LAGUIOLE POCKET KNIVES | How It's Made 

My wife bought me one about 17 years ago in Provence. It went missing for almost a year. Then, while cleaning the roof gutters I found it inside the gutter. No rust anywhere and the wood handle was faded, but in good shape. I washed it, gave the handle a good coat of oil olive and it’s like new.

I absolutely love this show. I find it so relaxing as well as informative.

As a collector of early case xx and Henry knives I'm very impressed with this manufacturer and would love to have one of these beautiful works of art.

Good video. but as a knifemaker it bothered me that you did not explain tempering correctly. There is hardening heat treating = higher heat with quick oil or water quench to make the metal hard. Then separately there is tempering which is somewhat lower heat and then air dried - this is for relieving the built up stress and adding some flexibility/elasticity to the metal.

just bought a set of forks and knives from this brand,absolute great

gorgeous!!

always buy one when i travel to France...Opinel as well.

Great video as always thanks for sharing! However I think it may have been produced some time ago, as the thick black horn- rimmed glasses worn by the operators kind of gives it away. However, its still interesting to see cutlers at work in the " old manner", so to speak. Thanks again for sharing!

This process shares more common ground with making a croissant then a regular knife, interesting.

That’s a beautiful knife. Now I want one.

Beautiful knife.

I have my Laguiole sunglasses... love them...

Simply wooooonderfull!!!. Thank you

Worked in a company that imported glass ware and flatware from Europe. I got a few sets of these knifes. They look nice it's my favorite steak knife

Vraiment un travail d,artisant, vous faites de beaux et tres pratique couteaux

I have one and I like it. I use it as an everyday carry.

BRAVO !!! MAGNIFIQUE

Beautiful

Spectacular !!!

man, what a piece of art. I had one that I actually got in the city of laguiole but sadly lost only a couple weeks after.

Todo un arte su construcción de la navaja muy bonita

Who else shouted "That is not Damascus!" when they said that it is a recreation of a Damascus blade? For those who are curious, that is pattern-welded steel not Damascus, Damascus is not multiple layers of steel forged together but rather a single billet, the patterning comes from the way the steel was cooled and should not have a sharp pattern but be finer in grain and have a wavy appearance.

I have 2 that my dad got for me while he was in France for work. Definitely closer to a work of art than a pocket knife.

Several things about the forging, grinding, heat treatment, and etching processes were incorrectly explained.

first of all ,this isnt Damascus steel , its folded steel . Damascus hasnt been recreated , its been lost to us , secondly , folded steel doesnt bind the low carbon and high carbon steels " to a molecular level ", theyre merely mixed up , the irregular mixing is what gives them the colour , if they were mixed to a molecular level , there would be no pattern

This is made in the same way a custom knife is made, every step by hand with regular workshop tools. Really cool!

awesome knife

Own 2 authentic ones , though neither have the corkscrew, and they are awesome. The spring is extremely strong but that's good. Its unlikely to close by accident. Funny thing is I never carry them because I'd hate to lose them! The bone handle makes them very slippery and since I change into my work clothes every day I'm afraid it will slide out of my pocket and I wont notice. Very worth it if you are a collector. Nothing else like them. Even if not "official" the design is so unique.

Should have known of these master pieces while in Marseillle, France. Awaits to own one.

Waiting for my new ATM card. I'm getting one for me, for my birthday! Artistic and functional!

The Laguiole knife is originally a high-quality traditional Occitan pocket-knife, originally produced in the "knife-city" of Thiers where 70% of the French cutting tool production comes from, and in the small village of Laguiole, both located in the Massif central region of France. Laguiole in this instance does not refer to the French knife brand, but to a generic term that has become associated with a specific shape of a traditional knife common to this area. It was originally a farmers knife, so it was used for more than just cheese or meat cutting. They were made of good high carbon steel, not pattern welded or "Damascus" steel. They had wood or bone handles, and a plain spring, or one decorated with a flower motif. The "bee" on the knives was only introduced after World War II. Older Laguiole knives feature many kinds of decorated springs which don't necessarily feature insects.A little research before making a video makes for a better video. Your video is full of misconceptions and at least one myth.

we were driving in France and somehow ended up in Laguiole for the night. Interesting place.

I have one and omg it is has such good quality

"this manufacturer handcrafts each component of his knives" that's some great narration to have over a set of laser cut springs.

Ive got a couple of these knifes I use everyday at dinner time!

i have always liked the everyday Laguiole knife shape, never thought they looked very robust though, I don’t know about the top of the range ones though. The trouble is that everybody and his dog makes these and they are sold everywhere.

I got given an Opinel carbone 6 inch knife today for my birthday! I used to have a shotgun that had Damascus barrels! What a bute she was.

It was probably just for the camera, but I like how old mate on the strop at the end was busy rolling the edge over on that knife with the strop rather than actually making it any sharper.

These knives are from Aveyron where I live. The village where they’re made is called Laguiole and you can visit and see these knives being made by hand. While there’s many knives that carry the name “Laguiole” only a few are actually made here with many being cheap counterfeits from China! If you want one of these knives there’s many shops that sell them in Rodez.

My brother-in-law has one of these. I’ve always thought it was a beautiful knife but never knew much about it, I just thought the little bee was just a neat feature.

If I ever get the money, I'll requisition one of these- but the handle will be made of my own bone. Make a truly unique item.

Have 3, non Damascus steel, use them as I would any other knife, I have no complaints or issues. Been great knives for the many years I have owned them.

Never realized they required so much work!!!

Nice knife! Btw 9:03 a polish gives my bone a shiny finish too

Damn,it didn't stick well,,when he first hammered the billet,the billet opend up

I had two of these from an auction, they were beautiful. Sadly both got stolen within just a few years of having them.

