After several aborted takeover attempts, in July 2022, Claude Simon, clog maker in Camors (56) for 40 years, was pleased to have finally found a buyer in the person of Finistère Jean Boutros. A challenge for the Quimperlois who had to acquire know-how and learn to maintain machines from the beginning of the 20th century. Especially since as a left-hander, he had to adapt to equipment designed for right-handers. But two years ago, nothing seemed to be able to dampen his motivation.
“There are no instructions for the tools”
Today, tired of war, the craftsman abandons the project “because the transmission did not go ideally. Clog maker is not a job you learn in five months. Everything is based on transmission because there is no school, he explains. Furthermore, we work on machines dating from 1900 which we also have to learn to maintain, adjust and sharpen. This part of the job also relies on support, because there are no instructions for the tools.”
After four and a half months of collaboration, relations between the buyer and the retired clog maker became strained. Today, Jean Boutros feels there are too many gaps in his know-how to be able to continue this profession. “It was a long reflection. I prefer to leave leaving a few feathers rather than being completely featherless, even if my first assessments allowed me to achieve balance and withdraw a salary. I constantly have a sword of Damocles hanging over my head. »
Only six clog makers left in France
“I tried the adventure and gave all my guts to make the business work. I’m sorry for the customers,” he regrets with a touch of bitterness. Jean Boutros explains that he cannot train since he himself does not fully master all the tricks of sabotage.
He announced that he would stop production on January 31, to find solutions and advance avenues to get out of this situation. “Machines still constitute production tools and represent a heritage, but there are many of them in Camors, the town having counted, at one time, up to 80 clog makers. » Today, it is the last clog maker in Morbihan who is bowing out. There are six left in France.
Practical
At Sabot camorien, 47, route de la Forêt, in Camors. The shop and workshop will be closed from December 22 to January 7, before closing definitively on January 31.
France
