On May 4, 1697, Jacob Reenstierna received permission to establish an ironworks in the valley below Lake Ågelsjön.

The location was carefully chosen. Surrounded by the forests of Kolmården and supplied by flowing water and a series of waterfalls, Hult provided the natural resources needed to power the forge.

Nails and iron products formed the foundation of the early business, with international trade part of the ambition from the very beginning.

More than three centuries later, we are still forging in the same place.

When Brigitta “Brita” Wallrave acquired Hults Bruk in 1732, a new period of development began.

A determined and hands-on owner, Wallrave expanded production beyond nails and iron. During her ownership, the forge produced a growing range of products including different types of nails, iron products, spades – and axes.

This is an important chapter in our history.

Axes were being forged at Hults Bruk more than 150 years before the company would eventually make them its speciality.

Products leaving Hult during this period were marked with an H – for Hult.

During the 1820s, Hults Bruk began manufacturing iron chains and anchors.

These products placed enormous demands on the skill and judgement of the blacksmiths. Failure at sea was simply not an option.

To verify their strength, Hults Bruk installed a chain-testing machine weighing almost four tonnes and occupying the length of an entire timber building.

Chain forging became one of the largest areas of production alongside nails, serving customers in Sweden as well as export markets including Norway.

Long before today's quality-control systems existed, one principle was already established at Hult:

What leaves the forge must be made to perform.

By the second half of the 19th century, axes had already been forged at Hults Bruk for generations.

What changed during this period was their importance.

Hults Bruk was increasingly looking beyond its traditional production and towards a more specialised future. The international outlook was already evident. In 1873, Hults Bruk was represented at the Vienna World Exhibition, placing products from the small Swedish forge on an international stage.

Investment followed. In 1877, new axe-forging machinery was acquired, demonstrating that axe production was already becoming an increasingly important part of the business.

Then came a new generation.

In 1886, Gunnar Ekelund, grandson of Magnus Lorentz Ekelund, took responsibility for Hults Bruk. Born and raised at Hult, Gunnar had travelled extensively and visited manufacturers in England, Belgium and the United States.

He returned with new ideas.

Rather than continuing to manufacture an ever-wider range of iron products, Ekelund believed Hults Bruk should concentrate its knowledge and resources on selected products where it could excel.

The axe moved to centre stage.

Manufacturing methods from abroad – particularly the United States – influenced how production developed. Machinery was acquired from England and America, manufacturing was rationalised, and greater emphasis was placed on consistency, quality and volume.

But the new methods did not replace the accumulated knowledge of Hult.

They built upon it.

More than 150 years of local forging experience was combined with ideas gathered from some of the world's most advanced industrial nations.

The ambition was international. Australia and New Zealand were among the markets specifically targeted, while Hults Bruk increasingly presented its products at international exhibitions.

This period did not mark the beginning of axe making at Hults Bruk.

It marked the moment when generations of axe-making knowledge became the foundation for Hults Bruk's future.

In 1916–1917, Hults Bruk entered the electrical age.

For more than two centuries, flowing water from Lake Ågelsjön had powered production. A new 750-metre pipeline now carried water to a power station below the works, increasing available power substantially.

The source of energy had changed.

The forge continued.

For generations, many people working at Hults Bruk had also lived around the forge.

During the second half of the 20th century, that began to change. New housing was built in nearby Åby, education and employment opportunities expanded, and fewer young people automatically followed previous generations into the forge.

New craftspeople arrived too. During the 1960s, workers from Finland became an important part of the Hults Bruk community and workforce.

The people changed.

The knowledge continued to be passed on.

In 1992, Hultafors AB acquired Hults Bruk.

It marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the forge.

Backed by Hultafors, Hults Bruk has continued to invest in manufacturing, product development, quality, working conditions and increasingly sustainable production – ensuring that axe making can remain in Hult for generations to come.

Today, traditional forging works alongside modern production technology, environmental management and continuous improvements in energy, materials and waste.

The objective is not simply to preserve an old forge.

It is to build a modern and increasingly sustainable axe manufacturer around more than three centuries of accumulated knowledge.

In 2020, Hults Bruk reached an important milestone in the development of the forge: production became fully fossil-free.

It was a significant step in combining more than three centuries of manufacturing tradition with the responsibility of modern production.

With the support and long-term commitment of Hultafors, investments and continuous improvements have transformed how we produce our axes while preserving where and how they are made.

For us, sustainability is also about longevity – making tools designed to work for a long time, while continuously reducing the impact of making them.

An old forge must never stop moving forward.

More than 300 years of tradition does not mean standing still.

In 2025, Hults Bruk introduced the Kvillinge Splitting Axe, built around an entirely new axe pattern developed at Hults Bruk.

Created specifically for splitting, Kvillinge combines generations of forging knowledge with contemporary product development and a new approach to geometry, balance and performance.

The response exceeded expectations.

Kvillinge quickly became one of the most talked-about new additions to the Hults Bruk range and demonstrated something important:

Our history gives us knowledge.

It does not limit what we can create next.

On May 4, 2027, it will be exactly 330 years since permission was granted to establish the ironworks at Hult.

Few places can look back on more than three centuries of continuous forging tradition.

But an anniversary is not only about looking back.

It is an opportunity to celebrate the blacksmiths, craftspeople and families who built Hults Bruk. The people who work here today. The axe users around the world who keep the knowledge and traditions surrounding the axe alive.

And those who will carry them forward.

In 1697, the first hammers began to fall in Hult.

330 years later, we are still forging.

And we are just as interested in what comes next.