Gimlet Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 (edited) I needed a new billhook last winter for hedge laying. Mass produced tools are so poor nowadays I gave up and went looking for a blacksmith and hit the jackpot with John Beavis of Chippenham. www.olivemeadforge.co.uk/billhooks He had the large staffordshire hook in stock as a concelled order, so I snapped it up. I layed 12 chain of very rough old hedge with it last winter and it was superb. The tempering and edge retention is amazing. Its razor sharp and stays that way all day. (If you avoid the ground and fence wire). A few gentle strokes with a diamond hone at the end of the day and its pinging the hairs off your arm. The edges on these hooks are fantastic. I've bought expensive knives that weren't finished as well as this. He made the little double edged gents hook last spring and that has been used for stick cutting. I'm looking forward to using that on hedging as well this winter. Its an incredibly handy little tool. The slasher is my latest addition. Picked it up yesterday. I'm delighted with it. Lovely balance and weight and a polished, razor sharp edge. John makes the handles and shafts by hand as well from seasoned ash and all the blades are dated and stamped with my initials. I wish my grandad could have seen these. He was a Victorian. He died in 1978. He'd have recognised tools like these. Not cheap but worth every penny. Only trouble is, I can never look at mass-produced hand-tools again. Edited October 20, 2013 by Gimlet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Whoops. Don't know what I've done with those pictures. I'll try again. Or check out the website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMcC Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 What sort of prices does he charge for something like that ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webber Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 British craftsmanship at its best. webber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 The billhooks were £85 each and the slasher was £140. You get your first new handle or shaft free of charge in the unlikely event it will ever need one. And a free re-temper and sharpening, again in the unlikely event it is required. Sounds a lot of money but these tools are professional quality and they will still be in use when they are antique. They'll pay for themselves many times over. If you go and watch pro hedge layers in competitions, the chances are John has made their hooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnlewis Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 I have a bill hook that was my late grandfathers it does not have the depth of blade like the mass produced ones today so lighter and easy to use all day also have his slasher as well as his sythe and sharping stones( always in two halfs as he said the double pointed ones to long and get hung up when hanging out of pocket) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMcC Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Funny this topic should come up now because I have been having a clear out and found my billhook and slasher and the stone in the corner of my shed. Also an iron bar I used to prod for rabbit burrows when ferreting. I looked at the billhook and slasher and thought about getting rid of them but then thought that nobody uses them today so wouldn't get anything for them and I wasn't ready to give them away. These are my second set and I am sure I got them from Scatts, probably in the late seventies. I used them a lot through the eighties but then packed in for a more sedentary life and stuck them at the back of the shed where they have been since. Fond memories, but I am not the man I was then so they will never ever get used again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 (edited) I use this little diamond knife sharpener for all the hooks. A stone is much too course. The blade edges start polished and a few strokes along the edge (not across it) with the diamond after each days use keeps them that way. I've got an ancient Knapmans hook as well. Its probably pre-war. The diamond works well on that too once a polished edge was restored. I'm sure if the old boys had diamond hones a century ago they'd have used them. Edited October 20, 2013 by Gimlet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lksopener Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Look brilliant tools, my dad would be nightly impressed. I'm always looking out for old bill hooks and slashers on the car boots my dads arboriciltural trained and loves the old tools. He's got a fair few in the collection now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisheruk Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Yep, beautiful pieces of craftsmanship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 great for beating the c**p out of the french at crecy and agincourt......the design hasnt changed much since then....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuddster Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Buy quality.buy once. Good gear fudds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Look brilliant tools, my dad would be nightly impressed. I'm always looking out for old bill hooks and slashers on the car boots my dads arboriciltural trained and loves the old tools. He's got a fair few in the collection now. A lot of those old tools are still perfectly usable. I looked for a vintage hook before I bought the Staffordshire. I couldn't find the pattern I wanted though. My old Knapmans still gets used in the garden. Its a good hook. Most can be restored to working condition though they might need re-tempering if someones taken the dreaded grinder to them. I'd like to have a scythe made at some point. I like scything. Its a therapeutic activity and on level ground a hell of a lot quicker than strimming. It'll cost a bit, especially the ash shaft, but its got to be ash, those modern aluminium things are horrible. There's a couple in mother's garage but the shafts are riddled with woodworm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbiep Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Scything ... now you're really talking (especially with an Austrian blade) I scythe thistles and nettles on 2 very steep fields, probably about 8 acres, and it is so wonderful. Silent, fast, lightweight. Whetstone in the water pouch and you're away to go for a couple of hours. On steep ground, it's at least as fast as a strimmer, and less tiring too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxy bingo Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 proper gear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickthemiller Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 I bought my bill hook off the vintage tools site on ebay cost £15 but it holds its edge for a long time, then a couple of strokes with the stone and its ready to go again. They don't make em like the used to. mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tx4cabbie Posted July 11, 2016 Report Share Posted July 11, 2016 Just got an elwell slasher, about a 9" blade on 2 feet of shaft, and it took an hour to get from blunt to a gorgeous polished convex edge that just slides through branches. Got it down in Rye, on the quayside, there's a lot of little antique shops, one of which had a bunch of old tools, Inc plenty of brades and other good hooks, in ok condition. Got a sorby chisel for a couple of quid too. Beats anything I'll get in b and q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddler Posted July 11, 2016 Report Share Posted July 11, 2016 Bulldof Tools in Essex sell the ash handles & shafts for scyths. Found their site looking for old e-tool shafts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tx4cabbie Posted July 11, 2016 Report Share Posted July 11, 2016 Cheers saddler, been wanting to get a scythe as wife has just gotten an allotment, and it's really overgrown. Bulldof tools it is. Excellent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39TDS Posted July 11, 2016 Report Share Posted July 11, 2016 Are you sure it isn't Bulldog tools? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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