The Billhook Page
The bill hook, billhook, hedging bill, pruning hook, or handbill is a tool that
has been around for many years. In days of old these would have been made by the
village blacksmith and modified to suit local needs. The basic design is a
single edged blade with a hook at the edge, although there are variations to
this (broom hooks) in which the back edge is also sharpened giving one tool, two
uses. The blade is sharpened with single or a double edged bevel and on the
latter could be obtained for either left or right handed use.
The billhook could be described as a cross between an axe and a knife in it's
usage. The chief use of the billhook is in cutting and splitting green wood
obtained from saplings usually grown in coppices. Green wood is very easy to
bend into shapes and once dried will retain this shape and easily last for a
good number of years.
Hedge laying is another area in which the bill-hook is used. Here the bill hook
is used to partially cut through upright stems which is bent almost horizontally
in line with the edge.
Billhook
listed on this website