Andre Thorburn Custom Knives South Africa

A2 Knives by knifetography

A2 Knives

A Friendly Collaboration

Photo: @knifetography

A2 Knives is a collaboration between André Thorburn and Andre van Heerden


The two Andres met in 2003 when Andre van Heerden attended a fixed blade knife making course being offered by André Thorburn. Within a week Andre van Heerden attended André Thorburn’s folder making course and this was where the friendship started.

We met regularly helping each other and discussing trends and challenges in knife making. Andre van Heerden is an IT Networks Engineer by day and brings that perspective to the table. I (André Thorburn) spent many years in the manufacturing sector and bring many of those skills to the partnership.

In 2010 we started the A2 Knives Collaboration when we acquired a Tormach CNC mill. While van Heerden is responsible for the handle and clip work, I am responsible for the blades and the mechanism of each knife.

We share a passion for quality knives and spend many hours working on new designs and reworking the existing ones to continually improve on our knives. As a result of the uncompromising attention to detail and quality, we have done a number of collaborations with designers like Tashi Bharucha, Liong Mah, and PDW. We also have a collaboration with Boker knives.

We attend a number of Knife Shows around the world together, whilst still maintaining our own Knife brands. We have a large Dealer network and occasionally take custom orders from selected collectors. The latest model is the A6 Interframe framelock that will debut at the FLL show 2017.

Thanks for the journey Pal.
André to Andre


You can view our knives at one of our awesome dealers!

For inquiries regarding A2 knives please contact Andre van Heerden at andrevh@iafrica.com.

"First impressions count. It's the last impression that lasts."