Billy Heck was born in Claiborne County Tennessee in 1967. He spent his childhood following the paths of Daniel Boon, Joseph Martin, and others whom he would later emulate as an adult. Billy began learning the art of blacksmithing when he was a teenager and has been infatuated with it since he struck the first blow on his home made anvil. After a three-year tour in the United States Army he began focusing on period correct 18th Century cutlery, which ranges from home made backwoods knives to European knives and swords that would have been produced in a professional cutlery shop.