Our first mail-order offering back in 1977 wasn’t a tool at all. It was a wood-burning barrel stove kit. Our founder, Leonard Lee, oversaw the design and had the iron parts cast at a local foundry. Customers would provide their own 45 gallon drum and assemble the stoves themselves. Each kit, including a weighty door cast with the Lee Valley name, was hand packed by the Lee family and orders were mailed to customers all over Canada.