Laguiole

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texasboy

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Has any body ever heard of or had any experience with this brand? My Granddad gave me one this Thanksgiving. All I know is that it is a french brand. It is pretty expensive for the poor quality of the one I have.
 
Laguiole is a generic term for a style of knife rather than a brand. There are some fine examples of well made knives and there is some rubbish. Some are not even made in France I suspect. The best still are. Look for specific manufacturers. e.g., I think G. David is a decent one. The second link shows many different manufacturers. Just for information. Not promoting the site or its products.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laguiole_knife

http://www.cutlerytogo.com/frenchknives.html
 
I think there are new ones that don't compare to older ones. I saw some in a gourmet food shop that were pretty inexpensive, and some of the older ones bring a high price. S-K - that answers my analysis of the ones I saw retail. They were about 25 bucks.
 
The term Laguiole is analogous to the term bowie knife. There are many makers, some good, some not so good. They can get pricy.
 
The pouch it came in says Laguiol on it. There is also a small info. card in the pouch with some history about laguiol. That is why I thought the brand was Laguiole. On the backspring there is a small bee.
 
Yep it is a generic term. There are quite a few makers. I personally like the updated style of Chambriard's knives very good quality too.

Have a look at world knives. They list knives by country. It will give you an overview of French styles.
http://worldknives.com/

Cheers
Mitch
 
Most of the higher end Laguiole style knives will have the "makers mark" placed on the blade. A script of "Laguiole" only will likely mean a knife made outside of France and generally low quality. Being made in France does not ensure quality, I've seen some sad examples. As always, research the makers.

Calmels a Laguiole in Thiers makes some nice examples, I beleive they are originators of the style or one of the founding companies. They used to be in the town of Laguiole but moves to Thiers and changed the mark to Calmels A Laguiole Hors Concours. Original Calmels carry serious value. I know many dispise the bay but check out some of the Ivory Calmels selling there, certain styles/models hit over $1000US.

I've owned many of these knives and the corkscrews as well.

Try Forge de Laguiole, L'Artisan du Laguiole, Le Couteau de Laguiole, La Maison du Laguiole and Laguiole en Aubrac. I have owned all of these. Fontenille in thiers is also nice, I had a forged damascus blade scorpion with Snakewood scales, forged bee & spring. Really miss that knife.

My concern with this style of knife is the design where the blade contacts the backend of the spring when closed. Do not snap these closed or expect a flat spot on the tip of the blade. Some say it's traditional, I say it's a flaw in the design. I beleive Forge de Laguiole has redesigned the spring and blade contact points to correct this issue but expect to see it on many of these styles.








This one above is in my opinion one of the nicest I've had. Sold it back to the collector in France I bought it from. Approx 30yrs old and a custom order by that original owner.




 
dkonopinski said:
Laguiole seems to be a much abused term. I've seen some made in Pakistan. They originate from the city of Thiers in France and Smiling-Knife is right (as usual - yawn ;) ) about G David. IMHO the best are from Fontenille Pataud. One day I'll have one. Go drool. David

http://www.fontenille-pataud.com/indexuk.php
Click to expand...

dk, those knives are absolutely fantastic! The Damascus blade with mammoth body is outstanding...I'm surprised you can't here me drooling all the way over here in Canada.
Cheers, and thanks for the link...ah one day...sigh.
Alex
 
Don't buy from Laguiole.com. Richard Anselmo (the guy there) sells garbage that does not line up right (blade clips on the wall, chipping it each time you close it). I sent it in to be fixed or replaced, the guy got mad and took my money and never replaced or returned the knife.

En Aubrac makes some nice stuff. I had an olivewood one from them and it was a-okay.
 
Laguiole en Aubrac is indeed top quality and they have VERY nice knives.

check out these examples:

damascus and all sorts of handle materials

http://www.roedter-messer.de/laguiole_en_aubrac_2.htm

Mammoth ivory, brut de forge, ...

http://www.roedter-messer.de/laguiole_en_aubrac_3.htm

But as you can see, they are pretty expensive, but the are very nice. I haven't yet bought one myself (i hope i'll have the cash to spend one day), but i had the chance to handle one owned by a knife collector in Ostend. It was one quite like the first knife on the second page, quite impressive...
 
MegsDad said:
dk, those knives are absolutely fantastic! The Damascus blade with mammoth body is outstanding...I'm surprised you can't here me drooling all the way over here in Canada.
Cheers, and thanks for the link...ah one day...sigh.
Alex
Click to expand...

I heard you, Alex. I heard you.;)
 
So the Million Euro question. Any special reason that custom US makers haven't bothered to duplicate/improve on the combo knife'screwpull in the Laguiole style?
I mean, to actually have to fly over to France (expensive these days) and drive around eating my way from one Laguiole shop to the next. This could get tiring and expensive - no? I'm convinces the Turkish Clip blade is the bomb for Picnic/Light paring tasks and can't think of too many alternatives in the zillions of Western designs. The texas Toothpick is about as close as we get for the blade, but NO screwpull. Makes you wonder
 
If you do get a Laguiole, I advise you also get some Durafil. The traditional blade has no nose on the tang and so the sharpened edge may hit the spring when it's closed. The Carl Schlieper German Eye canoe has the same issue. I think the reason is that with a nose on the tang the point of the blade would be exposed when the knife is closed, because of the shape & dimensions of the blade. Durafil is cheap & designed for the job.

Have a look at:

http://www.frog-connection.com/Frog-Connexion-fr/Monde/GB/Durafil/MONDE_GB_Durafil.htm

David
 
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