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Unique billhook.. Restoration WIP!

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Samon

Samon

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 24, 2011
3,970
45
Britannia!


I've never seen once like this before. Usually stick tang, occasionally socket handle but.. full tang!? NEVER! :p

No obvious makers mark, but seems solid and old enough to have used good steel. It had old nails as handle pins and obviously an elongated wooden handle.

After a few whacks with the hammer and the bolt cutter treatment to get rid of the stubborn peened nails/pins I'm left with this..



I'm gona reshape the the handle to a comfy contoured type and slap on something a little more fancy than woodworm eaten randomwood!

Not bad for about £3? ;)


Stay tuned for the progression pictures and overly elongated explanation/rambling. :D

Got a red neck from todays graft but I'm gona do my best to finish off long due projects for my audience! :cool:

Thanks for looking
 
I had a few hours spare which were starting to get boring.. So I cracked on and got some shaping done on this billhook.

I cut away quite a bit of steel from the spine to make it more flush with the handle, and direct most of the weight even more towards the tip. Also the handle got a good shaping as it was ugly and rectangular, I love finger choils too so It had to have one of those. I didn't remove all the rust either like I do quite often, I want this one to look rustic, but I will remove the powerdy rust with some sand paper and maybe force patina on the freshly cleaned up edges all over the blade. Apart from the cutting edge, which looks great all shiny! :D

Still some precise shaping to do on the handle base and choil but other than that, it simply needs derusting on the handle steel and some fresh scales!


 
Hi Samon,

Apologies for the thread resurrection/hijack but as you seem to be the "go to" guy for old billhooks (I hope that the spellchecker leaves that alone!) , I'd be grateful for some basic advice.

I've recently retrieved my dad's old Nash billhook from the damp shed it has been sat in since he died 20 odd years ago and although its in pretty poor shape I am keen to try to restore it, not least because I have fond memories of "playing" with it in the woods around my house when I was growing up in the 1970s.

It is heavily pitted (much worse than the one in your pic) and although I've removed all the surface rust with a wire brush on a drill, I'm going to need to take off a lot of metal from the blade to get a decent edge which would take an eternity to do, particularly with the old/cheap files I have.

I don't have a bench grinder but do have an angle grinder. I know some people sharpen axes with angle grinders but as billhooks are a fair bit thinner I'm worried that using an a grinder is going to overheat the edge. Did you use the angle grinder for sharpening or just reshaping the blade and if using an angle grinder should I use a standard cutting disc or a flap disc? If not it looks like a new file and a lot of elbow grease. :eek:

Many thanks,

Jerry
 
If you follow the link in post #2, under the heading 'cleaning old tools' it says never ( in capitals) use an angle grinder.
I know that you were asking about sharpening but seems not to be a good idea.

Good link by the way.
 
Who sharpens axes with an angle grinder? Send them over here, I have an alternative use for their angle grinder . . . .

An angle grinder is not a sharpening tool. Use a file if you need to reshape the edge.

Samon, I think your billhook was possibly originally mounted in a much longer handle (maybe as much as 3 ft). The thicker tang was sol it could be strongly bolted in place to cope with the heavier blows.
 
mrcharly said:
Who sharpens axes with an angle grinder? Send them over here, I have an alternative use for their angle grinder . . . .

An angle grinder is not a sharpening tool. Use a file if you need to reshape the edge.
Click to expand...

This lady in Utube land for one!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwbocTTrNx8

I know its not for the purists but there are some deep corrosion pits in the blade near where the edge would be if there was one and I need to remove about 5-6mm of steel to get a decent edge.

First efforts with a cheap/blunt file did start to get an edge but without a lot of effort it is going to be a serrated one. :(
 
Nomad64 said:
Hi Samon,

Apologies for the thread resurrection/hijack but as you seem to be the "go to" guy for old billhooks (I hope that the spellchecker leaves that alone!) , I'd be grateful for some basic advice.

I've recently retrieved my dad's old Nash billhook from the damp shed it has been sat in since he died 20 odd years ago and although its in pretty poor shape I am keen to try to restore it, not least because I have fond memories of "playing" with it in the woods around my house when I was growing up in the 1970s.

It is heavily pitted (much worse than the one in your pic) and although I've removed all the surface rust with a wire brush on a drill, I'm going to need to take off a lot of metal from the blade to get a decent edge which would take an eternity to do, particularly with the old/cheap files I have.

I don't have a bench grinder but do have an angle grinder. I know some people sharpen axes with angle grinders but as billhooks are a fair bit thinner I'm worried that using an a grinder is going to overheat the edge. Did you use the angle grinder for sharpening or just reshaping the blade and if using an angle grinder should I use a standard cutting disc or a flap disc? If not it looks like a new file and a lot of elbow grease. :eek:

Many thanks,

Jerry
Click to expand...

