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Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes

Sparky415 · 204 · 30075

ie Offline eamo

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #90 on: February 28, 2016, 11:08:07 AM
Yours looks like a good heavy one to me Mate  :tu:

I have just found this artical that you might find interesting Eamo
Looks like yours is a Devon Billhook,  :salute:

Billhooks are a tool for cutting or splitting green wood; they are something between a knife and an axe. They were traditionally used to coppice thin wood for animal feed and bedding, split hazel for making hurdles, cut fencing stakes, thatch roofs, make rough furniture and cut thin firewood, such as smurfs which were used in bread ovens. In continental Europe they are a traditional tool for pruning the grape vines that were needed for wine-making. The hooked end makes it easier to catch cut pieces of brush and flip them in the right direction.
 

Medieval Italian using a billhook (Photo from billhooks.co.uk)
 
As the most widely available edge tool the billhook would also have been the principle weapon of self-defence for the medieval English peasant, and is often said to have been the main weapon used in the English civil war. Big orders were placed by the government as late as World War I, where they were used to clear scrub and cut stakes for trench construction.
 
 
 
These days, volunteers on OCV tasks use billhooks mainly for trimming the side branches of hedge-laying stakes (snedding) and for hedge-laying itself. The billhook is a very versatile tool though perhaps one of the more tricky to use for us volunteers with weak 21st century arm muscles and not having had too much practice. Quite a lot of strength is required to use one effectively for significant lengths of time, and there is a risk of doing yourself or someone else serious injury with the sharp blade. The main risks are cutting your other hand, hitting your legs or cutting your fingers fishing one out of a bag of tools.
 
 
 
In days gone by there were thousands of different patterns of billhooks used in different parts of the British Isles and in Northern Europe and other parts of the world, including those that were colonised by Northern Europeans. In many cases this would match the local style of hedge-laying, though it would be hard to say which came first since people would pass down both the tools and the technique.
 
 
 
Although there are patterns named after many of the English counties, in fact, there was probably a different style being made by each village blacksmith. They eventually gave way to small manufacturers who made tools in larger numbers, perhaps with forges powered by waterwheels. There might only be a few of these tool makers in each county, so the tradition continued. In the 19th century, mass production took over from small manufacturers, and production of bladed tools took place in cities like Sheffield. Farming was still not mechanised, and a large number of people still lived and worked in the countryside so there was still great demand for hand tools in the countryside and with different areas requiring different styles, the big toolmakers produced catalogues boasting of hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of patterns of billhook they had available.
 
 
 
As demand for hand tools dropped off in the latter part of the 20th century fewer different patterns remained available. Nowadays, choice is quite limited if you’re looking for a new tool rather than a museum piece which you might pick up at a market or on eBay. But you will still certainly be able to find these general patterns:
 

7 different patterns of billhook
 
It’s sometimes still useful to know which is which. On OCV tasks that’s normally because we’ve managed to lose one and we want to know who saw it last. Or sometimes we end up with a bit of particularly tough bit of hedgelaying that means we have to find out who’s got a Yorkshire billhook – the only one that can be used two-handed.

Thanks Sparky, very interesting, a lot of history and technique behind my billhook so :)
I had always thought a billhook was a sickle style tool didn't know there were different styles. I get what the article says about 21st century muscles too, theres weight in mine, i'd definitely find it hard to keep using it for a couple hours, let alone a full day.

I've sharpened it using a file and my lansky puck even though i can't see myself using it and i think i'll sand it at some stage to shine it up :)
It is never too late to be what you might have been - George Eliot


gb Offline Sparky415

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #91 on: March 02, 2016, 07:11:25 PM

Rust removal?
This thread might be of interest to you Eamo   ;)

http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,41665.0.html
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ie Offline eamo

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #92 on: March 02, 2016, 07:58:08 PM

Rust removal?
This thread might be of interest to you Eamo   ;)

http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,41665.0.html

oooh thanks Sparky :2tu: - bookmarked
It is never too late to be what you might have been - George Eliot


ie Offline eamo

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #93 on: March 04, 2016, 09:12:39 PM
Sparky, did i see a pic of a billhook very similar to mine on the car boot finds thread, where you had pics of the joiners box you restored ?
It is never too late to be what you might have been - George Eliot


gb Offline Sparky415

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #94 on: March 04, 2016, 09:33:12 PM

I’ve just had a look at that picture, yes looks like it,
it might be in my ummm collection somewhere unless I’ve swapped it with someone  :think:

I will take a look if your interested  :tu:
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ie Offline eamo

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #95 on: March 04, 2016, 09:46:10 PM

I’ve just had a look at that picture, yes looks like it,
it might be in my ummm collection somewhere unless I’ve swapped it with someone  :think:

