About Me
Howdy folks! And thank you for stopping by today. My name is Ike Bullington, and I’m an axe maker from north Alabama, USA. No doubt wood chips and steel are in my blood. If they’re in yours too, then you’ve come to the right place.
I clearly remember the day when a kind gentleman handed an old hatchet to my brother and I. I was six or seven years old at the time, and though my Daddy would let us use his tools, there’s something special about owning your own. With our knives and that hatchet, Lucas and I set about making bows, arrows, spears and all manner of things that every young boy needs.
But there came a day when that tired-out hatchet couldn’t quite tackle the 5-inch diameter pine that seemed like a monstrous timber to me. As I stopped to rest awhile, tuckered out, I thought about the early settlers. How in the world did they clear all those trees with something like this? I concluded they must have had axes better than what I was holding.
By the time I was thirteen, Lucas had already built a couple charcoal forges, which inspired my own small foundry. I enjoyed making castings from a tomahawk head that I had, but as my little foundry would only get hot enough to melt aluminum, I gave up on casting and eventually turned to forging tomahawks and later axes.
Because of my love for the outdoors and because I still live on a working farm, I have spent hundreds of hours using axes for everything from cutting trees for firewood, clearing fences, building blinds, use along the trap line, primitive firemaking, camping, bushcrafting, and processing wild game.
I now know those early settlers weren’t so bad off. A sharp, well-designed axe in the hands of one who knows how to use it might not beat a chainsaw, but it will make it run for its money. Long after that saw stops running, the old axe will still be chopping wood and getting things done as it has for thousands of years.
Fast forward to today, and I am now honored to make this my full-time business, in working to provide USA-forged, rough and ready axes for the rugged outdoorsman, gentleman, homesteader, or USA-made tool-collector. At Wolf Valley Forge, we make the tools for adventure.
We offer a variety of axe models in our line-up. Each axe is made right here in my Alabama shop, and just as with any small-production, handmade product, your axe will be one of a kind and unique. Each forge mark and each grain pattern in the handle makes your axe different from the next.
We try to source as much USA-made materials as we can, so when you purchase a custom axe from Wolf Valley Forge, you’re not only supporting a US axe maker, you also support the US steel industry, a US tannery, and the US hickory and sawmill industry, along with countless other makers of small parts that go into making an axe.
We also produce a line of canvas packs and bags, to further equip you for the adventure. We use USA-made canvas duck and USA-leather on these products, and we field test them for endurance and usability.
My family and I greatly appreciate your business and support of what we do! I would be honored to build you an axe that you can enjoy for years to come, and then pass down to the next generations. Please let us know if you have any questions.
-Ike Bullington
Jesus is my Lord and Savior, the Master of my life and partner in this business.
All praise and glory be to Him.