Swanepoel, Pieter

Pieter Swanepoel (Swanepoel Designs) is a full time knifemaker in Cape Town, South Africa. "My first attempt at making a knife started in 2010. I read an article in a magazine about knife makers when I was a little boy. At the time I thought that is something I would love to try one day. That day came in 2010 and I decided to buy a piece of knife steel . N690 from Bohler was the preferred local steel so that is what I used. It was a big learning curve. I took forever to finish my knife with very basic tools. I learned how to hand rub a blade the hard way. Many hours of sweat fell on that blade before I was satisfied with it .It was worth it though. The satisfaction you get when seeing the end product is priceless. This was the beginning. I made a few more knives for myself that year. I kept experimenting and doing research to improve my skills while also designing new knives. It started as a hobby but turned into a means of surviving."