Hawkbill Knife Information Requested

[thawk]

I am always seeing knives for sale with what is called a "Hawkbill" blade. Sometimes called a "Pruner". When I look them up, it appears some of them are a linesman "Wire Skinner" and others are a "Pruning Blade".

Shown here are some old Schrade Walden illustrations. The "Pruner" seems to have a slightly longer and more pointed beak than the "Skinner". It also appears also that when looking at old examples, the skinner did often have a shackle, while the pruners did not.

These particular blades appear to be often confused for each other, but I wonder if someone familiars with using them could explain how they are used for pruning and wire skinning. Obviously similar, and it appears they could be interchangeable.

When looking at old examples, the blades have taken on odd shapes sometimes as they got sharpened through the years.

Comments are appreciated, and I would love to see some examples.

 

[waynorth]

One thing I've noticed, is the wire "skinners" tend to have the point nipped off during the making of the knife, as opposed to the pruners, which are usually keenly pointed.
Having skinned a fair bit of wire when I was younger, I can see you are more likely to break off the point in that activity, so the nipped point might be more to the point!
Pruners seem to have more or less hook, depending on the intended "prunee"!
More hook for bananas and tobacco, less for roses and fruit trees.
I'm not sure why the keener point on the same size blade as on an electrician's version though; any farmers in the crowd?

 

[neeman]

The splitters I saw as a Union electrician in NYC were a short curve with a short hook like end to the blade for splitting cable, so you could just cut the jacket of the cable by pulling with the tip.
Or run the round edge around the sheath to cut it.
And of course a bail for your tool pouch.

They were quite different from pruners I have seen in England are longer curved blades a classical Hawksbill, where you are using the whole blade for the cut.