cleaning up an old billhook

[phaserrifle]

as mentioned in this thread my grandfather has had a couple of billhooks sitting in his garage for as long as I can remember.
today I borrowed one of them, in order to try to clean it up, and maybe replace the handle with something a bit nicer.
so, lets take a look at it as it was:

about 10 inch blade, according to a just about legible marking at the base of the blade.

the wooden handle was wrapped in tape. according to my grandad, this was for comfort more than due to the handle being dodgy in any way.

as a preliminary to the work, I removed the tape from the handle, revealing the wood, and removed the handle, both of which are easily reversable.

my feeling is that I can clean up the blade, removing the rust, sand the handle smooth and treat it (either oil or varnish) and add a washer between the base of the handle and the metal washer which holds it on, as this will force the handle slightly futher onto the tang, removing the wobble it currently suffers from.

apologies for the comparitively poor quality of the photography, it was only taken with my phone, as that is pretty much all I have available.

 

[dboles]

Nice old blade.Did he mention the history of it where he got it when he last used it. Be interesting to see how your work turns out Ithink your idea will work.
Dan'l

 

[phaserrifle]

Nice old blade.Did he mention the history of it where he got it when he last used it. Be interesting to see how your work turns out Ithink your idea will work.
Dan'l

it was last used about 5-6 years ago, when my grandparents still volunteered for conservation work in the local forests (the group they did it with folded a few months later)

and he isn't sure where he got it, he reckons it might have been a harware store, but isnt sure where, or exactly when.

 

[uncouth]

another trick to try and tighten up the wobble on a rat tail tang is to insert a wooden match between the tang and the handle. (i found that out when i took apart my grandfathers old mora to take the double fingergaurd off)

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Looks like a Bristol pattern, as far as I can tell. Should be one hell of a chopper once you get 'er cleaned up! They're real handy tools that simply aren't as commonplace amongst us wilderness folk as they should be, in my opinion. They work wonders in the northern forests over here, especially when double-sided. :thumbup:

 

[Billman1949]

another trick to try and tighten up the wobble on a rat tail tang is to insert a wooden match between the tang and the handle. (i found that out when i took apart my grandfathers old mora to take the double fingergaurd off)

Sadly the images appear to have expired, but generally British billhook handles are fitted to 'rat tail' type tangs, with the end rivetted over a washer (or just doubled back into the wood at the end of the handle on cheaper models).. The tangs are usually rectangular, with the long axis in line with the blade...

Rather than matchsticks (or old nails - as frequently found) thin tapered wedges made of a close grained hardwood such as beech, and a generous helping of glue, will tighten up a loose handle. If very loose, a wedge either side of the tang will ensure the handle stays central, and modern foaming polyurethane glues (such as Gorilla Glue) will fill any small gaps.

Do NOT over tighten, or the handle may split, sometimes even beyond a tight ferrule... Once dry trim off the surplus with a utility knife...

The wedges I use are about 3" (75mm) x 3/4" (20mm) tapering to 3/8" (10mm) x 3/16" (5mm) tapering to zero... then trimmed to size before fitting...

I have done this on scores of occasions, thus salvaging an original handle, and avoiding replacing it with a new one...

 

[phaserrifle]

Sadly the images appear to have expired, but generally British billhook handles are fitted to 'rat tail' type tangs, with the end rivetted over a washer (or just doubled back into the wood at the end of the handle on cheaper models).. The tangs are usually rectangular, with the long axis in line with the blade...

Rather than matchsticks (or old nails - as frequently found) thin tapered wedges made of a close grained hardwood such as beech, and a generous helping of glue, will tighten up a loose handle. If very loose, a wedge either side of the tang will ensure the handle stays central, and modern foaming polyurethane glues (such as Gorilla Glue) will fill any small gaps.

Do NOT over tighten, or the handle may split, sometimes even beyond a tight ferrule... Once dry trim off the surplus with a utility knife...

The wedges I use are about 3" (75mm) x 3/4" (20mm) tapering to 3/8" (10mm) x 3/16" (5mm) tapering to zero... then trimmed to size before fitting...

I have done this on scores of occasions, thus salvaging an original handle, and avoiding replacing it with a new one...

it turned out the handle wasn't in as poor condition as first suspected.
all I needed to do was push the handle down onto the tang, and peen the end further down onto the washer.
the crack turned out to only be a surface thing. I filled it with glue and sanded it down.