Brice Dolay, the soul of knives in Eure

Based in the Andelle valley in Ménesqueville (Eure), the artisan blacksmith manufactures unique knives at the request of his customers. This former workshop manager at Renaut Cléon cultivates a love of a job well done using ancestral French techniques.

The ritual always begins with a large fire lit with coal. Once out of the forge, the still glowing steel is hammered then stretched using a sledgehammer. On the anvil, the gestures are as powerful as they are precise. Brice Dolay bends the blade, still heated, before working the tip until it has the shape of a knife. An object to which the blacksmith devotes limitless passion.

The knife is the first tool you have in your pocket. When we’re kids, it’s used to build cabins. It’s freedom. This is when we’re going to play. It is the tool for eating. It is also the object that we pass on to our children, to our grandchildren. It’s a mythical object and what’s more, it’s fun to make.

Brice Dolay, artisan blacksmith

Since March 2021, Brice Dolay has created his blacksmith’s cocoon in a former dairy in Ménesqueville, a village nestled in the Andelle valley. “One of the most beautiful valleys in France”recognizes this Ch’ti, originally from Cambrai (North), who fell in love with Normandy.

It is therefore there that he alone manufactures exceptional knives at the request of his customers. Nothing is left to chance. Everything is thought out down to the smallest detail before design. From the Damascus steel blade to the wood of the handle, most often exotic. Each piece is unique.

“We will adapt the knife according to the use, right-handed or left-handed. Depending on the profile too, cook or hunter. It also depends on the level of sharpening of the customers. We will thus be able to play with more or less hard steels. We will adjust based on the grip and the way the customer holds their knife.”lists Brice Dolay.

The 44-year-old craftsman knew how to shape his destiny. After climbing the ranks at the Renault factory in Douai, he arrived in Cléon five years ago as workshop manager. Unconvinced by his new role, he decided to leave the diamond brand after more than twenty years of career.

He then returns to the immoderate desire to work iron. He then decides to take the plunge to become a blacksmith, his lifelong passion. As part of a retraining, he left to train in Pierrelatte in the Drôme with a master blacksmith who taught him all the ancestral techniques for four months.

His adventure in cutlery and artistic metalwork can then begin. After three years of practice, Brice Dolay is today very proud of his status as an artisan.

“We invite ourselves into people’s homes. It’s something that they will pass on. There is a real sentimental value and there are real exchanges. Sometimes, someone brings me wood from the garden or a piece of steel from a well. A gentleman came to ask me to make him a knife from an old iron. It’s an item from his childhood home. You can incorporate lots of materials into a knife. history and I am an element of this history”he enthuses.

Each knife blade is accompanied by a bear paw in a flame, a hallmark drawn by one of Brice Dolay’s children. Count on up to 800 euros to offer you these products literally at your fingertips. As part of its activity, Brice offers one or two day courses to those who would like to make their own knives.