Laguiole Knives?

W

Wasz

Joined
Oct 2, 2002
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My girlfriend found a Laguiole grapewood handled folder in a National Geographic mag. and really liked it. Ive shown her tons of custom knife pics but for some reason she says if i buy her a knife it has to be a laguiole. I did some looking including a search on here. But, i thought i would ask anyway. First, the ones for sale on the laguiole site cost more is it because they are hand made and the ones they sell to dealers are production? Second does anyone know about the quality of these knives, i saw some previous posts that stated they were solid, but id like some more opinions. Lastly, should i decide to buy one does anyone know of an american dealer where i could buy one. Thanks in advance for the help.
 
They are a pretty pen knife, and an old lad I used to hunt with would use one to skin Irish Red Deer!
They take good edge and are an arty knife, my wife likes em and she's a nurse,won't carry a weapon! So far she's got a SAK and a Spydie Cricket :)
I am getting one each for her and my new son, he's already got a Buck Ti Folder but he's only four months so plenty time!
I sourced mine from http://www.boutique-laguiole.com/ and they were a pleasure to deal with!
Living in Europe helps but these are class! Hope this has helped lads!
 
Laquioles range from absolutely beautiful to cheap, just like many another type of knife produced by different manufacturers. I have an A.G.Russell Texas Toothpick that I find is an "American Laguiole". It has a very similar blade and handle shape. So you can think of the Laguiole as a French jack knife, a real working knife, even if it is an elegant rendition of the genre. :)

You can see a variety of styles and prices at Cutlery To Go. The Fontenille Pataud Gilles are good and so are Forge de Laguiole, of which I have a nice little model. Fontenille Pataud Gilles also have their own website.
 
Like every thing else, laguioles come in different qualities.

Check out www.worldknives.com. The ones that they sell are the better ones, I think. I have bought several from them, they are good people.
 
gross misunderstanding on my part. i was under the thought at first that they were a brand of knife, probably because of the forge de languiole thing. Thats what i love about bladeforums i just keep learning and learning.
 
Laguiole is the town where this particular style of knife supposedly originated. There are many legends about the details of the traditional Laguiole, but most of them are advertising hype.

I believe most of them are now made in Thiers, the premier French cutlery city. In fact, there is another knife characteristic of Thiers which looks like the Al Mar Shrike. There is also a common knife also found by Spanish makers known as the trail knife which looks like an overbuilt Laguiole, often with a back lock.
 
If I am not mistaken, apart from small custom makers, Forge de Laguiole is the only company still making laguioles in Laguiole.

Companies in Thiers apparently produce more laguioles than are produced in Laguiole.

I think that it is commonly accepted that a genuine laguiole has to be of French origin, usually Thiers, but not necessarily from Laguiole.

If you do want a Laguiole laguiole, you will have to stick with Forge de Laguiole you would be limiting yourself of the full range of choices otherwise available. If you are prepared to accept Thiers made, the range of sizes, handle materials, filework is almost endless.

Fontenille Pataud makes a good and pretty knife. You can't go wrong with them.
 
Unbelievable :eek:
Had one of these 20 years ago, picked it up whilst hitching through France.
Yesterday I went to visit my parents. "Found this in your old wardrobe".
It's blunt, scratched and generaly battered (Must have seen 10k miles of hitching) and was never a good specimen any way but wow :D
Ah, I can taste the camenbert. Oh then there was the time........ :D
Tim
 
just take a look at the town of Laguiole in Aubrac / Aveyron, it is a nice place ( 1200 m high) and you can ski during winter.

http://www.laguiole-online.com/index/

On the main page ; point on "couteaux" then click on "les coutelleries" ,choose a name from the list (some have a link to their website).

There are at least 2 others "big" makers (little factories) Located in Laguiole :

one is

http://www.layole.com/

They make, mostly by hand, nice and quality products (even for the basic line).

Thanks for reading.

ELDE
 
As mentioned above, Forge de Laguiole makes a very nice quality knife.
On the other hand, I was disappointed with the quality of both knives I purchased from Coutellerie Actiforge.
Regards,
Greg
 
Thanks a lot for the help, i guess one of these is going on the to buy list. I cant help but wonder if its hard for anyone else to determine at these dealers sites what company makes the knife. I'm trying to stay away from Coutellerie Actiforge, but the knife descriptions seem a bit muddled to me. I guess i may just have to buy one and have it shipped from france? Still a work in progress, but i'll find what im looking for.
 
I stand corrected.

Thanks ELDE for your clarification.

Isn't it wonderful that a person in Malaysia can receive clarification on a French knife from a person in France? Cest magnifique. Is this the proper use? :)
 
Laguiole Knives come from the village of "Laguiole" in france. Its made by many different companies and people there. Broushards are the best quality ones that I have seen. There also ones made by other places in france, and they are sometimes copied also (in other countries). Magnum in claifornia use to sell them, but Im not sure if they do anymore. Ones that are generic will often only have "Laguiole" stamped on the blade. The higher qaulity ones will have the makers stamp, also, or just the makers stamp.
 
airyq,

"Cest magnifique. Is this the proper use? "

yes it is :) :) :) congrats !!!


ELDE
 
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