Anyone have any idea where I could buy a hedge knife. They were originally used by farmers to cut hedges quickly in the spring when the new growth is soft. Any information would be appreciated. I am trying to set up a gardening busines that uses as many hand powered tools as possible.
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hedge knife
- Thread starter yogibear
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Hiya Yogi,
You asked the same question a week ago and got no answers, so I'll take a shot at it.
Here is a quote about "hedge Knives":
There was another thing, which I learned from Robert Renwick, and that was cutting and trimming hedges. Many of the gardens, being partly enclosed by a wall for growing fine fruit and the remainder by a beech hedge, which was trimmed once or twice a year. This work is all done with the hedge knife. There is a certain art and skill in handling it, so as to make it cut easily. I recollect that Renwick put me through the whole order of the work. First by keeping a loose elbow joint, while the knife is held firmly, then striking at a certain angle, as to make a clean cut. There are knives of all dimensions. Some are light and a little hook shaped for cutting the one-year sprays, and some are strong and heavy for cutting down an old hedge with stems as thick as your arm.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikalama/celerygtaylor06.htm
So it appears that there is no one set style that is a "hedge knife". Sounds like it is more a usage description than a style definition. It also sounds like they had a somewhat different concept of "hedge" compared to what most city dwellers have today, more like a living wall and less like a little decoration.
Now look here in the "Museum for Old Techniques" for their diagram of an ancient "hedge knife":
http://www.mot.be/cgi-bin/ID-DOC.cgi?language=en&mode=Z&data=_Names.txt<->hedge knife
I measured it (the diagram has a scale at the bottom). The blade is approximately 20 inches. That's about the size of a machete blade and some machetes have that general shape. And I think they could be used to trim hedges, at least the kind that are talked about in that first quote. I'm not sure how well they would trim the average urban topiary, to say nothing of approaching your neighbor's yard with a 20" blade in your hand!
Still, I bet you could sell machetes as "hedge knives".
Best I could do. Hope it helps.
You asked the same question a week ago and got no answers, so I'll take a shot at it.
Here is a quote about "hedge Knives":
There was another thing, which I learned from Robert Renwick, and that was cutting and trimming hedges. Many of the gardens, being partly enclosed by a wall for growing fine fruit and the remainder by a beech hedge, which was trimmed once or twice a year. This work is all done with the hedge knife. There is a certain art and skill in handling it, so as to make it cut easily. I recollect that Renwick put me through the whole order of the work. First by keeping a loose elbow joint, while the knife is held firmly, then striking at a certain angle, as to make a clean cut. There are knives of all dimensions. Some are light and a little hook shaped for cutting the one-year sprays, and some are strong and heavy for cutting down an old hedge with stems as thick as your arm.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikalama/celerygtaylor06.htm
So it appears that there is no one set style that is a "hedge knife". Sounds like it is more a usage description than a style definition. It also sounds like they had a somewhat different concept of "hedge" compared to what most city dwellers have today, more like a living wall and less like a little decoration.
Now look here in the "Museum for Old Techniques" for their diagram of an ancient "hedge knife":
http://www.mot.be/cgi-bin/ID-DOC.cgi?language=en&mode=Z&data=_Names.txt<->hedge knife
I measured it (the diagram has a scale at the bottom). The blade is approximately 20 inches. That's about the size of a machete blade and some machetes have that general shape. And I think they could be used to trim hedges, at least the kind that are talked about in that first quote. I'm not sure how well they would trim the average urban topiary, to say nothing of approaching your neighbor's yard with a 20" blade in your hand!
Still, I bet you could sell machetes as "hedge knives".
Best I could do. Hope it helps.
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2002
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Merry Christmas! I know it's early, but up here in the northwest we grow a lot of Christmas trees. These trees are shaped every year to give them the conical shape we are all familuar with. They use a long VERY sharp knife (like a machete, but thinner and lighter). The trin is done by hand following the shape you desire. THE KNIFE IS ONLY 1/2 THE EQUIPMENT REQUIRED. Every trimmer wears a pair of protective leg guards as this VERY sharp knife has a tendancy to glance of the tree and into your leg. The two go hand in hand and to use one without the other is the quickest road to the hospital. You might want to keep a first-aid kit around as well. Hope this helps...
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2000
- Messages
- 355
I have never heard of using a one handed tool to manage a hedge , when I worked on British waterways we used what we called a brush hook, an @ 10" blade on a 4' handle , this was used two handed cutting hawthorn hedge.
I reckon a scythe blade will be way too thin . A modified machete would probably be better suited to what you describe.
A 'the possum ' says , hedge laying is a whole different game with a range of tools that can be used.
I reckon a scythe blade will be way too thin . A modified machete would probably be better suited to what you describe.
A 'the possum ' says , hedge laying is a whole different game with a range of tools that can be used.
A hedge knife is another less common name for a billhook, if you google or run Billhook on Ebay, you'll have more choices than you'll know what to do with
. In America a brush hook, brush axe, or ditch blade is the name for the billhook's much larger cousin.
. In America a brush hook, brush axe, or ditch blade is the name for the billhook's much larger cousin.