Billhooks

veeteetee, Nice photo of those three handmade billhooks. I have one made by Martiini that I got back in 1996, that looks a lot like the smallest of the three billhooks. It is a VERY good cutter. John
 
The largest Billnäs billhook that I´ve ever seen, either live or in literature: https://postimg.cc/gallery/VL8zLbv

Number 55/1 has been stenciled on the handle, which would make it a version of the model 55 shown on page 19 in the Billnäs catalog of 1928 https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/pienpainate/binding/338807?page=19

The billhook is of two hand-pattern, has a birch handle, weighs 2,1 kgs and is 102 cms long. The haft tube and the blade have been welded together instead of forging them as one piece. Based on this and the Billnäs decal I would guess it´s from the 1950s. Left side of the blade has the usual Billnäs & logo stamps. Its condition is superb i.e. it has never been used.
 
billhook sm.jpg

This is the biggest one that I have come across. It probably would have been even bigger when originally made.

n2s
 
veeteetee said:
The largest Billnäs billhook that I´ve ever seen, either live or in literature: https://postimg.cc/gallery/VL8zLbv

Number 55/1 has been stenciled on the handle, which would make it a version of the model 55 shown on page 19 in the Billnäs catalog of 1928 https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/pienpainate/binding/338807?page=19

The billhook is of two hand-pattern, has a birch handle, weighs 2,1 kgs and is 102 cms long. The haft tube and the blade have been welded together instead of forging them as one piece. Based on this and the Billnäs decal I would guess it´s from the 1950s. Left side of the blade has the usual Billnäs & logo stamps. Its condition is superb i.e. it has never been used.
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That's what's known as a vesuri. Härmän Taonta Oy makes some still, in three sizes.

Vesuri_2-kaden_29cm.jpg
 
veeteetee: that Billnas model 55 looks like the one my friend just bought as his had a sledge hammer handle. He said it was only ground on one side of the blade, like Japanese knives often are. John
 
That No.55 antique appears to have a rib along the back in similar manner to what one would find on a scythe blade or English pattern hay knife, which is a rather interesting feature.
 
As John wrote, my 55 has a chisel grind (25 degrees) on the left side only. However, it doesn´t have a rib on the spine. Instead, the blade is extremely thick, 8 mm / abt. 1/3".
 
OK fellows please pardon my ignorance on the subject. I've heard of these BillHook tools but never really knew what they are primarily used for. Also I would assume that different types and different sizes would naturally have different uses>> I would think anyway?

Also another related question>> a friend of mine has one of those "Woodsman's Pal" tools which has a type of hook on it. Is that Woodsman's Pal a type of Bill Hook tool? Because that tool seems more like a type of machete to me. Most interesting thread and I'm anxious to see what you all have to say.
 
JD Spydo said:
OK fellows please pardon my ignorance on the subject. I've heard of these BillHook tools but never really knew what they are primarily used for. ...
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The primary use would be as a fascine knife; to cut sticks. The military used them to build field fortifications and clear fields of fire. Civilians used them to maintain hedges.

The bigger ones are slashers, a sort of heavy brush machete, while larger still are the brush hooks.

1770_33870_p1.jpg


n2s
 
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Bush hooks are not billhooks. They come from a different evolutionary line. Vesuri are a bit different because despite their axe-like handles they are socketed or tanged tools rather than eyed like bush hooks are.

Billhooks are traditionally used on woody growth that's too lithe for an axe to be appropriate, but too heavy for a tool like a corn hook or grass hook. They were/are commonly used for hedge-laying, coppicing and pollarding, and harvesting saplings for withies, as well as splitting kindling and other tasks of like kind.

The Woodman's Pal isn't a billhook, but is billhook-adjacent and could best be described as falling under the umbrella of being a souped-up manaresso, which is a cleaver-like Italian family of tools that are similar to billhooks, but they're wider and have only have a gradual curve to the edge and/or very small bill, if at all.
 
There are several good videos on You Tube on "Hedging" in England, that describe how and why they do it. A lot more complicated than I first thought, and there are many variations in the billhooks used in different parts of England. I also watched of a old logger I think in Switzerland, who used a type of billhook to limb fallen trees and used the point as sort of a pickaroon to move small tree trunks to piles. John
 
"Leaf hay" used to be a common fodder for several kinds of livestock, as well, and billhooks were also used for harvesting that.
 
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