17th Century Billhooks?

[Grendel]

What shape would a billhook be in 1642?

I do spoon carving with Mora carving knives which I justabout get away with period wise for living history but I normally shape thewood with a modern hand axe first which is wrong for the 17th Century so lookslike I need to get a billhook but it appears they have changed in shape manytimes over the centuries so not sure what shape design I would need for 1642?

 

[Toddy]

They had axes in the 16th century, and there's a blacksmith who sells at the reenactor's market who makes them for every period in history.
Enciron or something like that is his company name. Worth while buying directly from him since other sells buy from him and put their own mark up on it.
I'll see if I can find a link, but if I can't, speak to warthog1981 (Russ) he buys from the fellow and is pleased with his purchases

atb,
Toddy

p.s. His name is Geoffrey Pietters, and he does an amazing amount of research on historical tools and weapons. Full of information and easy to talk to.

 

[heath]

Eceniron, i bought a froe from him, very reasonably priced. It's worth contacting him beforehand though as he doesn't always bring everything to the markets. I'll see if i have a contact for him somewhere.

 

[Toddy]

Good man I was struggling to find any details of him.

cheers,
M

 

[boatman]

Iron Age or 17th-century bill hooks all looked much the same except there are County variations. Are you near an agrucultural museum?

http://www.billhooks.co.uk/history/roman-billhooks/

 

[Retired Member southey]

Here are some billhooks, but I cant see why a kent pattern or similar hatchet wouldn't have been used, wouldn't a bill hook be mainly used by basket weavers, hurdlers or hedge layers?

 

[Dogoak]

Here................http://www.armamentaria.com/store/index.php?manufacturers_id=4

 

[Billman49]

Hi Grendel, not sure if it was you who contacted me via my website - but replying for general interest: images of billhooks dating from 10th to 16th centuries can be in illuminated manuscripts and other documents from the period, stained glass windows and stone carvings. Sadly very few working tools survive from this period, you can probably find more from the Roman era (100BC to 400AD) than from 500 AD to 1800 added together. However looking at Roman tools and Medieval illustrations, it shows that there were already many different patterns and they had changed little from its origins until the 19th century.