I will take a look if your interested  :tu:

no, you're grand, just curious was all, thanks :tu:
It is never too late to be what you might have been - George Eliot


gb Offline Sparky415

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #96 on: March 04, 2016, 10:13:13 PM

You know I'm going to have to see if I can find that one now,
might have to do some clambering  ::)

 :cheers:
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ie Offline eamo

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #97 on: March 04, 2016, 10:52:19 PM

You know I'm going to have to see if I can find that one now,
might have to do some clambering  ::)

 :cheers:

Sorry
It is never too late to be what you might have been - George Eliot


gb Offline Sparky415

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #98 on: March 04, 2016, 10:57:43 PM

You know I'm going to have to see if I can find that one now,
might have to do some clambering  ::)

 :cheers:

Sorry

 :D

No probs... keeps me out of trouble.... mostly  ;)
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gb Offline Sparky415

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #99 on: March 05, 2016, 08:15:56 PM
Eamo,
This I think is all of them not counting; slashers, stick choppers or butchers choppers etc
My two users are on the right   :)


 :cheers:
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ie Offline eamo

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #100 on: March 05, 2016, 09:06:14 PM
Eamo,
This I think is all of them not counting; slashers, stick choppers or butchers choppers etc
My two users are on the right   :)


 :cheers:

a nice collection !

now that mines seen daylight, and i've sharpened it, I would like to give it a whirl, just for the fun of it ! though the kind of work i'm doing on my place a slashhook is more useful - plus, got a case of tendonitis / tennis elbow despite never having played tennis . . . possibly the most frustrating thing i've had to endure and no sign of it getting better, can't do a damn thing outside, i've tried and just made it worse  >:(  :bnghd:
such is life  :shrug:

It is never too late to be what you might have been - George Eliot


us Offline David

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #101 on: March 06, 2016, 07:22:14 AM
I've no idea what this tool is called - I found it in my shed/workshop, I guess it belonged to my father though i don't remember him ever using it. The balance seems very "off" to me, but perhaps there is a technique to using it that i don't know.










Reckon thats a great billhook there E!  :)
What? Enablers! Are you serrrrious? Where? I dont see any.
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us Offline David

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #102 on: March 06, 2016, 07:24:40 AM
Eamo,
This I think is all of them not counting; slashers, stick choppers or butchers choppers etc
My two users are on the right   :)


 :cheers:



     :gimme:     Great collection of billhooks Tony!
What? Enablers! Are you serrrrious? Where? I dont see any.
Hold Fast


gb Offline Sparky415

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #103 on: March 06, 2016, 09:01:53 AM
Eamo,
This I think is all of them not counting; slashers, stick choppers or butchers choppers etc
My two users are on the right   :)

 :cheers:



     :gimme:     Great collection of billhooks Tony!


Hey it’s not a collection  :ahhh  they are all users or  :think:  ummmm works in progress

Everything is available for the right offer David  ;)

 :D
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us Offline David

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #104 on: March 06, 2016, 09:14:56 AM
Eamo,
This I think is all of them not counting; slashers, stick choppers or butchers choppers etc
My two users are on the right   :)

 :cheers:



     :gimme:     Great selection of billhooks Tony!


Hey it’s not a collection  :ahhh  they are all users or  :think:  ummmm works in progress

Everything is available for the right offer David  ;)

 :D



Corrected     :D
What? Enablers! Are you serrrrious? Where? I dont see any.
Hold Fast


gb Offline Sparky415

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #105 on: March 06, 2016, 09:24:07 AM
I’m really not trying to collect them but when I see one I just want to rescue it....  :think: I might have a problem
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us Offline David

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #106 on: March 06, 2016, 10:34:55 AM
I’m really not trying to collect them but when I see one I just want to rescue it....  :think: I might have a problem


I understand my friend.   :)   
What? Enablers! Are you serrrrious? Where? I dont see any.
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ie Offline eamo

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #107 on: March 06, 2016, 10:45:25 AM
I've no idea what this tool is called - I found it in my shed/workshop, I guess it belonged to my father though i don't remember him ever using it. The balance seems very "off" to me, but perhaps there is a technique to using it that i don't know.




Reckon thats a great billhook there E!  :)

Thanks David !
Eamo,
This I think is all of them not counting; slashers, stick choppers or butchers choppers etc
My two users are on the right   :)

 :cheers:



     :gimme:     Great collection of billhooks Tony!


