Kleinmond, South Africa
Cell. 083 462 6422
eMail. ferdisteffens01@gmail.com
Instagram. https://instagram.com/ferdisteffens
I am a hobbyist knife-maker who enjoy the process of making real custom knives.
I was born in Pietermaritzburg way back when and never settled for too long in one spot. I literally went to school in each of the provinces in SA, spent many years during my career working in South-East Asia as well as many countries in Africa before finally settling down in 2018 in Kleinmond, Western Cape where I plan to eventually retire.
As much as I make knives for general selling at exhibitions, I prefer to make knives according to each customer’s personal preferences and requirements. I like the process of design and creation and putting bits and pieces of ideas and examples together into something the customer wants and likes.
From a very young age I was fascinated by knives and was always attracted to the craftmanship as well as the beauty of the knives. I started making knives for myself when I was an apprentice at Sasol. I used old discarded mechanical saw blades as blanks and used a bench grinder, sandpaper and lots of elbow grease to shape the knives. The initial knives were made for own use as substitutes for the expensive industrial knives that I couldn’t afford to buy. I am mostly self-taught but has also over the years picked up many valuable tips and techniques from other proficient knife-makers. I find the knife-making community in general a really helpful and supportive bunch of people and thus I like to pass all handy tips and tricks forward to new knife-makers who are starting out.
Although I make knives for hunting, I do not do any hunting myself and take my cues from hunters as to what size and shape works best for what part of the hunting and skinning process. I use any good steel for my blades – from high carbon 5160 & 1095, through stainless knife steel like N690, 14C28N & L4528 to dragon skin damascus and Damasteel. I prefer to use natural South African material for the handles (indigenous wood, horn, warthog tusks & giraffe bone), but on occasion would also use G10 for kitchen knives if that is what the customer wants.
I have a basic workshop at my home in Kleinmond, Western Cape and spend every available hour in the workshop tinkering with new ideas and keeping my loyal customers happy.
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