Billhooks & Memories... All aloooone in the mooonliiiight...

[Bm101]

No, not a 1970's movie, That was Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
Or even a song from Cats, the musical.
I was reading the thread about axes and saw the name Elwell mentioned a few times. Well that sparked a glimmer of light and I went to the kitchen and got down my old billhook from the top of the fridge. (You don't want to burgle my house, let's leave it at that).
I picked up my Elwell Billhook in North Wales many years ago, when I was about 20, probably at a bootsale and definitely for a couple of quid. I loved the heft and weight, it sharpens to a deadly edge (Burglars, I'm talking to you), and even without the handle it was fantastic. When I had a wood burner, it was the perfect weight for kindling yet it was heavy enough to split small logs with a homemade mallet and coppice didn't stand a chance, lets face it. If it had had a handle attached it would have likely turned it into a very heavy duty tool.
I always presumed Elwell was a defunct manufacturer, so it was great to realise my mistake and know they seem to still be going strong.
I knew there were many billhook patterns produced and like accents tended to be location based. Sadly, like accents and dialects, as time has passed, as with so many things all that seems to be left is a homogenised standard. Your typical curved. And a modern one will likely carry an edge duller than a ringroad round Milton Keynes.
What's also quite nice in a roundabout sort of way is that I bought it many years ago in North Wales and after 20 odd years I moved to Hertfordshire a year or two back and brought it back to where it would have come from originally. Even if it currently lives on top of my fridge instead of hedging.

In a lot of ways they seem to be a 'forgotten' tool, yet so versatile and useful. So go on, share your billhooks and your knowledge. I know you're out there.

Regards
Chris

 

[swb58]

I'll have to get the camera out! Nice bill hook you've got there, it's another area of tool making.where they don't make 'em like they used to.
(I want the job of putting a new handle on yours if you ever feel the need))

 

[bugbear]

In a lot of ways they seem to be a 'forgotten' tool, yet so versatile and useful.

I don't think they're forgotten;

http://www.timelesstools.co.uk/billhooks1.htm

http://www.timelesstools.co.uk/billhooks2.htm

http://www.timelesstools.co.uk/billhooks3.htm

http://www.timelesstools.co.uk/billhooks4.htm

http://www.timelesstools.co.uk/yorkshires.htm

Here's one of mine;

BugBear

 

[paulm]

I have a few and use them quite a lot in the garden, they are of course very effective if properly sharpened. Was using one last week to help dismantle a large rowan treee and some other shrubbery that had to come out, great for cutting down the branches and brash into smaller more manageable pieces for clearing away.

Cheers, Paul

 

[t8hants]

In times of yore they were the weapon of the peasantry, during the French incursion on the IOW of 1545, one French knight, Pierre Du Balcas lost his head to a 'brown-bill', being wielded by one jolly local who didn't understand his call for quarter. Said local was shipped across the Solent and presented to Henry VIII because of the deed - wonder what King Henry said to him?

 

[AndyT]

Definitely not forgotten by some. Have a look at Bob Burgess's site, where he draws on his collection of 6000+ to show how this simple tool illustrates the world history of agriculture, and so much more.

http://billhooks.co.uk/

 

[Racers]

I have a Kent pattern one.

Pete

 

[bugbear]

I have a few and use them quite a lot in the garden, they are of course very effective if properly sharpened.

Properly is key.

The one I showed is (only) used for splitting kindling (hence the small beak and convex blade). I do indeed keep it "properly sharpened" which is not particularly sharp. When splitting/riving you want the blade to follow the grain, not cut it.

You also want it to either split the piece, or not really enter it at all. If the blade only "sticks" in the piece,
it's more work to get it out again.

BugBear

 

[lurker]

My name is Lurker and being weak willed I have a collection
I think I started it about 45 years ago :shock:
My excuse is I'll get back into hedge laying when I retire (english junior champion in my youth!)

As BB says you don't want razor sharp
I have a smallish one for chopping kindling which gets used frequently; I can't remember ever sharpening it.

 

[bugbear]

My excuse is I'll get back into hedge laying when I retire (English junior champion in my youth!)

You may have the tools of your youth, in good shape, but is the same true of your back?! :wink:

BugBear

 

[paulm]

Agreed there is of course no point in being sharp for a bit of kindling bashing, in which case it just needs a strong convex bevel like a froe.

For cutting tasks though I take a bit off the bevel shoulders, to make it enter the wood easier, and then keep a decent sharp convex edge on them, makes them very efficient cutters, with good penetration into the wood, but with a long lasting edge that doesn't need refreshing every five minutes. Very satisfying to use

Cheers, Paul

 

[Bm101]

Thanks guys, you never fail to enlighten. I had no doubt there were many traditional patterns still being used but I've never seen a new one for sale.
The edge on my is very sharp but the faces of the thick metal sweep down. Like the hull of a ship is the best way I can describe it. So it's that that splits the grain I think. It also thins out near the front. I used to do the kindling at he back of the blade where it's almost axe like. The front, at the apex of the blade was used more for snedding, cleaving coppice and chopping green wood and so on if memory serves. Very versatile blade shape, don't think I ever thought about it at the time just did it naturally.

swb, I'd love to have a new handle. The reason I never attempted it was the handle is fixed by a metal pin through the top. I could drill it out these days as now I have the tools but I wouldn't be able make a decent job of replacing the pin. I wouldn't know where to start tbh. Maybe we could come to an equitable agreement for both of us.

Many thanks for all the info as always. Keep it coming and add photos!

Cheers
Chris

 

[AndyT]

I've been looking at Bob's site a bit more. The variety of patterns available was astounding - he writes of one French manufacturer - Talabot - whose 1935 catalogue illustrated 200 shapes. It also said that they had templates available for 3000 more. It really does show that modish ideas such as "mass customisation" are not as new as is sometimes thought!

(They also had templates for 7000 patterns of scythe and 5000 patterns of sickle!!)

 

[bugbear]

swb, I'd love to have a new handle. The reason I never attempted it was the handle is fixed by a metal pin through the top. I could drill it out these days as now I have the tools but I wouldn't be able make a decent job of replacing the pin. I wouldn't know where to start tbh. Maybe we could come to an equitable agreement for both of us.

It's just a "soft rivet", same as is used on forks and spades. AFAIK they're super annealed mild steel,
and you just saw them to length, and work them cold. I use a 8 Oz ball pein.

EDIT; the (vertical) rivet on my billhook is just about visible in the photo.

BugBear

 

[Bm101]

That's very interesting Bugbear, I didn't know that. If that's the case then it looks like I have another little job to do. I quite fancy making the handle actually and it will be good practice for some plane handles I want to try at some point after being inspired by some threads on here. Many thanks to you both.