Fixed the billhook

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bob_the_baker

Full Member
May 22, 2012
489
43
Swansea
Well on my first day at the Autumnmoot the handle on my faithful Hertford pattern Billhook failed at the pin joint, while batoning of all things.
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So Yesterday I spent a couple of hours in the garden with some well seasoned ash, a hatchet and my knife.1 brass pin, abranet and some hemp oil later: A new ash handle, contoured for my hand. Good for another 60+ years. The old handle I will keep hold of and re-use on a knife or something.
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Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
2,422
614
Knowhere
Billhooks and batoning?! Back in the day of the noble hedging tool there was no such thing, I do believe it was some trendy invention by Ray Mears to make a small carving knife do more than it was designed to. Anyway what would I know? I have spent this afternoon poncing about with a long handled slasher, it may not be pretty but it gets the job done.
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
7,981
7,757
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
I do believe it was some trendy invention by Ray Mears to make a small carving knife do more than it was designed to.

Neh, we were battoning when Ray was still in primary school but we always had full tang knives with decently thick blades.

I do want a decent billhook though; it doesn't feel right coppicing using a saw, axe and a knife :) I keep looking out for one on the car boot fairs and the like but never see a decent one.
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,106
2,833
66
Pembrokeshire
Batoning?
Well there you go eh!
Nice repair job though :)
I love my Billhook - an old Elwell - so I know how gutted you must have felt when you broke yours.
 

Dave Budd

Gold Trader
Staff member
Jan 8, 2006
2,894
321
44
Dartmoor (Devon)
www.davebudd.com
batoning, bludgeoning more like! Blooming stupid idea with any tool but a froe!

Yes, people have beaten knives through things in the past, but it was such a rarity and if you broke a knife then you knew it was because you had been a twit and not used the right tool for the job. The only time I have broken a billhook handle was when I beat it through a log. It was a normal stick tang variety that had a large space inside the factory made handle; the shock of the impact sent a vibration down the tang and the handle split along most of it's length!


Nice job on the repair work though :) Use it for chopping this time and I'm sure it will last another 60 years or more!
 

bob_the_baker

Full Member
May 22, 2012
489
43
Swansea
Hi
It looks like the inside of rhe hook side has been left to its own devices
I know on mine it’s a sharp as the back edge is that deliberate?
Gaz
Yep, it's just this style of billhook, it is only sharp on the straight edge. I'm guessing that the way they lay a hedge in Hertfordshire has a lot of pulling involved
 

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