BEAR CREEK TOOLS

O

Old Axeman

Joined
Jan 10, 2015
Messages
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Anybody remember this American company from Marshall North Carolina, and know what happened to them ? I met the owner, Charly (his spelling) Wilkins about 35-40 years ago and bought some axes and adzes from him. His tools were mostly made from A-2 tool steel, and hardened to 55-62 Rockwell. The ones I own, and still use, are very well made. He had axes, adzes, slicks, chisels, draw knives, scorps, froes, block(stock) knife, bench knives, bent and crooked knives, and replacement plane and spoke shaves irons. He had a foundry, machine shop, and blacksmith shop. For a while the big tool dealer from that time period, WOODCRAFT SUPPLY, was selling his tools. It is a shame, to my knowledge he did not mark his tools.
His Scandinavian carving axe and bowl adzes are some of my favorite users.
 
I can't say the name rings a bell, I'm afraid. Searching for him turns up only scant references, and no website. I was able to find the following on a PDF of tool makers but it was so old it still had Barco on it as an active business and they went under a number of years back, so this info is likely no longer up to date.

Bear Creek Tool Company
201 North Bear Creek Road
Marshall, NC 28753
Phone: (828) 649-2671
 
Old Axeman said:
Anybody remember this American company from Marshall North Carolina, and know what happened to them ? I met the owner, Charly (his spelling) Wilkins about 35-40 years ago and bought some axes and adzes from him. His tools were mostly made from A-2 tool steel, and hardened to 55-62 Rockwell. The ones I own, and still use, are very well made. He had axes, adzes, slicks, chisels, draw knives, scorps, froes, block(stock) knife, bench knives, bent and crooked knives, and replacement plane and spoke shaves irons. He had a foundry, machine shop, and blacksmith shop. For a while the big tool dealer from that time period, WOODCRAFT SUPPLY, was selling his tools. It is a shame, to my knowledge he did not mark his tools.
His Scandinavian carving axe and bowl adzes are some of my favorite users.
Click to expand...
I purchased adzes and scorps from Bear Creek Tool of Marshall, NC in the mid 90's. I used the tools to build American Windsor chairs. I still have the Bear Creek Tool paper catalog.

https://imgur.com/a/ZW003CR
 
Thanks for the reply. I sure wish I knew what happened to him, his tools are excellent users. I still use mine for carving bowls, etc. and up until 20 years ago used them for log cabin building and restoration. I used them on a very big log restoration job back in the 90's--Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park. I also have a couple of copies of his funky catalog from about 1990.
 
wildfish said:
I purchased adzes and scorps from Bear Creek Tool of Marshall, NC in the mid 90's. I used the tools to build American Windsor chairs. I still have the Bear Creek Tool paper catalog.

https://imgur.com/a/ZW003CR
Click to expand...
If you're able you should scan it and upload it to the International Tool Catalog Library on Archive.org! It would help provide a record of them.
 
Old Axeman said:
Thanks for the reply. I sure wish I knew what happened to him, his tools are excellent users. I still use mine for carving bowls, etc. and up until 20 years ago used them for log cabin building and restoration. I used them on a very big log restoration job back in the 90's--Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park. I also have a couple of copies of his funky catalog from about 1990.
Click to expand...

I was there twice that year I believe..... 2 weeks in the summer hiking around...Stayed in Mack's Inn Idaho, just south of West Yellowstone and the last week in December snowmobiling thru the park......Just an impressive place..............Any pictures of that jobsite.....😉.........Had to have been damn cool to feel the history in that building being in there daily for hours...........👍
 
It was sometime in the mid 1990's. I was down from Missoula to do some historic preservations trainings/ repairs/ and inspections to Old Faithfull Inn for the National Park Service. I do not know where the project records/pictures are anymore, and I can not, ok will not, try and post pictures. But, we shot a training video while we were there. I believe you could find the video somehow on line. It is titled "This Old Cabin Masonry" My friend , and at the time NPS master mason, Dominic DeRubis made the video together.

The best story from that job is that while working on repointing the chimneys, underneath the flashing, we found a note from the guys who built the Inn originally . It said " G damn it's cold here, we want to go home !" They all signed the note and put the names of their home towns. Before anybody asks if we ever left notes with our work, lets just say that leaving a note was strictly against Historic Preservation Policy.
 
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