Timeless works with sharpness – Le Journal de Montréal

Hunting and fishing enthusiasts are not necessarily big consumers of artisanal products, but there is one element that stands out for this clientele.

• Also read: Good places for small game

At the end of a day of fishing, in the gutting hut or in the field after a fatal shot at a wild animal, we inevitably talk about cutting tools. The name of certain knife manufacturers often comes up, but that of a great local craftsman is also often mentioned: that of Séguin. Anyone who owns one usually says proudly: “I have a Séguin”.

At its beginnings

Éric Séguin from Labelle has been making knives since he was a teenager. At the age of 14, the 48-year-old bought blades from catalogs and grafted onto them handles that he fashioned himself from bones, feathers, jaws, etc. that he found in his father’s taxidermy shop.

At the age of 17, he joined the renowned cutler Grenier full-time. “Roger was my mentor for eight months. “He taught me all the basics of making special knives,” explains Mr. Séguin modestly. This master of the field then invited me to stand on my own two feet and develop a business model that would do him no harm. In just a few weeks, I developed from an apprentice to a potential successor and finally to a competitor. I then targeted the Ontario market so as not to damage it at that time.”

When Grenier ceased its activities in 2005, Éric decided to be more present in the province of La Belle.

Recipe

All blades are cut from carbon, chromium and manganese stainless steel sheets. Once they are cut into the desired shape, they are hammered, sanded and polished. They are then subjected to a heat treatment that ensures the desired hardness and remarkable edge retention.

The final processing step will be a cryogenic treatment, which, among other things, ensures the desired flexibility for filleting knives.

custom

There are no limits to the choice of handle, also known as grip. It can be made from a piece of wood, a piece of feather or bone, etc. He even assembled handles with a stranded whale tooth, a fossilized mammoth tusk, etc. In fact, your budget and your imagination are the only limits to what can come from it.

Once assembled, sharpening is done manually with a soft stone and finishing is done with a belt like the one used by the hairdresser. It is possible to engrave a name or a short phrase to immortalize everything.

The case, which some also call a sheath, is cut from thick cowhide and assembled in the workshop. Its aesthetics can be personalized upon request.

CULINARY

Éric Séguin has developed a complete range for the kitchen, ranging from paring knives to chef’s knives. There are even steak knife sets. He also creates a variety of artisan supports to showcase everything well.