2024-07-28 14:14:15
One of the machines, the lapidary, is almost a century old… Some of the tools, like the anvil, are even 200 years old… Maison James in Autun, in Saône-et-Loire, is a real company. What are your main activities? Armor but also cutlery. While his workshop has not been visible to the public and customers for many decades, we can admire it again when we pass the area of the mountain bikers. Pauline Zacharie, the only qualified blacksmith in France, decided to return the cutting workshop to its original place, in the shop window: “That’s where it all started. I think it’s good to show my work to passersby and customers. Let everyone see how we sharpen knives or even chop for animals! »
From table knife to butcher knife
Pauline Zacharie says: “I sharpen about 1,200 knives a year. They come in all sizes, from table knives to butcher knives. The dry stones are light and more comfortable than the water-powered ones that can also be found in Thiers in Auvergne. » What attracts passers-by is also the lapidary, which is used to sharpen cuts for cattle and sheep. “We do less than before, around twenty per week, because the winters are not so cold than a few decades ago. Farmers do not need it a little to fatten their sheep, which they use a little in the stalls. »
Pauline Zacharie, first from the Department of Arts, takes real pleasure in sharpening blades with a focus on perfection, to make them as fragile as they are sharp. Its prices: 7.90 euros for a cut and 3 to 7 euros for a knife. Reasonable prices are noted by lovers of beautiful knives. The famous Galvacher, the king of Morvan, is no longer in Autun, but in Thiers… But he still has his fans in Saône-et-Loire.
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