Hey it’s not a collection  :ahhh  they are all users or  :think:  ummmm works in progress


Tony, don't let Mags hear you saying it's not a collection ! I get where you're coming from, all my tools/MTs/Knives are users, but to Mags if you have more then one its a collection  :rofl: :rofl:

I think selection is such a better word, yes

Any pics of what you call stick choppers ? I'd like to see what they look like . . . i'd have thought that'd be a hatchet :D :D
and sure while you're at it, throw up one of the slashers too :D (if you don't mind)
It is never too late to be what you might have been - George Eliot


ie Offline eamo

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #108 on: March 06, 2016, 10:48:17 AM

a nice selection !


updated, for the new, correct terminology for us non-collectors.
It is never too late to be what you might have been - George Eliot


gb Offline Sparky415

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #109 on: March 06, 2016, 09:32:58 PM

Yes I’ve said it before, Mags is a bad influence 
I will snap a few tomorrow  :salute:
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ie Offline eamo

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #110 on: March 06, 2016, 10:40:49 PM
Mags is such a bad influence, he is giving Kirky a run for his money -

It is never too late to be what you might have been - George Eliot


gb Offline Sparky415

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #111 on: March 08, 2016, 11:19:10 AM
Slashers
Well the top one is definitely a slasher, as you can see there are a lot of different patterns
At the bottom there is a Yorkshire pattern on the end of a long stick, unless someone tells me different I’m calling that a slasher as well

Along the top next to the billhook are my stick choppers
Some people have said they are called that because of the ’stick tang’ (I call it a rat tail tang) but I don't think that is right.
In the old days when everyone in town used to have a coal fire you needed kindling to get the fire started, everyone owned one of these to chop up the kindling
I can remember as a little kid visiting my Grandad and ‘getting paid’ to split scrap wood with a blunt stick chopper  :D


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ie Offline eamo

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #112 on: March 08, 2016, 12:55:33 PM
very nice selection there - i've never come across stick choppers before - growing up, an axe/hatchett was what we used, and still use for kindling. 

this'd be my version of a slashhook/slasher -
It is never too late to be what you might have been - George Eliot


us Offline Alan K.

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #113 on: May 04, 2016, 03:11:25 PM
I may be wrong but I believe that sort of hook is not used for mowing, but for gathering in and squaring up sheaves that have already been cut.

Hey Zoidberg, is there a machete/billhook badge in the works yet?


nz Offline zoidberg

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #114 on: May 08, 2016, 06:02:32 PM
Hey Zoidberg, is there a machete/billhook badge in the works yet?

Sorry for the late reply, I'm slowly catching up on the unread threads.

As far as I know there isn't anything atm. I don't mind applying for one though. You after a user or collectors badge?

It would also appear I haven't posted a pic in this thread yet.


us Offline Alan K.

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #115 on: May 08, 2016, 10:41:20 PM
Hey Zoidberg, is there a machete/billhook badge in the works yet?

Sorry for the late reply, I'm slowly catching up on the unread threads.

As far as I know there isn't anything atm. I don't mind applying for one though. You after a user or collectors badge?

It would also appear I haven't posted a pic in this thread yet.

User's badge, of course. I don't collect them, I accumulate them, and I beat the hell out of them and sharpen them with a mill file.  There's nothing collectible about my machetes.


nz Offline zoidberg

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #116 on: May 09, 2016, 01:46:13 AM
Hey Zoidberg, is there a machete/billhook badge in the works yet?

Sorry for the late reply, I'm slowly catching up on the unread threads.

As far as I know there isn't anything atm. I don't mind applying for one though. You after a user or collectors badge?

It would also appear I haven't posted a pic in this thread yet.

User's badge, of course. I don't collect them, I accumulate them, and I beat the hell out of them and sharpen them with a mill file.  There's nothing collectible about my machetes.

Noted.   :tu:


us Offline Alan K.

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #117 on: May 10, 2016, 11:33:27 PM
My machetes.
Top to bottom:

1. A cheap Chinese Bolo made out of unknown stainless steel.  Heavy enough for chopping, but it doesn't hold an edge.

2. The Fiskars Machete Saw. It's got a concave edge that is only good for hacking through grasses or hedge trimming, but the saw works very well so I use it mostly for the saw.

3. Tramontina jungle style machete that is over 20 years old. Scary sharp and the one I still use most often for cutting green wood up to about wrist diameter.

4. Tramontina Bolo with hardwood handle that I use for heavy cutting jobs greater than wrist diameter, but it is a general purpose machete that can even be used for digging. It has taken a lot of abuse over the years.

5. Tramontina 12 inch machete / camp knife. Brand new. I've sharpened it but have not used it yet.
P1100959.JPG
* P1100959.JPG (Filesize: 199.69 KB)
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* P1100960.JPG (Filesize: 199.19 KB)


nz Offline zoidberg

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #118 on: May 10, 2016, 11:35:58 PM
Guess I had better find a pic...


us Offline Alan K.

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Re: Show us your Billhooks, Slashers, Machetes
Reply #119 on: May 10, 2016, 11:50:47 PM
I also have the military version of the Woodman's Pal, but I can't find it. :facepalm:


 

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