For those who have followed his career, which started all the way back in 2014, David has grown from strength to strength and is one of the most accomplished knifemakers in South Africa and one of the few truly full-time knifemakers.
For those who aren’t familiar with David or his work, here is a brief synopsis of his knifemaking journey to date.
Starting point
David started making knives in 2014 with what some would consider “rudimentary” tools. The first photo is what his workshop looked like when he started making knives, including a small 1×30 Ryobi grinder, drill press and vice.
The second photo is the belt grinder David managed to pick up for R500 (practically for free), but he then spent R5500 to upgrade it with a 3-phase motor and a new drive wheel with disc attachment and VFD (variable frequency drive).
The third photo shows the capital investments he made in the craft and what’s more impressive is what David was able to squeeze into his then tiny workshop.
Four 1/2 years later and a couple of hundred knives under his belt, David moved house and with that moved onto bigger and better things, mainly more garage space! Which he quickly filled.
Awards
From the somewhat humble beginnings, David worked on his skills and invested in better equipment (tool up or die) and ultimately won two awards at the 2017 Durban Easter Knife Show.
In more recent years David’s order book has prevented him from attending the show (along with the Covid pandemic), but make no mistake, his work has improved since then. In 2022, David was a Top 10 Kitchen Knifemakers of South Africa nominee.
A Dream Realised
David attended the Guild show at Gold Reef City when he was about 10 or 11 (we won’t give away his age, but that was a long time ago), and it’s been a dream of his to one day join the ranks of his childhood heroes ever since.
In 2022 all the hard work and countless hours of hand sanding finally paid off as David was accepted into the Knifemakers Guild of South Africa.
Congratulations to David Hoehler (Hoehler Handmade) for this accomplishment!
Online Knifemaking Course
David has released a complete in-depth online course on how to make chef knives.
The course covers kitchen knife design, all the way to the final finished product and includes every tip and trick David has learnt over the past 8 years.
Follow David’s socials (Facebook, Instagram) as well as KZN knifemakers for newly release knives..
