The unparalleled pleasure of knife making

Easter is around the corner and for most people this time of year is for family, relaxation and indulging in copious amounts of Easter eggs.

But for a few North Coast guys, it’s the culmination of countless hours and late nights in their workshops, burning and cutting fingers not to mention being saturated in steel dust.

For the members of the North Coast Knifemakers’ club, the Easter weekend signals the start of the Durban Easter knife show March 25 and 26.

The show started in 1985 and was known as the Durban Easter Knife Exhibition.

It’s the second longest running knife show in the country and had made a name for itself as a good starting point for many first- time knife-makers.

This year there will be 22 exhibitors, six of whom are members of the North Coast Knifemakers’ club.

People ask me why I, a member of the club, make knives and the answer is simple.

The feeling I get from making something from the most pedestrian of materials such as steel, wood, and leather and creating something so useful, is unparalleled.

The stereotype that always puts the knife in a menacing light, as a weapon some criminals use to inflict harm, is unfortunate. Put the same blade into the hands of a surgeon and the results are life saving.

A range of blades

The Durban Easter Knife Show (DEKS) draws exhibitors from across the country and buyers come from as far afield as Germany and the USA.

The 2016 show will be held at the Protea Hotel Umhlanga Ridge, 14 Palm Boulevard, Umhlanga Ridge.

On display will be every conceivable type of hand-made blade – from hunting and fighting knives to kitchen and carving knives; to small “gentlemen’s folders”.

Blades are fashioned from the best steels of the world, and handles shaped from all sorts of exotic and indigenous materials.

DEKS features the craftwork of both experienced and new knife makers.

Knife-making equipment and materials will also be exhibited and be on sale. Even those who have little interest in knives will be fascinated by the skill, science and artistry of these works.

For more information visit www.africanblade.com or telephone Beatrice on 082 908 0064.

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