Got some tools hafted today--FINALLY!

FortyTwoBlades

FortyTwoBlades

Baryonyx walkeri
Dealer / Materials Provider
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
25,987
A generous member here (I'll leave it to him to identify himself if he so chooses) gave me the chance last year to pick up a 'hawk-eyed axe and a socket billhook by Falci Tools of Italy, and a British gent on another forum gifted me a nice tanged billhook in need of a handle. They've all been sitting around waiting for attention for far too long and I finally got the chance to get them done up!

The British billhook first--a Newtown pattern, I believe. The handle is applewood from a branch that blew down last year. A small pilot hole was drilled through and then the tang heated with a torch and burned in. The bolster is just a ring of steel pipe. The end of the tang is peened with a small washer I salvaged from a disassembled old sewing machine, of all things.

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Next, the Falci axe. The member I got it from was good enough to supply me with a hickory blank to replace the factory handle with. The result is much nicer. I'm nowhere near as skilled as many of the fine folks here when it comes to crafting an axe handle, but I'd like to think this came out serviceable enough! Fitting that long of a handle to a D-shaped tomahawk-like eye was...interesting. :p It had much rougher grinds on the edges and poll before I worked on it. Sorry--no before pics. It's a handy little axe! Light in the hand and very controllable but hits hard enough. Should make a good li'l jobber around the homestead! Obviously the total lack of a significant poll makes it a little unbalanced if trying to measure it, but in the use I've put it though so far (granted, not much) I haven't noticed any problems with controlling it at all. The straight handle probably helps!

A little rough right now but I can sand it more later. It works for the moment!

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Lastly, the double-edged socket billhook. I decided to do this one in a slightly unorthodox manner. Long enough handle for two-handed use but easily used one-handed. The handle on this is from the same apple tree as the English billhook. I used the split of the branch to form a nice "beak" to the handle and it's formed so it doesn't interfere with using the straight edge. Most socket-handled tools seem to have the seam of the socket as an indicator of which face is the dominant side, and if convention follows then the straight edge was intended as the primary face. However, I wanted the hook forward. When hafting it I left the main shaft of the branch extending past the "pommel" area so I could drive it firmly into the socket. I then trimmed off the excess and sanded to shape. The blade is retained with a small nail, which I had to grind thinner so it would fit the very narrow hole that was provided.

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Nice job on all of those handles, I particularly like your apple handle on the billhook. Thanks for all the great photos.

Now, not to take your thread off topic, but this is weird…
That same generous member sent us the same Falci axe as you have (I was supposed to write up a review of that axe a long time ago). This morning, deciding that I had procrastinated for long enough, I finally made another handle for it. I'll be posting a review of that axe one of these days, but I can't believe that you just beat me to it! :)
 
They look good! That handle "beak" on the double-edged billhook should keep it securely in hand when cutting with a "pull" swing. Of course, keep that rearward edge from ever coming back and hitting you.
 
Sparrow92 said:
Nice job on all of those handles, I particularly like your apple handle on the billhook. Thanks for all the great photos.

Now, not to take your thread off topic, but this is weird…
That same generous member sent us the same Falci axe as you have (I was supposed to write up a review of that axe a long time ago). This morning, deciding that I had procrastinated for long enough, I finally made another handle for it. I'll be posting a review of that axe one of these days, but I can't believe that you just beat me to it! :)
Click to expand...

Haha--funny how these things work, isn't it? I really wish I had access to Falci stuff. They make a number of very nifty tools. Would love to carry them in my shop someday, but with no US base of distribution that would mean direct importation and I'm not ready for that roll of red tape yet. :p Thanks for the kind words on the handles. They're rough, but functional and will serve their purpose well I think. :)

Steve Tall said:
They look good! That handle "beak" on the double-edged billhook should keep it securely in hand when cutting with a "pull" swing. Of course, keep that rearward edge from ever coming back and hitting you.
Click to expand...

More importantly I find that billhooks with heavy bills like that one often try to twist in the hand when cutting lithe growth that's just a hair too thick to go through in one go. The pistol grip of the end of the handle gives additional leverage for resisting the torque!
 
Well done! I like the nice clean peen you did. You've got 3 beautiful and functional tools there.
 
Hah--funny you consider it a clean peen! I was actually a little upset that it didn't come out as tidy as my usual work. :p
 
Sparrow92 said:
Now, not to take your thread off topic, but this is weird…
That same generous member sent us the same Falci axe as you have (I was supposed to write up a review of that axe a long time ago). This morning, deciding that I had procrastinated for long enough, I finally made another handle for it. I'll be posting a review of that axe one of these days, but I can't believe that you just beat me to it! :)
Click to expand...

Sparrow92
In your review could you please address the down taper of the eye mount. I have my own experience and opinion of that configuration - not the same axe - and would like it to get another perspective.


Nice pictures, forty-two blades. What about your experience there?

E. DB.
 
I think it'll work just fine. Just a bit of a pain to shape since every part of the handle had to be able to fit through the eye, and it doesn't leave you much leeway in handle design or shaping. :) A job you could do entirely using a knife, though, as compared to a standard axe!
 
As a note, I may have found a source of distribution for Falci. Here's hoping it all pans out!
 
Steve Tall said:
They look good! That handle "beak" on the double-edged billhook should keep it securely in hand when cutting with a "pull" swing. Of course, keep that rearward edge from ever coming back and hitting you.
Click to expand...

"beak" haha you should carve the "beak" to look like a duck bill. A billhook with a "bill hooked" handle. Very nice work on all those tools, they look real good.
 
This thread got me working on a couple bill's of my own.

I will have to take pictures as I go.
And I will also need to figure out who can heat treat L6 around here.
It is thinner stock, so they are currently 14" primary blade, but double sided much like the Falci shown above, with a 8" flat back side that will be sharpened.

FourtyTwoBlades - If you start carrying Falci I'm totally going to have to place another order!
 
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