Van's Custom Knives

I have had a passion for knives since the age of nine and was an avid collector. Made my first knife in 1985 and then had the privilege to meet a professional knifemaker by the name of Peter Bouchop. He was impressed with my passion for knife making and said I have great potential to be a good knifemaker. He invited me to his workshop to make a knife of my choice. After workshop experience I reali

zed I must invest in machinery, but finances were tight then, so I decided to go full throttle and started building my own machinery which included grinders. Needless to say, … 2 knives were made by me using the machinery I built from scratch and by 1990 a client ordered 500 Biltong knives. The year of 1994 I showcased my knives at a knifemakers show in Durban and by 1997 I was awarded 4 of the show’s awards listed below
• Best folding knife
• Best art knife
• Best knife at Show
• Best table display
The first Knife makers Guild Show was in 1998 of which I was awarded honors for the best innovation of my foldable knife and fork set and in 1999 was awarded the best art folder. I have had the privilege of teaching my son, Ivan from a very young age of 9 and we are a team from 1992 still making knives and more. We manufacture custom items such as variety of knives, leatherworks, jewelry, custom made bike fittings, fixtures and much more!!