In his new Focus Profession, Laura Dupui, collaborator of the magazine Le Compagnonnage, takes you to the meeting of Pierre-Yves Pinet, member of the Union compagnonnique and member of the Cayenne d'Avignon.
Focus
Land and fire
Self-taught and explorer, Pierre-Yves Pinet patiently shaped his journey. A former agricultural worker who has become a taillander, he is inspired by tradition to register his business in modernity.
His approach, marked by encounters and punctuated with perseverance, embodies the Companion's spirit: seek, create, transmit and constantly reinvent.
Tool, or the beginning
Raised both in the working and agricultural world, Pierre-Yves Pinet develops an interest in the creation, the transformation of matter and the tool. Originally from Brionnais (71), he first became passionate about the cultivation of the earth and the aratory tools, which he described as: « The intermediate between the mind, which conceives, and the hand, which shapes the matter ». Without tools, no work; Without work, no bread.
Pierre-Yves plans to build his vegetable farm. It travels the farms in search of the ideal model and collects feedback from experiences, while working. « I've been trained to grow my food independently. I earned my life in agriculture, but I was thirsty for something else. At the age of 24, in parallel with market gardening, I began to forge self-taught. And from a hobby, I wanted to make it a career. »
The origin of the flame
In 2015, he met Emmanuel Strattman, a blacksmith who became his friend and experimented with the forge. The following year, he performed a first internship at Julien Puy, blacksmith, ironsmith and taillander, and in 2018, his encounter with Martin Claudel, a taillander and former blacksmith of Guédelon, deeply marked him and caused a click.
Despite a work transition project at Metallica (training centre) cancelled by the pandemic, Pierre-Yves persists. He is inspired by the works of Christian Moretti, a metallurgist and cutlery of the Tarn, and he multiplies exchanges with artisans to refine his know-how.
In 2023, He founded his business, Pyforge. « I continue to go to meet taillanders, carpenters and stone tailors to understand their tools and needs. At the end of 2023, I went to Brittany to find a carpenter who works in the dolory, in order to better understand this tool. »
The alchemy of patience and precision
« Taillandery is one of the traditional professions with the greatest autonomy of creation and self-production: We make our own forging tools and we work steel with steel. It is an ancient and meaningful profession, which also serves to simplify that of farmers, stone tailors, carpenters and other traditional construction occupations. Unlike industry, craftsmanship has the opportunity to be tailor-made, to connect to the customer's request and to shape a project. »
However, it is a physical and sometimes ungrateful profession, which requires a lot of temperance and humility: « The material does not mislead: hard steels break when overheated, poorly tempered creates cracks, poor ventilation management of the forge burns or does not heat enough to fit in the soldering white. Yet it never demotifies me, on the contrary, I persevere and continue to experiment, while seeking to understand what I must improve in this quest for fire. »
Entry Union compagnonnique
In July 2025, Pierre-Yves obtained his CAP as a free candidate. As early as August, he started with a forge workshop with the taillandier Martin Claudel, 10 years after meeting him. In the following year, he took part in training courses in the tile industry, notably at the Rossignol workshop (UK) and in the metal trade group of the Union compagnonnique, at the Maison Luquet (Alsace). His goal remains to enrich his gesture and experiment with forge techniques.
Become a member Union compagnonnique In 2025, Pierre-Yves joined the Cayenne d'Autun, whose family atmosphere he enjoyed. But in 2026, he changed his horizon and left for the Cayenne d'Avignon, in order to start his Tour de France: « The Companion invites us to discover new things and pushes us out of our comfort zone, to turn to the unknown. And I found it important to get out of sedentaryness. »
Between tradition and modernity
The market is changing, and with it, the practice of forging. In the past, the village blacksmith had an important social role: Beyond manufacturing, he also repaired the sleeves, sharpened the blades and rested the tools in addition to the marshalry. Today, each taillander has its speciality (haches, scissors, frame tools, limes or rapps and stone tools...) and thus approaches different companies with a production of tools adapted to their particular needs.
« Standardizing part of its production can secure the company, but the door remains open to original projects! ». With his experience in the aratory tool, Pierre-Yves explores the winery that has needs for pickets, mine bars and other tools that he masters in manufacturing.
Pyforge: a company on the move
« I work in part for Companions and workers, stone tailors and carpenters, but I also sell garden tools for private individuals. Earth culture still occupies an important place in my activity. Recently, I had the opportunity to make grelinettes for a rehabilitative company that markets: it is a tool that seems modern when it was invented in the 1960s. It allows to work the soil without turning it over, which preserves the backs of the farmers. »
For the Companions and workers (and workers) of stone, Pierre-Yves produces point and flat hammers used in masonry, gradines, flat scissors, hunts, massettes... « I like to welcome interns or Companions and Aspirants in my forge to make their own tools and sign them there: an artisanal tool is an intimate object. »
High Voltigation Activity
Some tools require an average of three hours of work. « For a unique and custom-made object, I start with a project study, then I quantify the matter. I cut out selected steel loins, and start forging. Then I make a pre-machining by grinding/spinning or removing material. Heat treatments, such as hardening to harden steel (which is done in lukewarm water or oil to avoid thermal shocks), and finally tightening, sharpening and finishing. »
While some artisans also manufacture leather cases, Pierre-Yves prefers to focus on his core business: « I'm going to call on a wood craftsman for the tool sleeves, to stay profitable and to devote myself to the forge ». An exception: the axe sleeves, which he prefers to make himself.
« At first I was in a learning process, I made various pieces, but it was dispersing. Today, I see that the needs of businesses must be met in order to sustain activity. »
A Rediscovered Profession
« Martin Claudel, the Maison Luquet, the Rossignol workshop and other companies were part of a group of artisans who worked for the Notre Dame de Paris construction site. This project has given renewed vigour to our tillland trade. Although we do a behind-the-scenes job that is little lit up, it is essential to perpetrate the traditional construction. A renewed interest in traditional construction techniques has revived demand for forged tools and restoration of old tools.
Now we have to explore all the vastness of the possibilities and sectors that will benefit from our know-how, to recreate the spark! For my part, I dream of building a fuse (house in logs) with my own forged tools! »
Laura Dupui for the newspaper Le Compagonnage