Super 👍👍

I have a lovely Laguiole knife given to me by my son. It has a corkscrew on the back.

I'm very proud to have one Laguiole also have one "Faca Gaúcha" (Gaúcha knife), that is very traditional style here in Brazil, specially in the state of Rio Grande do Sul!

Awesome informational educational video experience Y'alls God Bless Ya 🙏

cool thing

Nice

I guess i once had one of these. Not shure about the Languiole original brand stamp. It had some initials, didn't know this stuff then. I just found it on my travels trough France as a vendangiste. Very ergonomic, useful and beautiful artesany. I just don't like flies, but so might not my ememies. Yes, they can occur on the way trough the wild underbelly of France. In the end the secret police patrol confiscated it, same as the entire stock of my knifes before. About 15 of them, one by one. Might someone from Saint-Etienne [EDIT: Rhône-Alpes region] reads this: If you lost your knife in the little park - below the viaduct - at the foot of Opera Theatre-hill(?) in the summer of 2016, the Office de Police near the Prefecture most likely have it in their storage somewhere. Or, in some Police-Secrète officer's kitchen cupboard, damn them!

Given the amount of time and effort spent on the bee part, it's kind of sad that the bolsters are spot welded on, and cheap teflon washers are used.

These really look like the type of knife that your every day shepherd can afford.

Whoa 😳

Dope

There are many different grades of Laguioles knives , some requires much much less work . Even some shepherds/farmers/woodsmen use the cheaper versions of them in France , a bit like the classic Opinel knife number 8 , 7 or 9...

A guys going to be very unhappy when the TSA takes it away from him at the airport...and puts it straight in their pocket.

Check out the Okapi knife. Looks so similar

I possess a few of these and they are superb knives for outdoors and for dinner ware they are seriously expensive but there is no such thing now as genuine Damascus as the steel recipe and ore called Wootz has long since gone gone so the pretty patterns on any Damascus blade is just for show

I learned so much about a knife I didn’t even kno existed

3:17 I can't believe he just held that very hot steel rod with his bare hands

Someone needs to fact check the narrator

Mine is merely the bane of apples and oranges.

The blade making process is called pattern welding. The world ran out of Damascus steel long, long time ago.

👍🇦🇺 Thanks

Beautiful knives!! I bought a beautiful laguiole en Aubrac knife from LAGUIOLE USA; best place to get Laguiole knives in the US.

A knife is a knife made to cut with no matter what the material is.

Oui, oui

I need one ☝🏼

"...an extra fine edge is given..." I can attest to this. The top of my thumb is still healing.

👌👌👌

OK so you the best!

are we just gonna not talk about 3:20

purchased my Laguiole in the Paris Shop next Center Pompidoux - boating a Flight to Nairobi the Security refuse boarding with the Knife - but offered to wrap it in a Jiffy bag and hand it bona fide to the Captain to retourn the precious piece at JKIA Nairobi ...it never arrived !

Where's the borax!!!!! 300 freakin layers! Flawless

These are high-class "toad stabbers!"

3:18 I’d think that rod would be too hot to handle considering just a few inches up it’s glowing orange. Wow

That description in the beginning. So the knife is Andorra, basically?

Original Laguiole knives would have wood, horn or bone handles with regular steel. I'm sure these knives look very pretty with the damascus steel effect and fancy handles but it doesn't make them them any better and probably much less practical.

The bolster is absolutely NOT spot-welded to the *BLADE*. That's the inner portion of the handle ("scales"). The blade rotates freely, has nothing welded to it, and never gets heated significantly (i.e., welded) after tempering, or it would ruin the temper. Sorry, you got that wrong.

Some of these knives are worth more than a 1976 Cadillac Sedan De Ville after its restored.

Seriously great knife, we've had ours for 20 years or more. There's no nonsense about "Damascus steel" going on with it, though. This is a very handy video for repairs, so thank you!

We have something similar here is SA called a Okapi knife

The correct term is Wootz steel, the process started in India long before it was brought to the middle east.

These guys in comments, noticing mistakes, are just like me when watching something about spinning reels. The thing I noticed here, is that beside shoving how they thin out the blade, sharpening wasnt explained.

This documentary has some glaring inaccuracies. The kiln is not used to straighten the steel. More importantly heating and rapidly cooling the steel is not tempering that's quenching.

But the question is. Will it KEEEEEEEEL?

damn never realised how good that lil knife i had was had it taken at the airport

I've always liked the how its made series, but they didn't do their homework for this one. As a child i thought it was a bee but it turns out it is a fly or a horse fly.

That's not Damascus though. It's a concoction of various metals that mimic the look of Damascus but none of the behavioural characteristics.

j'ai jamais vue la lagiole de ma vie avec un style acier de damas perso

That dude does not believe in gloves haha

"This manufacturer hand crafts each component." Shows stamped sheet steel parts.

I WILL MAKE SOMETHING LIKE THIS FOR MY BOYFRIEND FOR CHRISTMAS!

Beautiful nice but easily breaks

Does anyone know the model name for the knife down at 21 seconds in the video. The one with 5 holes near the spine of the blade.

This is patterned welded steel, NOT Wootz (Damascus)steel. Steel showing a pattern is not what makes it Wootz/Damascus, it's the elements that comprise it. What composes Wootz/Damascus steels were are still argued over and debated to this day. Did the raw Iron just have that good a mixture of elements? Were there additives? If there were additives how were they discovered and where did they come from? REAL modern Wootz/Damascus doesn't exist because we've lost the knowledge (and actually don't NEED that knowledge anymore beyond curiosities sake).

1:21 That delam thou…