Welcome, Guest
Dave Skinner is a bladesmith from Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. He is an optometrist by day and a knifemaker in the evenings. His great attention developed in optometry has clearly moved into his knifemaking.
In 2011, Skinner got hooked on forged knives and damascus after he took an introductory course at Heavin Forge with Mastersmiths Heather and Kevin Harvey. Immediately after the course, he started forging on his own, refining his skills, and finished his first blade late in 2011. He continued to practice, and in 2015 he was back at Heavin Forge, where he completed the American Bladesmith Society Introduction to Forging course. He spent the next year making his submission knives for the Knifemakers Guild of Southern Africa, and was accepted as a Guild member in 2016.
Most of Dave Skinner’s knives are forged carbon steel or his own damascus. When forging carbon steel, he often borrows a Japanese heat treating technique, creating a clay zone differential heat treatment (hamon).
Dave Skinner is a talent to be reckoned with! He has won numerous awards, including:
Bunka (Chef's Knife) with Wild Olive |
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Chef's Knife (4-3/4") with Wild Olive |
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Chef's Knife (5-1/4") with Wild Olive |
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Chef's Knife (8-2/3 in.) with Masur Birch and Micarta |
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Chef's Knife/Petit Gyuto (5 in.) with Spalted Birch and Damasteel |
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Chef's Knife/Santoku (5-1/2 in.) with Maple Burl |
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Chef's Slicer (Sujihiki) with African Blackwood |
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Chef's Slicer (Sujihiki) with Black Ash Burl |
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Clip Point Hunter with Chacate Preto |
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Damascus Bowie with Honduran Rosewood |
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Damascus Chef's Knife (8-3/4 in.) with Maple Burl |
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Damascus Tanto with Chittum Burl |
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Damascus Utility Knife with Ash |
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Fillet/Boning Knife with Black Palm |
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Hamon Fighter Bowie with Russet Bushwillow Burl |
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Hamon Fighter with Spalted Birch |
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Hand Forged Go Mai Chechen Burl Fighter |
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Hand Forged Go Mai Hatchet |
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Integral Damascus Hunter with Tambooti |
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Integral Damascus Sub-Hilt Fighter with Ironwood |
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Integral Utility Knife with Bog Oak (2500 Years Old!) |
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Knifemakers' Guild of Southern Africa Guild Set (4 Knives and Performance Test Blade) |
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Kukri with Curly Mabandolo |
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La Grange Style Boot Dagger with Rosewood |
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La Grange Style Boot Dagger with Stag |
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La Grange Style Fighter with Spalted Beech |
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La Grange Style Utility with Hamon and Black Canvas Micarta |
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Mammoth Damascus Dagger |
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Mosaic Damascus Fighter with Redwood Burl |
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Multibar Damascus Anglo-Saxon Broken Back Seax with Black Walnut |
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Push Dagger with Mammoth Molar |
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Southwest Bowie with African Blackwood |
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Southwest Bowie with Mabondolo |
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Utility Knife (Petty) with Ash |
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Utility/Hunter with Black Walnut |
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Vegetable Cleaver (Nakiri) with Wild Olive |
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Veld Knife with Briar Burl |
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