Jan Steffen

Helle Knives

Knife maker

A family passion

The Helle factory is located in a remote village in Norway
The company's first knife was the traditional tollekniv
All its designs are rooted in Scandinavian culture

The hand and the machine should work together, and knives should be both functional and aesthetically beautiful: ever since 1932 this has been the philosophy of Helle, a family business which today is a well known brand in Norway and abroad. Current owners Svein-Erik Helle and Jan Steffen are the third generation in the family, continuing the work of their ancestors. Jan was fortunate enough to learn from a real master, his grandfather Sigmund, who mastered some 45 manual steps that go into the making of a knife. A metals engineer who started out as a welder, Jan decided to work for the oil industry before returning to Helle almost ten years ago.

Interview

Why did you return to the family business?: I have always been attracted to metallurgy and practised the craft part-time during my period in the oil industry. So, I decided to move back to Holmedal and stepped right into learning from production leaders.
What are the main features of a Helle knife?: Our blades are made of triple laminated stainless steel, the handles are made of horn, leather and wood. Our sheaths often incorporate traditional patterns and modern elements to show that even our small local community is evolving.
How important is it for your craft to have a local connection?: Very. Helle has always tried to stay true to the heritage of the area where we are from. Rain in this part of Norway was used to power the grinding wheels back when we didn’t have electricity, and all our designs are fundamentally rooted in Scandinavian knife culture.
What is your first memory of the business?: My first memory of Helle knives is sitting in my grandfather’s basement sewing and threading sheaths by hand and getting one krone per sheath for it. It was a precious time.

Jan Steffen is an expert artisan: he began his career in 2012 and he started teaching in 2019