FL Toussaint is a cutlery workshop located in Courpière, in the Puy-de-Dôme, at the heart of the cutlery basin of Thiers. My name is François-Louis Toussaint and I work there alone. I design and make pocket knives, reinterpretations of French regional knives, kitchen knives, and table knives — in small series or as individual pieces. The work begins on a plan and ends in the hand: drawing, cutting, fitting, assembly, finishing, sharpening, inspection. This page presents the place, what is actually made there, and what it means to work here.
Courpière, in the Thiers basin
The distinction deserves to be made clearly, because it is often blurred. The workshop is not located in the commune of Thiers: it is in Courpière, a neighboring commune in the valley of the Dore, which belongs to the Thiers cutlery basin. Saying 'near Thiers' is accurate; saying 'in Thiers' is not. I prefer real geography over commercial shortcuts.
This anchoring is not a matter of address. Working in the basin means having steel suppliers, heat treatment workshops, specialists in sharpening and polishing, and colleagues who speak the same technical language within driving distance. When a question arises about a spring, a mitre, or guilloché work, the answer is often found just a few kilometers away. This environment allows an individual workshop to operate seriously without having everything within its walls. The development of this production and its evolutions are documented in the file devoted to the history of Thiers cutlery.
The place itself has nothing of a set. No reconstruction of an old shop, no demonstration forge lit for the photo. It is a current production space, organized around the operations that take place there: each area corresponds to a task, parts move from one station to another, and dust is part of everyday life.
What is done in the workshop
Specifically, the following operations are carried out in Courpière:
- design of models, drawing of lines and proportions;
- preparation of cutting files and laser cutting of blades — I draw, program, and operate the machine myself;
- preparation and inspection of components;
- fitting of parts together;
- assembly;
- shaping of handles;
- touches and finishing;
- sharpening;
- final inspection, by hand, before shipment.
Mastering digital design is not a detail: it allows you to move from a single piece to a small series without changing the method, and to maintain control over the shape of each blade. The rest depends on repetition: redoing an adjustment, checking an alignment, correcting a tenth of a millimeter, repeating a finish that is not satisfactory. Every operation, from drawing to inspection, is detailed on the page dedicated to stages of making a handcrafted knife.
Workshop piece and series model
The workshop produces two types of parts, and displays it without hesitation.
| Type of manufacturing | Operations carried out in Courpière | Operations possibly entrusted to a partner |
|---|---|---|
| Workshop part (special order) | Entire manufacturing process, from design to final inspection | None |
| Series model | Design, laser cutting, fitting, assembly, adjustments, finishing, sharpening, inspection | Heat treatment, beveling |
Heat treatment and sharpening require specific equipment and monitoring. For certain production models, entrusting them to professional partners in the area is a consciously made technical choice, not a surrender: this is how a large part of serious cutlery works, each person with their role, each with their precision. Custom pieces, on the other hand, do not leave Courpière until they are finished.
Machines, tools, and judgment
Design software, a laser cutter, workshop machines, templates, abrasives, measuring tools, and hand tools. None of these machines makes a knife by itself: a well-adjusted machine does exactly what it is asked to do, and the craft consists of knowing what to ask it. The value of a piece is determined by design choices, adjustments, fittings, corrections when something is not right, and the judgment made on each knife before it leaves the workbench. A beautiful wood never makes up for a poor assembly.
Knives made to serve
All this work is aimed at knives that are used: a folding knife that follows its owner, a kitchen knife that attacks vegetables from the market, a table knife placed near the plate between the bread and the cheese, regional shapes revived with today's proportions and uses. Some models exist in small series, at a more accessible price; others are pieces that are more advanced in materials and finishes, preserved, maintained, and sometimes passed down. The rule does not change: an FL Toussaint knife must cut, feel good in the hand, and last — not sleep under glass.
Each piece that leaves the workshop bears my signature: a stamp struck in the tradition of master stamps, a carnyx in a diamond, framed by the initials FL and T. The current models and pieces can be found among the FL Toussaint handcrafted knives.
Visits and contact
No open visits are offered to date: some operations are not suitable for visitors. Any request for a visit begins with a prior exchange via the contact page.
For a question about a model, availability, a particular piece project, or a professional inquiry: contact François-Louis Toussaint. I respond to messages myself — there is no commercial service between you and me, and that is very good.
This page presents the place. For the person, a page allows to discover François-Louis Toussaint ; for the training and experiences, another details my career in cutlery ; for the methods, the page dedicated to the know-how of the workshop.