An angle grinder is fine for the job. The key is using light pressure. And cooling in cold water buckets each pass you make on the harder strokes.

A flap wheel (not a grinding stone/disc) is what you'll need. It will remove all the surface rust to the abre steel and tyou can indeed do the most of the edge shapeing and sharpening with it. I do this regularly with absolutely no issue, due to practice mainly but also done right you can actually 'sharpen' a pen knife with an angle grinder, something I've done for fun to prove a light touch and a steady hand mean more than 'the right tool'.

birchwood said:
If you follow the link in post #2, under the heading 'cleaning old tools' it says never ( in capitals) use an angle grinder.
I know that you were asking about sharpening but seems not to be a good idea.

Good link by the way.
Click to expand...

Nah, don't knock until you've tried it. I refurbish tools all the time, have done for years with basic power tools and always make sure to do it right and as to not balls up the heat treat. All the people cringeing at the idea of an angle grinder on tool edges need to watch someone with the right wheel do it, it's not an aggressive spark fest. It's more like stropping a aknife on a moving surface. No discolouration, heat or anything when done light enough even if you were to sharpen a little knife. (Trust me, I've done enough times)

sunndog said:
I like that curved chopper blade samon, did you ever finish it?
Click to expand...

No.. that one's still in my box/to do list. I've got a nice beech rolling pin that will do nicely but I need to get some wide gauge copper pipe for the ferrule at the top and find a dry day to do it. I'll make sure to do that one next though if you're nterested in seeing it completed. :)
 
All of these profiles and edges (minus the orange one) were done with an angle grinder. All react the same with a file afterwards as they did before. I do however final sharpen bu hand with stones once the most part is done.



A tomahawk edge reprofiled and pretty much fully sharpened with only an angle grinder and one flap disc.


 
Nomad64 said:
Thanks for that Samon, I'll give it a go. What grade of flap wheel is best to use?
Click to expand...

Ideally as fine as you can get. I think 120 is probably the finest you can get without spending silly money. A few of them should only cost a fiver with postage. Just know that a fresh one is very very aggressive. I only use heavily used ones on the fine stuff and the newer ones for the aggressive depitting etc. So if you buy just one grit, use it carefully on the body of the tool, then once it's at the finish you like and the wheel has worn downa little you can slowly and very gently move on to the edge.

Got a picture of the billhook? the hooked end can be a little tricky if you're not confident with the angle grinder. (I can also do it for you if you'd like that)
 
Samon said:
Got a picture of the billhook? the hooked end can be a little tricky if you're not confident with the angle grinder. (I can also do it for you if you'd like that)
Click to expand...

Thanks for that - I'll get some fine discs and give it a go although I might be back for more advice/help when I c0ck it up! I've got a few other rough old tools which I have no sentimental attachment to which I'll practice on first.

I haven't worked out to add pix on here yet but have uploaded a "before" pic to my Flickr account (link below).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30865846@N02/26446436815/in/dateposted-public/

As you can see (hopefully) it is in pretty sorry state and the deep pitting along the "edge" means that I'm going to have to remove quite a lot of metal to get a non-serrated edge.
 
That looks absolutely fine to me! Just bash off the handle with a hamer, wire wheel the steel and sharpen with a file. Is it a single bevel edge? or is it ground on both sides? By the looks of it it's a sngle bevel right handed hook, and you'll only need to shapren/grin d about 1cm of the edge. Everythign else but that will just be cosmetic. And cosmetic is personal preferance, not really a practical neccesity.

The angle grinder will remove all the rust, tarnishing and patina down to the bare steel leaving it shiny but I can't see any pitting tbh. I'd have to hold it to see for myself but it does look fine. Just crud on the surface.

By all means do with it as you wish, and deffinately practice on something equally as rusty first to get the feel for the right pressure. Don't wear gloves, they get in the way and in my case have left to a hospital visit that without gloves wouldn't have needed to happen! And you can also geta feel for the heat transfusion into the steel. Trysoft strokes, touch to check the warmth then try hard to see if it does get really hot etc. Practice makes perfect :)

And don't bother with a bench gridner, only good for quick edges on working tools like machetes, in my experience the angle gridner is THE do it all tool that anyone interested in tinkering needs. For those a little less confident in such high power tools a simple dremel type tool will also work very well.
 
Last edited:
Samon said:
Yeah, just a simple inche tall piece about 25-30mm wide. My local diy shop only has 20mm and by the metre at £7..
Click to expand...

I'v got plenty of off cuts mate, deffo got 22mm and might have some 28mm
Pm me your addy and i'll have a rumage at some point
 
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