Who are we?

Svante and Elsa Djärv started S. Djärv Hantverk AB in 1989, along with Svantes father, Kalle Djärv.
Svante is the toolsmith. He forges and sharpens all our tools and has an in-depth understanding of steel and heat treatment and how to work with it.

Elsa takes care of handle and shaft production from Swedish elm and ash and preparation of the steel from rods and sheets to make it ready for forging, which includes cutting, drilling and turning.
She also manages the day-to-day running of the company.

Kalle made all the machines and equipment that Svante and Elsa needed to prepare and forge the steel as well as to make the tool handles and shafts.


Before we started the company...


Kalle Djärv was a tool manufacturer and mechanic, and Svantés grandfather was a carpenter and a woodworker. So Svantés interest in tool making and woodworking began at a very tender age.

Svante was originally trained as an model carpenter, while working for Chalmers in Gothenburg but then he changed course to focus on outdoor life at Sjöviks Folkhögsskola in Dalarna. There his interest in woodworking increased and he learned to carve allsorts of useful items such as spoons and bowls, as well as sculpture and wood turning.

Of course he wanted to use the best quality steel tools and he found some, which was good, but he wanted go further and to see if he could make them himself to his own personal specifications.

He bought his first forging tools in 1987 and started to forge some knife blades and an axe. His interest and skill quickly grew and he soon realized that this could become more than just a hobby.


The company is born...


So in 1989, together with Elsa and Kalle our company became a reality and the first tools we sold were a knife blade and a spoon-knife.

We built our new smithy in 1992 and soon it became too cramped in the garage for our carpentry need so in 1994 we added a new workshop.

Today, Svante and Elsa work full-time for S. Djärv Hantverk AB, specialising in high quality smithy-made tools for woodworkers. We make around 4000 tools every year and are pleased to sell them both in Sweden and abroad.