Sheffield: Tools are reviving the city’s lost craft industry

A tool maker who spent five years perfecting the design of a ‘Sheffield axe’ believes the city has the skills to revive heritage crafts.

Robin Wood MBE, 59, and his daughter JoJo, 30, set up Wood Tools Ltd a decade ago with the aim of making tools using locally sourced materials.

Mr Wood used to teach spoon carving but had to import axes from Sweden as Sheffield craftsmen and women could not make them.

He decided to make axes himself while running Heritage Crafts, a charity supporting traditional crafts.

Mr Wood, who was awarded the MBE in 2016, said that despite his background in woodworking, he never intended to become a toolmaker.

He said: “I taught spoon carving for 20 years with simple axes and knives. I wanted to use local tools, but they were not made here and I had to use blacksmiths from abroad. I realized I had to do them myself.”

The ax made by Woods Sheffield is now ready for sale.

Many of their tools were hand ground by Brian Alcock BEM, the last machine grinder in town. After the master craftsman’s death in 2023, Wood’s 28-year-old apprentice Zak Wolstenholme took over Mr Alcock’s old workshop at the Beehive Works and now operates the historic grinding tools.

Mr Wolstenholme said: “It’s an honor to carry on this tradition and keep Brian’s memory alive.”

Despite the decline of Sheffield’s toolmaking industry over the past 40 years, Woods believes there is demand for better quality items that will “last for generations”.

Mr Wood added: “The industry has changed. We don’t have the scissors and saws we used to have. The ones still here have reinvented themselves as heritage brands.”