My First Resolza

Everytime I get a chance to use the knife in the picture, it is a pleasure. I really can't get over the grind on this blade. It really is a joy to use.
 
I'm glad you like using it.
One more thing about these knives, is their size. Weird as it may seem, it's very uncommon to find a resolza under 4,5" closed, and even if I tend towards much smaller knives, on this particular pattern it doesn't look that good. Don't ask me why...I carry knives in the 3,5" range and I'm happy with them; still, when I saw a resolza in the same size, it looked like something that was meant to grow bigger and hadn't.
I've been told once, by a knifemaker in Pattada, that one of the reasons for the size of this knife is the need to cut through sheep cheese; a shorter blade would not be comfortable to cut it. Funny how perspective here is always centered on food :rolleyes:

Fausto
:cool:
 
quattromori said:
I found out this YT video by one of the most talented young knifemakers in Pattada. I thought you might be interested in the process, so here it is. If the mods can include the video here, I'd be glad to know how to do it...meanwhile, I'll leave the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRZyjPmvbVs&noredirect=1

Fausto
:cool:
Click to expand...

Mods, schmods.

Er, heh, yes.

(Waves at Gary and Frank, all helpful-like.)

To include a video, use {video} then {/video} (using straight brackets as per other link code) to surround the link:

[video=youtube;VRZyjPmvbVs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRZyjPmvbVs[/video]

Thanks for the video link!

~ P.
 
pertinux said:
Mods, schmods.

Er, heh, yes.

(Waves at Gary and Frank, all helpful-like.)

To include a video, use {video} then {/video} (using straight brackets as per other link code) to surround the link:

Thanks for the video link!

~ P.
Click to expand...

We need all the help we can get! :D
 
P.
thank you for the technical assistance. :rolleyes:
I'm usually able to handle these things myself, but I had never posted a video and wanted to do it. So thanks for helping me.

Fausto
:cool:
 
UI have been watching with interest the various threads involving the pattada pattern from Sardinia. I was taken by its simplicity, yet its rustic beauty. I finally acquired one from Sardinia by the maker Vittorio Mura. The blade is 12cm long and it is 26cm in total length, a very large knife. I love the light bone handle and the traditional look-thanks to Fausto for making us aware of the knife of his homeland!
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Hi everybody
quattromori said:
I agree with you on forged blades, for pure "emotional" factors. Unfortunately, forgers seems to be less and less, or at least account for a minority of knifemakers. Even here, in the old cutlery world, forgers are rare.
Click to expand...

Mmm I have to confess that I don't know the north of sardaigna. But all of my friends in the south are great blacksmiths. Gigi Sechi is a specialist of damascus :

qswh.jpg

Giuseppe Galante Make is own damascus as his mokume

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Of course the others forge, as Davide Steri, Roberto Serra , etc.

And a lot of knives makers imports technics from Germany, USA, France.

I'm very optimistic for this. But to maintain the quality they need to be kown outside because tourists don't want to pay a lot for a traditional knife and the local market is not big.

It's why I'm so talkative :D:D

Âchille
 
Âchillepattada;12465931 said:
I'm very optimistic for this. But to maintain the quality they need to be kown outside because tourists don't want to pay a lot for a traditional knife and the local market is not big.

Âchille
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Achille,
I'm not sure if I agree with you on that. I know of many knifemakers who have waiting lists of months and even years, and who actually won't even let you into their list for the moment, unless they know you personally. And more young makers are coming out (I include Steri and Sechi among those - they make great knives). Fortunately, traditional knifemaking isn't dying here. I don't blame tourists who aren't willing to spend 100 to 300 euros on a knife just because it's typical, just to bring it home as a souvenir. I blame Sardinian tourist shops who sell cheap things they call "original Sardinian knives" and dispatch them as such. It's just not true, and not respectful of Sardinian knifemaking history and tradition.
I once had a very interesting conversation with a known knifemaker from Pattada. While we were talking, he mentioned that he had once been invited to a big knife show in the US (Blade or something like that). He said he didn't go, cause he would have to stop his commissioned knives for too much to build knives he could take to the show...and since his waiting list is very long (years, in fact), in the end he wasn't really interested. He said he still got orders from abroad even without taking part to any show.
What I see here, is quite a bunch of young and talented knifemakers who will to replace the "old generation" when they retire (some of them are actually relatives of known knifemakers who introduce them to the art of cutlery, forging and so on). I assume that even Tony Bose was a young unknown knifemaker when he started, and building a reputation in such a niche market takes time, skill and effort. At the moment, the local market absorbs a very big part of these knives. Building a reputation outside the island, or abroad, is something that many makers aren't just interested in. Those who are wishing for it, though, should definitely expand their horizons, and proudly bring their products abroad. :)

Fausto
:cool:
 
Hi Fausto,

Of course there are a few very famous knives makers who can't satisfy the demand for their knives. It's not new. 20 years ago I bought a pattadesa to Boiteddu fogarizzu himself and it was almost a miracle.
But I was at the exhibition of Sarroch a month ago and I saddly have to say that there were more knives makers than clients. And this dispite the great quality of the pieces shown.

For me the problem is the lack of knowledge of the market outside the island. The stars are known but the others, despite the high quality of their productions are not.

Âchille
 
Next time you're at some knife exhibition here, PM me: we could be standing side by side and not know about each other :) (I wasn't in Sarroch though).
I get your point, and I know what you mean. And I agree, it's never a bad idea to expand your market, or at least widen it a bit. I'm still under the impression that local knifemakers, in the end, have enough work and market even now, and are not really interested to make an extra effort to go further.
To make an example, since I posted some pictures on this forum, I know of at least five Sardinian traditional knives that have crossed the Atlantic to get into the hands of US addicts ehm knife enthusiasts :D who probably had never seen any of these knives until a while ago. These knives have a potential market that's yet to explore, especially in the US I guess.
My idea is that Sardinian knifemakers should gather and establish a sort of "local guild" and produce a somehow "certified" traditional pattern made on the island (no matter which specific maker builds the knife), and export the pattern first, not just the work of a single maker. But if you know enough people from this land, you will surely understand why this isn't going to happen anytime soon...which is a shame. The tourist market, for example, could provide for more customers: not everyone who travels to Sardinia gets by with cheap souvenirs, some buy real handmade crafts, jewels, corals, and so on...why not knives? In my opinion, establishing a "trademark" (thus declaring your own identity) would help alot.
Laguiole should definitely teach us something.
And even without that, I think that having a decent website, possibly with an English version, some good pictures, and knowing where and how to show your knives, might just be as important as building a great quality product.
I can take my car and in two hours I can reach almost any knifemaker on the island, talk to him, handle his knives, see how he works, and so on. But what about the average Italian or French enthusiast? Or one of our US friends here? it's hard to get a real Sardinian knife from overseas. I've helped a few members here, and I understand their pain when they try to find something nice: they either stumble into blown up prices and high end makers, or have to get by with production models that often drift from the original pattern.
I don't know many knifemakers from southern Sardinia (I might know their knives, but not their makers, not in person - many of them are just names to me), but since you do, you should push them towards a more modern way to market their knives, maintaining the traditional way to build them.

Fausto
:cool:

Fausto
:cool:
 
Excellent looking practical knives..The blade profile looks very familiar to me yet i cant quite place what it is?...Im sure they would make great slicers as stated and are nice on the eye as well...Very cool............FES
 
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