Billhook sharpened on one side only, why?
- Thread starter Imagedude
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could be for the type of cut you would use it for when laying a hedge?a little confused by your description though( my fault not yours) is it like a chisel in it profile?
It's meant to be like that. designed so a right handed hedger' can get a very fine precise final cut in to lay the pleach over.
I was given one a while back by an old boy who, after many years useing it himself, didn't want it to go to waste. Unfortunately i'm left handed and though I can lay either way wouldn't really get the very best out of it.
I passed it on to another hedger who would.
Please don't be tempted to regrind it.
I was given one a while back by an old boy who, after many years useing it himself, didn't want it to go to waste. Unfortunately i'm left handed and though I can lay either way wouldn't really get the very best out of it.
I passed it on to another hedger who would.
Please don't be tempted to regrind it.
Ive wondered the same thing..I think its done for the same reason a side axe is beveled on one side only.
It's made so you get a very penetrating cut, it drives itself in the branch so it can be bent/snapped easier than a long downward cut. I ground it on my machete for that reason.
You can still buy Morris of Dunsford billhooks and request them to be ground on one side only. The descriptions given above about the nature of the cut sound spot on and they are ground thus to a give similar method of use as a side axe i.e the edge can make contact with the stem at at a much finer angle, giving more control. Some folk use billhooks for spoon carving (see Eric Roger's book) and this type of grind would certainly help. I have a Knighton pattern Morris hook ground this way but I still prefer a hatchet or axe for carving.
Hope it helps.
Graeme
Hope it helps.
Graeme
It is a thin book but it is worth buying as it is a nice little book. Eric is a nice bloke and a good carver.
http://www.woodlandcraftsupplies.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=51
We used to occasionally get large blades ground like that for "Blazing" trees (single vertical chop to remove bark) when assessing standing timber for auction sales. That way they didn't dig in if your chop was off.
I prefered my normal billhook or machette.
GB.
I prefered my normal billhook or machette.
GB.
