in the valley, next to the water that was used to provide the power.
On top of the cold and humidity, the noise of the machines is loud and, if the grinding wheel explodes, the cutler is projected to the ceiling, with a little chance of survival.
That part of the valley is called “Hell” (L’enfer in French), one of the buildings was even called like that.
L’enfer (Hell)
For the other specialties it is not more comfortable, the presses and hammering machines are dangerous and the temperature in the forge can reach 120F.
But that specialization and efficiency made that knife makers and merchants in various French regions were ordering knives to Thiers.
For instance, the cutlers from the village of Laguiole, in Aveyron, had to order knives in Thiers, as they were not able to keep up with the demand. Those knives were originally called “Laguiole style” before being definitively called Laguiole when all the production was finally done in Thiers.
Laguiole knife
The same story happened to different regions and cities, this is why most of the French knives have the name of a city or a region like Yssingeaux, Issoire, Alpin, Montpellier, Rouennais etc.
Yssingeaux
Rouennais
Yatagan
Saint-Martin
Thiers even produced some “Spanish” navajas.
When the city was, and is still today, making the knives of all the different French regions, it never had its own style of knife. It was corrected rather late, in 1994, when “Le Thiers” was created. It will be the object of a later article.
Le Thiers
Today electricity definitely replaced all the water powered machines and Thiers and its surroundings is still making between 70% and 80% of the French bladed tools, earning its status of French knife making capital, with its museum and “Coutellia”, the annual international blade show.
The history of French knife making is primarily the history of the people living in the different regions of France.
Workers shaping blades on grinding wheels and blades catalog
The very first knives were made of flint, the first metallic knives appeared around 3000BC and the first steel knives, along with the first folding knives, were made by the Romans.
During the medieval-age, knife making is developing mainly in some specialized cities like Thiers, Nogent or Nontron, where the ferrule, or ring lock (virole), to lock the knife’s blade, is invented towards the end of the 16th century. Each region has its own craftsmanship and traditions, leading to a wide variety of styles, still made today.
Raw materials to make the knives evolved over time, when a Capucin was only a carbon steel blade, a stag and 2 pins; wood, bone, brass and aluminum or even more noble materials are now common. The very first stainless steel knife appeared in 1921 in the United States and stainless is now widely used but carbon steel is still appreciated by real connoisseurs for being easier to sharpen, more traditional and developing a nice patina.
French knife making have been renowned since the 17th century, when the first knives were exported, through the ports of Bordeaux or Nantes, to Spain, Italy and even Asia.
The industry was at its height in the 19th Century when, for example, Thiers and its area was employing around 25,000 people in knife making. It went down to around 1,700 today.
The 19th Century was also the time of a wider market for pocket knives, that were not anymore only for farmers and workers, as every gentleman had his own knife, to use when going to eat outside. That is when knives became more detailed and luxurious and when more noble material appeared.
After a rough patch in the 1980’s, mainly due to the cheap knives coming from Asia, French knife making has now reborn and is more oriented towards high quality pieces.
Each region has its own style of knife and numerous independent knife makers are creating a wide variety of forms and styles. French knife making is now recognized across the world for its quality, diversity and strong tradition. Some knife makers even export up to 70% of their production.
Today Thiers, in the middle of the old volcanoes of Auvergne, is leading the French production with 80% of the production done by 60% of the knife makers. Then comes Aveyron, Dordogne, with the Nontron and of course Savoie with its famous Opinel.
If you like slipjoints, tradition and fine craftmanship, there is a French knife for you!
