Traditional French Fry day

Fred Z said:
I got this one last year because I wanted to see something in boxwood. I've always been pleased with the knives I've ordered from Maison Berthier, but not this one. The boxwood is unfinished and ordinary, but the worst part is the blade just flops open and closed with no grip in the handle. I have a similar type from Cognet which is tightly held so I know it's possible. It just irritates me every time I look at it. So, if any of you would like to have it, I'll send it off to you free of charge. That's okay to do here, right?
The blade is 3-1/4 inches, and it's 7-1/4 inches overall.

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Wow, I would gladly take that off of your hands but I would feel guilty just taking it. Why don't you try tightening it up first? The two methods with friction folders are to soak the end in water for a few minutes or, lay the knife pivot pin on something hard metal, then slowly tap the other pin with a hammer. I have done that successfully on some loose ones I had.

Boxwood isn't really known for its figure, but still, that's a pretty knife!
 
draggat said:
Will Power Will Power , that sounds like a headache! Still, that is an attractive knife! I wish more French knives were offered in carbon.

The only terrible horn I've experienced so far is from A. Wright. In caring for horn, I occasionally coat them with lanolin, which I'm not sure does much, but it doesn't seem to cause them any harm.

Here is a couple favorites of mine. The black horn almost looks like plastic, but has a different, richer feel.... Could be my imagination. One carbon, one stainless.

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Those two are beauties, can never make up my mind if I like Brunette over Blonde....

I'm fairly experienced with Horn, cheap stuff can be a problem sometimes but not always. An G.David I've had 32 years was NOS at the time, it's only pressed horn but that's been OK. Don't worry, your Wright still holds the dubious honours- I got one of them that was peeling off the liners on arrival- and Britain is known to be a rather damp country ;) so it can't have been dry atmosphere!

It could be that the vendor is selling me second quality Au Sabots...let's see what the return process yields.

And when Horn's good, it's sensational! I do find Ram's Horn to be problem free so far.

Thanks, Will
 
Will Power said:
Those two are beauties, can never make up my mind if I like Brunette over Blonde....

I'm fairly experienced with Horn, cheap stuff can be a problem sometimes but not always. An G.David I've had 32 years was NOS at the time, it's only pressed horn but that's been OK. Don't worry, your Wright still holds the dubious honours- I got one of them that was peeling off the liners on arrival- and Britain is known to be a rather damp country ;) so it can't have been dry atmosphere!

It could be that the vendor is selling me second quality Au Sabots...let's see what the return process yields.

And when Horn's good, it's sensational! I do find Ram's Horn to be problem free so far.

Thanks, Will
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Will, you don't have to pick one over the other.... Choose both! ;)

So far, Wrights is my only experience with bad horn and I really hope it stays that way.

Good luck with your vendor. So far, all of the ones I've gone with have been really good.
 
Fred Z said:
Okay, Gary. You were first. I'll just pop it in a USPS padded envelope.
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Knife arrived today and for the first few minutes of handling it, I was almost cut three times ;) it indeed flops around far too easily and the wood handle is plain but box wood is typically like that I think, but overall the knife feels like it was still in the stages of being made. I think it must have gotten swept up and sent out before it was truly finished, as the wood still had saw marks on there as well.

SO, I hammered the pivot with my small ballpeen hammer and that did indeed snug up the action, to where I think a friction folder should be, so that was a good thing. I had thoughts boiling around in my skull of making something new for this but I like the knife as is and will carry it and use it with the current setup. I did sand down the handle and apply some wood polish to it and now it's a bit cleaner looking and much smoother to the touch.

The blade is what drew me to this when Fred posted it, love the blade shape and it is quite thin behind the edge and a slight touchup on my sharpening stones and she be keen.

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Thanks again Fred, now I'll be able to join in again on this and other French knife threads!

G2
 
Fred Z said:
Okay, Gary. You were first. I'll just pop it in a USPS padded envelope.
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Gary W. Graley said:
SO, I hammered the pivot with my small ballpeen hammer and that did indeed snug up the action, to where I think a friction folder should be, so that was a good thing. I had thoughts boiling around in my skull of making something new for this but I like the knife as is and will carry it and use it with the current setup. I did sand down the handle and apply some wood polish to it and now it's a bit cleaner looking and much smoother to the touch.

The blade is what drew me to this when Fred posted it, love the blade shape and it is quite thin behind the edge and a slight touchup on my sharpening stones and she be keen.
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Nice work, Gary!! Nice knife (now!!)
You sent it to the right guy, Fred Z, for its own self respect!! ;)

I have a knife that Gary "tuned up" - he does a great job!!
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Thanks again, Gary; from those many years ago!!:cool:
 
JPD1998 said:
I picked this knife up about 10 years ago at a local knife store. Very similar to an Opinel.

They had a counter display with a few different handle variations, I bought one with an ebony handle and this one in horn.
I believe Marjaq has since gone out of business.
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That's a very nice Marjacq! By the time I looked for one, they were only available in Olive wood, which I'm quite happy with.
 
Fred Z said:
That's a very nice Marjacq! By the time I looked for one, they were only available in Olive wood, which I'm quite happy with.
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It's limited here in the US as far as French knives go , so seeing them in a store display was a shock. The wood handle one I have is nice too.
At the time , I bought a Marjacq belt sheath too.

Here's another one I bought a few years ago, Robert David is the maker, my European knife brothers say it's a lower end brand , but I have a few and like them for the price.

This one is more robust, all stainless steel ( liners and bolsters) and dark horn scales , about the length of a Buck 110.

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