Heavin Forge

Heavin Forge — the name a contraction of founders Heather and Kevin Harvey's first names — operates as a bladesmithing studio and school in Belfast, Mpumalanga. Both Harveys are American Bladesmith Society Master Smiths; in 2003 they became the only married couple to hold that rank jointly, and Heather was, at the time, only the second woman to earn Master Smith status. A permanent hand injury from a livestock accident later ended Heather's own forging, and she now runs administration and instruction while Kevin continues to make collector-grade Bowie knives, work that has won him Best Knifemaker on Show in South Africa four times.

Heavin Forge is one of a small number of bladesmithing schools worldwide recognized by the American Bladesmith Society and the only one on the African continent — ABS's own approved-schools list also includes one European school (La Forge d'Ostiches, Belgium), so it is not, as the school's own materials sometimes suggest, the sole ABS-recognized school outside the United States, but it does appear to be Africa's only one. Both Harveys have also taught at the ABS's own Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing in Arkansas, and in 2015 they jointly received the ABS and Southern African knifemaking associations' Chairman's Award.

The school takes on apprentices as well as short-course students — Gabriel De Leo joined in 2025 — and produces custom knives and Damascus steel work alongside its teaching programme. For African bladesmithing specifically, Heavin Forge and its founders represent one of only three ABS Master Smiths working on the continent, according to the school's own account, which is the basis for treating it as a genuinely notable rather than merely local craft business.