Now that the blank has been tempered and quenched, it is passed to the “grinder“ whose job is to take up where the smith's work finished, and give the blade a cutting edge using a grindstone.
An image of this time has come down to us through the ages, of men lying flat on their stomachs on wooden planks above a sandstone millstone that turns unceasingly, driven by the power of the Durolle river.
The reason the grinder lies on his stomach is that this allows him to concentrate all his strength on his arms, pressing hard against the millstone. For safety's sake the blade is embedded in a wooden handle called a "baton" that the worker holds at each end.
In the workshops or “rouets“ (a typical Thiers word meaning wheelhouse), located deep in the Durolle Valley, the work was considered unhealthy and difficult because of the all-pervading humidity and the risk of the millstone throwing off chips, or even shattering (they were immense, up to 1.50 m in diameter and weighing up to 700 kg...).
The only touch of comfort for the workers were their dogs, specially trained to lie on their feet or backs to keep them warm.