This knife is pretty sharp having con-vexed the the edges on a mouse pad with sand paper up to 3000 grit but when I get the WE (it has to come to Spain so it could be a while)will it be just a question of putting foam tape on the engraved side of the blade so that I can perhaps refine the edge further with the Chosera 5000-10000 .
The knife if anyone wishes to know is a full damascus Le Thiers Ebony made by Gilles Fontenille Pataud.
Hi Leo, Welcome to the WEPS crew. That is a beautiful knife! I have one I want and have been putting off ordering for sometime from that neck of the woods. I love the lines and the way it flows. What a great knife!
I made a case for it so I can wear it on a belt .
Gilles makes some very attractive knives .
Well done. I really like the whole package.
[quote quote=“LeoBarr” post=11908]This knife is pretty sharp having con-vexed the the edges on a mouse pad with sand paper up to 3000 grit but when I get the WE (it has to come to Spain so it could be a while)will it be just a question of putting foam tape on the engraved side of the blade so that I can perhaps refine the edge further with the Chosera 5000-10000 .
The knife if anyone wishes to know is a full damascus Le Thiers Ebony made by Gilles Fontenille Pataud.[/quote]
Nice knife! :woohoo:
I’m not sure I understand your question (at least the part about putting foam tape on the engraved side), so this may not be what you’re looking for. You can create/maintain a convex edge on the WE by sharpening in “steps” usually one or two degrees, then smooth the bevels out with leather. So you could maintain what you have now with the leather strops on the WE.
Personally, if I wanted to use Choseras on the WE on that knife, I would just sharpen it with the Choseras, and maintain it that way. Think you would find it a hard to beat edge.
The knife is not symmetrical as far as the main grind is concerned the side with the etched makers name has a deeper grind from the spine to the edge than the backside.
I convex sharpened it on a mouse pad with various grades of sand paper then stropped it but I imagine I could improve the edge further on the WE which points the question of how to clamp it in such a way as to enable fine finishing with the Choseras.
I think I see what you’re saying now… but since each side of the WE is set independent, I don’t think you have to do anything special to clamp it… you’ll just have to set each angle independently adjusting for the offset, just by matching what you now have on the knife?
If that’s not it, just say so… someone will be along to help I’m sure.
Thank you that what I needed to know not having the WE yet it did not occur to me that that the angles can be tuned independently on each side.
What about been able to increase the bevel angle towards the handle this I imagine would necessitate raising the tip and dropping the handle end if I am understanding the geometry correctly ?
[quote quote=“LeoBarr” post=11940]
I convex sharpened it on a mouse pad with various grades of sand paper then stropped it but I imagine I could improve the edge further on the WE which points the question of how to clamp it in such a way as to enable fine finishing with the Choseras.[/quote]
As far clamping goes? Recently the guys suggested using a piece of chamois. I cut a 1" square and then a 1/2" square to hold the FFG and fancy blades and have been very satisfied with it. I have never attempted a convex grind with my choseras? So I can not comment, but it sounds like a really cool idea when finished. Seems like it would really take sometime to get it just right? Mirror, shape,…
Looking carefully at the knife when closed it is obvious why the blade is ground asymmetrically since the whole blade is visible when closed the edge is close to the handle of the knife so that it is hard to catch the edge of the blade in this position so it is almost a chisel grind but with two bevels.
Hi Leo,
It’s slightly off-topic, but I love your knife! I am considering to get one myself. Last year I was in France, in Thiers, where Gilles (Fontenille-Pataud) has his workshop.
Here is a photograph:
I agree, it’s not very sexy 
. You can see more pictures of my visit to Thiers here: http://www.wickededgeusa.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&catid=4&id=1672&limit=10&limitstart=10&Itemid=63#1702
I have a question about the knife: how easy is it to open with one hand? And how strong is the lock? It looks pretty small to me.
The knife is very easy to open , the lock spring is 3mm thick & The allen key bolt is spaced with thin washers each side of the blade . The pintle which is part the allen key bolt is around 6-7mm in diameter ; there was a little play on the pintle with the blade but I built it up with a little blue painters tape which has eliminated all play maybe some of these fit better on others & I dare say that I may well need to recover the pintle again in the future I may well use plumbers tape if I have to do it again .
The lock I would say is a 2mm pin and is strong enough for the knife.
The knife is slim in the hand and light it is a perfect knife for a Frenchman it will cut sausage and bread very easily .
I have two other knives by Giles two Laguiole 12cm one with Curley Birch handle and a mother of pearl inlay in the fly/bee and Rose damascus the other has a Juniper handle with a straight fly/bee and carbon steel damascus the first one has stainless steel bolsters and the second has unpolished brass bolsters .
They are all great knives I did do a little esthetic cleaning away of glue here and there so they are not necessary perfect but they are beautiful . I shall post the pictures of those in the next reply .
Very interesting looking knives.
Very. Could they be ordered from the US??
Any idea of the cost?
THX
Phil
I’ve ordered direct from him (Gilles). Shipping gets expensive from France.
https://www.fontenille-pataud.com/indexuk.php
And World Knife has other French knives.
Hope that helps
Yes Mike..
It does..
THX
Use the link Mikedoh gives here is his email look at the website first he has two the other is http://www.capuchadou.fr these knives are the predecessors of the Laguiole knives.
Since all knives are customisable especially the more exotic configurations it can take a while before they are dispatched.
Both his websites are engrossing . He also links a respected friends web site http://www.graveline-couteliers.com/spip.php?lang=en.
Another source of French knives including one of the best makers of Sabatier is SabatierK they sell carbon steel knives which are unused from the 50s & 60s http://www.sabatier-k.com they also sell a wide range of knives from French makers.
You may also like http://www.perceval-knives.co.uk these are very fine French knives.
Lastly I found a Mallorcean knife maker of note all his knives are hand made in house there are no prices - POA his site is worth a look if only to feast you eyes http://www.2gknives.com/index.php/en/.
The last sites I would mention although not French but Japanese are http://japanesechefsknife.com http://www.japaneseknifedirect.com/products.html and lastly http://www.rockstead.jp/collection/detail.html?id=
All these sites are worth looking at since many have exquisite knives probable beyond reach but when you have time well worth a look.
