Founded in 1991, the Bloemfontein Knife Makers Club (BKMC) started with a small group of knife makers who were in search of like-minded enthusiasts. Thirty-three-years later and the club has thrived, grew in numbers and has a national following.
Club chairman, Tiaan Groenewald, who has been in knife making for the past 12 years, mentioned that the BKMC has about 40 members that meet every second Saturday of the month to discuss the art of knife making.
“Anyone can make a knife, you take a piece of steel and sharpen it so that it can cut something and you will have a knife. The art of making knives is somewhat different. If you want something sharp you can go to any convenience store and buy something that is sharp, cheap and disposable. Custom made knives or hand-made knives is made on another level,” he expressed.
He added that the knife maker aims to make something that is functional but also a work of art. This is referred to as functional art.
“We want to make a knife that can comply with everyday tasks and still looks amazing. More than that it should be of such quality that it can be handed down from father to son,” said Groenewald.
According to the aficionado, to have a passion like this, one would need to have time and be willing to invest in your craft. It is not as simple as it looks on shows.
“The average knife maker will spend his first ten years of making knives just to get all the necessary tools together to do the job. Knife-making materials are very expensive mostly because everything must be imported or are hard to come by. Wood types that you use on handles must be stabilised otherwise they will warp or crack after a few years. This all comes into consideration with a quality knife,” he said. He added that it takes a knife maker 36 hours to make a single full tang knife if he follows the correct procedure and of course the knife maker’s capability.
“For a folding knife the estimated time is 60 – 75 hours, depending on the mechanism and bearing system he uses. Then there is another problem, the tools to do the job.”
In addition to promoting the art of making good quality knives, the non-profit club aims to host the biggest knife show in South Africa. Last year the club hosted almost 60 knife makers from across the country with more than a thousand guests.
“Bloemfontein needs something like this, and the people of Bloemfontein and surrounding areas must make it their own by supporting the show. The Bloemfontein Knife Show will be held 8-9 November 2024 at the Bobbies Park Sports Grounds.”
Thinking of pursuing knife making? Here are a few pointers provided by Groenewald:
Please don’t believe everything you see on YouTube. 10 % of what you see will be true but the rest is only good for a dustbin. Second to that, join the club so we can show you the correct tools, machines, materials and abrasives to buy. Unfortunately, there are many businesses and knife making suppliers that want to sell you the stuff that don’t work so they can get it out of their way. Be careful. First, complete a course and see if you really want to do this before spending a lot of money buying tools just to find out it’s not for you. There are some knife makers that present knife making courses, and it can be expensive but remember you are cutting away three to four years of struggling to get the correct information, tools, materials etc, and you are basically buying that knife makers experience.
Groenewald on the importance of the right steel:
Making a Knife starts with an idea or a design as we say. There are millions of designs out there and making a new or unique knife design does not happen so often. In your design you will then have to decide on what blade material you will use to make the knife and yes, your design of knife determines that, not what you have in your cupboard stashed away. There are literally 1000’s types of steel you can choose from in the world, unfortunately most of those steels are imported meaning it’s not cheap. Blade steel can cost you anything from R 300 to R25 000 for one blade. It all depends on your idea.
Local knife makers and interested sponsors for the show can contact 072-503-5688 or send an email to tiaangroenewald@yahoo.com for more information.
Gypseenia Lion
