i notice that quite a few people on the forums seem to posess/use a billhook. Are there different types? what are their uses? where can they be obtained? Any links or images particularly welcome.
why a billhook?
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http://www.woodsmithstore.co.uk/shop/Products/Tools/Billhooks/
You asked a lot of questions there bud, well it's horses for courses but in MHO I'll do most things that a bushcrafter would do, but better and quicker than they would ever do with an axe!
Why do I say that? Well most bushcrafty stuff has essentially green woodwork/craft in one for or another as it's roots and in the uk a billhook is the traditional tool for cutting up to a certain size in the coppice. You can do so much, cut very quickly and cleanly, split wood, shave wood, carve even, and much more efficiently than with an axe. Try cutting hazel wands with an axe and you'lll discover that axes were never designed for such tasks. Try splitting hazel with an axe...
I have a Morriss hook, had it for years, used it daily for 5-7 hours for several winters in a row and I've never tried a better one. In future i'd try a knighton as opposed to a Newton (my preferred style), but make sure you take the varnish off the ash handle first or glue on some grip...why oh why did they varnsh wooden handles as they are dangerous in the wet!
You asked a lot of questions there bud, well it's horses for courses but in MHO I'll do most things that a bushcrafter would do, but better and quicker than they would ever do with an axe!
Why do I say that? Well most bushcrafty stuff has essentially green woodwork/craft in one for or another as it's roots and in the uk a billhook is the traditional tool for cutting up to a certain size in the coppice. You can do so much, cut very quickly and cleanly, split wood, shave wood, carve even, and much more efficiently than with an axe. Try cutting hazel wands with an axe and you'lll discover that axes were never designed for such tasks. Try splitting hazel with an axe...
I have a Morriss hook, had it for years, used it daily for 5-7 hours for several winters in a row and I've never tried a better one. In future i'd try a knighton as opposed to a Newton (my preferred style), but make sure you take the varnish off the ash handle first or glue on some grip...why oh why did they varnsh wooden handles as they are dangerous in the wet!
It's a brilliant tool 
Warthog1981 rehandled mine with micarta grips, left unpolished, and I have to say it's the best handle I've ever used on this.
Mine's a cut down parang kind of blade, solid and sound, excellent for willow and hazel. I do have a small heuk though that is better for rushes and the like, but the sickle that Jojo made is probably the most useful tool of them all for the kinds of things I do.
cheers,
Toddy
Warthog1981 rehandled mine with micarta grips, left unpolished, and I have to say it's the best handle I've ever used on this.
Mine's a cut down parang kind of blade, solid and sound, excellent for willow and hazel. I do have a small heuk though that is better for rushes and the like, but the sickle that Jojo made is probably the most useful tool of them all for the kinds of things I do.
cheers,
Toddy
I tend to find billhooks at carboot fairs and auctions.Ebay has some good ones but they seem to go for wayyyy more than they are worth.Have a look at this link for all the info you desire!http://www.billhooks.co.uk/
Thanks , folks -the links were particularly edifying (a picture paints a thousand words)
has anyone got any views on practicality/ safety issues other than shiny slippy handles? eg safer with hook /safer without blade on back? Also i still dont quite have a handle (scuse pun) on use of the hook? is it mainly just for pulling stuff towards you when hedging etc.? Sorry.....lots of questions again!
has anyone got any views on practicality/ safety issues other than shiny slippy handles? eg safer with hook /safer without blade on back? Also i still dont quite have a handle (scuse pun) on use of the hook? is it mainly just for pulling stuff towards you when hedging etc.? Sorry.....lots of questions again!
Here's some reading...
http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbo...25&keywords=billhook&search=all&submit=search
http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbo...25&keywords=billhook&search=all&submit=search
Well i bought one on ebay..... just a little plain one. no hook and single straight blade a bit like a cleaver. Total length 12 in. Cost me nearly a fiver. It goes nicely with my pack saw and kelly kettle. It will be ideal for sorting out kindling sized wood for the kettle -no need to carry an axe (heavy /awkward to pack) or big knife (hard to explain why carrying).
Now ive seen some bigger two sided ones with a hook and some curved ones....
I wonder how many i need ?? start of a new obsession?
Now ive seen some bigger two sided ones with a hook and some curved ones....
I wonder how many i need ?? start of a new obsession?
A billhook is that sorta half-way point between a knife and an hatchet/axe. It is hard to push/use an axe/hatchet on small stuff, but you can push/use a billhook for much large chopping. It just takes more time.
The other "advantage" of the billhook is that curved cutting edge. A straight cutting edge just cuts along that straight line when cutting/chopping. But that curved edge tends to wrap around small bush better during cutting. The "angle" better matches the direction of your chopping. So you can chop and "hook" behind stuff and cut as you pull it towards you. Some billhooks also have a straight edge along the back side of the blade. This works well for those straight cuts and trimming/splitting wood. If you are clearing out some thorny brush/bushes, that hooked cutting edge is almost indispensable.
Most people who have to use their knife for "batoning" saplings or splitting firewood would be better served with a billhook instead. It is designed for working smaller wood. That "batoning" a knife is pushing the upper limits of a knife.
Personally, I always used a farm "corn knife". It is somewhat like a machete - but with a square end and the blade tapers out from the handle so you get more weight on the end. They were made to cut/chop corn stalks. But I use it for everything - cutting weeds, cutting brush, chopping limbs off of trees, cutting points on tent stakes, stripping bark, even splitting wood/kindling occasionally. So pretty much the same uses as a billhook, but with a longer blade and no "hooked" cutting edge.
Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.
Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
The other "advantage" of the billhook is that curved cutting edge. A straight cutting edge just cuts along that straight line when cutting/chopping. But that curved edge tends to wrap around small bush better during cutting. The "angle" better matches the direction of your chopping. So you can chop and "hook" behind stuff and cut as you pull it towards you. Some billhooks also have a straight edge along the back side of the blade. This works well for those straight cuts and trimming/splitting wood. If you are clearing out some thorny brush/bushes, that hooked cutting edge is almost indispensable.
Most people who have to use their knife for "batoning" saplings or splitting firewood would be better served with a billhook instead. It is designed for working smaller wood. That "batoning" a knife is pushing the upper limits of a knife.
Personally, I always used a farm "corn knife". It is somewhat like a machete - but with a square end and the blade tapers out from the handle so you get more weight on the end. They were made to cut/chop corn stalks. But I use it for everything - cutting weeds, cutting brush, chopping limbs off of trees, cutting points on tent stakes, stripping bark, even splitting wood/kindling occasionally. So pretty much the same uses as a billhook, but with a longer blade and no "hooked" cutting edge.
Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.
Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
Varnish on wood tool handles may help protect them from weather/exposure. But they are dangerous in use. It is too easy to have them ... slip ... in your hand. That means you have to grip them tighter to compensate for that slick handle. And that wears you out faster.
I strip all the varnish off of the wood handles on my tools - especially on my blacksmithing hammers. I get a better grip on them that way. And occasionally I also "rough up" the wood handle on my main blacksmithing hammer. It gets smoothed/slicked up in use. So I give it a little scraping with a file every now and then. That slight rough texture then gives me a much better grip. And a better grip means less hand pressure to maintain the same level of control.
That works for me.
Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
I strip all the varnish off of the wood handles on my tools - especially on my blacksmithing hammers. I get a better grip on them that way. And occasionally I also "rough up" the wood handle on my main blacksmithing hammer. It gets smoothed/slicked up in use. So I give it a little scraping with a file every now and then. That slight rough texture then gives me a much better grip. And a better grip means less hand pressure to maintain the same level of control.
That works for me.
Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
Hello guys, hello tenderfoot. I taught coppicing as part of my job when I was still in the UK. With regards to billhook safety, I never saw it happen, but there was an entry in the accident logs (and a legend at work) of a guy hitting himself in the head with a double edged billhook (I think it's a Staffordshire?) on the backswing. I know the guy who did it, and know it to be true (not sure how he did it though). As you can imagine, not very nice.
Stihl do a good one. Called a swiss switch. It's a good weight, with a hooked handle so it doesn't slip out of your hand easily. I found it to be a little too hooky, so reshaped it with a grinder.
Stihl do a good one. Called a swiss switch. It's a good weight, with a hooked handle so it doesn't slip out of your hand easily. I found it to be a little too hooky, so reshaped it with a grinder.
They are fascinating tools. There are so many variations not only within the Uk traditionally, but they are also used in France, Italy, probably elsewhere but dont know precisely where? They have a long tradition, iron age and Roman ones are amazingly similar to some fairly recent ones. The anglo saxon's used them, a very versatile tool. Pruning, trimming, coppicing, making hurdle's, gates etc Small ones were used to cut thatching reed and willow for baskets. The point and bend is useful for riving hazel, much like a mini froe. Great to quickly prepare kinderling from faggots, or to lay a hedge. Every cottage dweller owned one.
Dont get the machine mart ones, you would be better off trying to use a hair dryer to cut with
You can get good ones off ebay. I prefer the socketed ones. I got a very good suffolk pattern one from a tool shop-in Suffolk And a very good French one at a French car boot for a few pence. That one had the half eaten remains of a wrapped leather or rawhide handle
Dont get the machine mart ones, you would be better off trying to use a hair dryer to cut with
You can get good ones off ebay. I prefer the socketed ones. I got a very good suffolk pattern one from a tool shop-in Suffolk And a very good French one at a French car boot for a few pence. That one had the half eaten remains of a wrapped leather or rawhide handle
When I worked as a coppicer/willow/hazel weaver my gaffer gave me one of these to try and NO way was I ever using that for any length of time...if you were coppicing willow while harvesting and making up fascines they were a nightmare to use as the hook would nearly always come close to clipping your leg
Looks left, and right.
I actual prefer them to an axe!
I know shocking, but if you carry a Mora, a Billhook(Yet to find a modern one that I like for the weight advantage of the old), and a saw, you can basically do everything, you would want to.
I actual prefer them to an axe!
I know shocking, but if you carry a Mora, a Billhook(Yet to find a modern one that I like for the weight advantage of the old), and a saw, you can basically do everything, you would want to.
amazing isnt it..after all the woodlore laplander and gransfors stuff and nonsense we come back full circle to what generations of rural craftsmen have been using for generations...do we ever learn?
Well .... maybe we do? perhaps that is the strength of this forum.I have certainly learned about billhooks from the helpful posts i will no doubt learn more from experience now i have one. Perhaps at some future point i will be able to pass this knowlege and experience on. I guess thats what its all about? Maybe ill get into flint knapping next?.Sure enough what goes around comes around!
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