Billhooks and who use's em???

[CLEM]

Any of you Bushcrafty types use a billhook,if so what type and how do you sharpen them???

 

[mayfly]

I use a billhook a lot in the colder months to cut coppice. It is the best tool to attack Hazel stands provided the poles are not too thick. I don't regard it as a general tool for bushcraft stuff, personally, but as a work tool for a specific woodland task. I'd take a GB SFA every time if I was going to play in the woods Currently, I am using a Newtown I bought from here. I sharpen it using a GB file and Axe Stone which do the job well in combination and are very portable.

Chris

 

[CLEM]

Thanks Mayfly,thats a great link/site too!

 

[Tekeeler]

I regularly use a Yorkshire billhook which looks like a halbard/ The usual curved blade had a straight flat blade on the back. I find it particularly useful when hedgelaying.

 

[w00dsmoke]

For many many years I've used a dunsford Newton hook. I used to do contract work in willow and hazel and whenever I was harvesting both and working with them, my newton was always used.

I sharpen mine with a cigar stone.


And I keep mine in a leather sheath now, before they were always just wrapped up in an oily bit of leather.

I favour my billhook over an axe every time for bushcraft. I can cleft rods, cut more, do more with it and it's easier to keep sharp.

 

[Toddy]

I use a billhook. It's nothing special, just a cut down panga. It gets sharpened with a heuk hone and wiped down with WD40. I use it for everything from willow and brambles to shaping timber. For me it's much more useful than an axe. if need I can use if as a sickle too and have used it as such for reeds and bracken for thatching, grass for rope and oats and barley for grain and straw.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Eric_Methven]

I use a Morris billhook mainly for willow and hazel. I sharpen it with the same stone I use for my scythe.

Eric

 

[EdS]

Another Morris Newton here.

Used my more than my SFA. Use it for clearing undergrowth, digging holes, slicing limes for the G&T, spliting sticks, removing small (under 3 inch or so) limb from trees- any bigger and I use the saw. Much better option than a SFA unless you'll be spliting logs.

Shapren it with a set of DMT mini diamond stones and it gets razor sharp.

 

[twisted firestarter]

I use a bilhook but not as much as I used to. I was taught to sharpen it in small circular strokes with a cigar file to start with and then a round chainsaw file to get the edge nice and sharp. It may not look too pretty but is great for dealing with hazel rods

 

[sargey]

i got mine off of our jack, being as it is such a traditional tool, i sharpen it with diamond coated sponges

cheers, and.

 

[scoops_uk]

I regularly use a Yorkshire billhook which looks like a halbard/ The usual curved blade had a straight flat blade on the back. I find it particularly useful when hedgelaying.

Hit my hand when hedging with a Yorkshire Billhook once. Nearly lost two fingers and got a meaty scar to remind me that sharp things can bite.

Scoops

 

[falcon]

I use one of Jack's too though I adapted it slightly by removing the hook so the blade edge is almost flat. I use it more and more and the SFA is getting fewer outings as the billhook can cope with the majority of needs encountered on the average weekend away. For sharpening I use a mousemat with various grades of wet'n'dry on the workbench, or a DC4 in the field if a quick touch up is required.

 

[Buckshot]

This is mine

Like Falcon it's one of Jacks that I took the tip off as I found it got in the way.
I use it more than any of my axes.

Mark

 

[Chance]

Whatever's closest; quite often, just the flat file for the chainsaw. This gives enough of an edge for limbing green wood, without being fetishistic about razor-sharpness.
It does see a whetstone once in a while, though; doesn't take long to tidy it up.

 

[spader]

I use a billhook. It's nothing special, just a cut down panga. It gets sharpened with a heuk hone and wiped down with WD40. I use it for everything from willow and brambles to shaping timber. For me it's much more useful than an axe. if need I can use if as a sickle too and have used it as such for reeds and bracken for thatching, grass for rope and oats and barley for grain and straw.

Cheers,
Toddy

Sorry for digging out old post, but aren't bracken known to harbour ticks?

 

[Toddy]

Well, I've cut a lot of bracken and never had a tick yet.
Not saying they're not there, just I haven't had a bite…..come to think on it, of the ten folks I know of who cut bracken with me last, none of us got a tick. Maybe we just got lucky with the areas (Loch Tayside and Loch Lomondside)

I know my husband comes home with keds from walking through bracken up in Aviemore though

M

 

[spader]

I suppose if you wear gloves and long wellies when cutting them, it should be OK.

 

[Toddy]

In the heat of Summer we wore polycotton combats, ordinary boots and tshirts. We were brown as berries those years Even I managed a tan
Thinking on it too, one of my friends has been living in Argyll in recent years, and she's been cutting bracken for thatching, and discouraging it's growth, for ten years, and claims she's never had a tick bite either.

M

 

[spader]

Must be tick free area We have a few brackens in the back garden, and I used to be a bit apprehensive passing them by, but must admit have not seen any ticks yet

 

[Goatboy]

Ticks will hang out on tallish vegitation so as to be at a good height to get onto their host. So yes bracken and long grass are ideal. Doesn't have to be tall though. I areas that hosts traffic through ticks can be found in short lawn like grass and indeed ticks are becoming more common in urban areas. One of th areas I picked up a heap of ticks was pulling off the road at Lomondside and within a few steps off into the bracken I was awash with about 50 ticks.
Some folks get 'em, some don't. I seemed to get proportionately less when I worked in Forestry than these days when playing in it. Could be a.number of reasons but I just continue to check myself everytime I'm out and avoid bad places I can as the little nasty arachnids have done me enough damage already.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.