Hawkbills. Love 'em? Hate 'em?

R

redbird063

Joined
Aug 28, 2012
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156
How do you guys and gals feel about hawkbill blades? GEC has been putting the new 38 pattern with a hawkbill main blade, and I'm curious about its utility.
 
Here are a few of the uses: pruning and harvesting fruits and vegetables, budding and grafting, skinning electrical wire, breaking down cardboard, cutting drywall, barking sticks for cane and walking-stick making, cutting carpet and vinyl flooring . . . . . .
There are probably a few more uses to add to the list. The agricultural uses are the most traditional ones.


To answer the OP question, I love 'em!!!:thumbup:
:D
 
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Love them, can't wait for the Farmers Jacks to be delivered, then I can love them even more, by pruning my Daughters pear tree. )))

Best regards

Robin
 
I do understand the historical uses for them. I just don't do any of those things. So to the original question, I have neither love nor hate for them, just a lack of need or want.
 
Well - they are a strange shape and I havent tried em at least. My most concern is in sharpening that reverse belly on the blade.

What Charlie said about its utility - nothing wrong with it at all.

... but nothing that could not be done with any other blade shape. :confused:

I like the looks of them somehow but for day to day tasks they are not my beer.
 
Those pattern blades are really great for making long cuts on relatively thin material..... plastic sheeting, carpet, large roll of paper etc. That blade kind of hooks under as you drag it through. Other blades will do the job.... not as easily though..... unless you are cutting on a board.

I like the GEC Weaver Jack main blade.... it's kind of a modified hawkbill.
 
When using a hawkbill for it's intended purpose the hook makes a BIG difference IMO. A straight blade will slide
along it's length, the hook stops the slide and cuts right in the negative belly.

Best regards

Robin

This big fella (not mine :o) is 19th century and intended Grape pruning and sold into the California market early on.

 
Humppa said:
Well - they are a strange shape and I havent tried em at least. My most concern is in sharpening that reverse belly on the blade.

What Charlie said about its utility - nothing wrong with it at all.

... but nothing that could not be done with any other blade shape. :confused:

I like the looks of them somehow but for day to day tasks they are not my beer.
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Mine came today and I'll write more later. I was also concerned about sharpening it. It works well on Fred's ERU. Felt odd on my wet stone so I'll have to take a longer look at that.
 
EyeDog said:
Mine came today and I'll write more later. I was also concerned about sharpening it. It works well on Fred's ERU. Felt odd on my wet stone so I'll have to take a longer look at that.
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In a pinch, the bottom unglazed edge of your favourite coffee mug, OR the upper edge of your side car window.
:D
Best regards

Robin
 
Pipeman said:
In a pinch, the bottom unglazed edge of your favourite coffee mug, OR the upper edge of your side car window.
:D
Best regards

Robin
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Looks like I could use the edge of my stone. I had an industrial version when I was working construction in another life and used a rod and sand paper to sharpen. It was a great carpet knife.

Won't use this on any carpet. [pause] ....coffee cup looks promising.

Maybe Erick will do a sharpening video for us.
 
Thanks in advance! I´m looking forward hearing about your experience with sharping that bladeshape.

Just don´t get me wrong, fellas! The hawkbill was very popular in Germany as gardeners knives in the past. They were known under the term "Hippe" and a "Hippekniep" is a "Sodbuster"-pattern. Very different bladeshapes. On one knife you have a hawkbill blade and on the other you have a droppoint blade.

AFAIK some german cutleries made the pattern in the past. Like Henckells and Hugo Köhler. Many of them were exported to the US. Some months ago there was an article abou it in german knife magazine. Need some research... ;)
 
Ceramic rods with the wooden block for angles are great for inside curved blades. Also you can get small diamond pocket steels that work very well,Lansky makes them with ceramic and carbide pull through sharpers along with the foldout diamond steel.

Best regards

Robin
 
I love them. I get a lot of use from mine breaking down cardboard, cutting up plastic, and opening thick cardboard boxes, they will carry through the corners quite well. As for sharpening them, I used to use the edge of an old stone, have used sandpaper wrapped around a thick dowel, and an Arkansas slip stone to finish. Nowadays I have been using a Smith diamond hone for kitchen knives that has a football (American ;) ) shaped cross section. Another great plus with them is the ability to pinch the main blade open with gloves on. I'll try to do a roundup and get a pic of some of mine.
 
Hawkbills are a long standing, much beloved, standard man's accessory in this part of Appalachia, from the Mines to the Mountains.
 
Tremendous blade! Frankly, there is no better blade for opening or cutting down thick cardboard boxes. Fertilizer, seed sacks, super swift harvester of veg such as lettuce, cabbages, broccoli, melons or courgettes and others without damaging the rest of the plant -if it has other fruits/veg on it still unripe. Preparing fruit trees or bushes in spring, taking cuttings. Cutting through tough tricky plastics, drawing the blade towards you means no worries of it shutting on you either.

Really hope to be able to land a couple of the recent SFOs as they look like they have really captured the essence of this great, bizarre and attractive pattern. Beautiful they may be but they look like workers not shrinking violets...

Here's my 56 EZ Open Weaver with the demi Hawkbill. A beautifully made knife that was worth every penny and more. It earns its keep mind, this shown last year just before pruning the Apple tree in the background which yielded a fine crop

IMG_0787.jpg


Thanks, Will
 
sitflyer said:
I love them. I get a lot of use from mine breaking down cardboard, cutting up plastic, and opening thick cardboard boxes, they will carry through the corners quite well. As for sharpening them, I used to use the edge of an old stone, have used sandpaper wrapped around a thick dowel, and an Arkansas slip stone to finish. Nowadays I have been using a Smith diamond hone for kitchen knives that has a football (American ;) ) shaped cross section. Another great plus with them is the ability to pinch the main blade open with gloves on. I'll try to do a roundup and get a pic of some of mine.
Click to expand...

I recently picked up a Case LT1011 SS Hawkbill Pruner at Lowe's. I've also found that the oval/football-shaped cross-section of a diamond 'steel' works well to sharpen these. I used an Eze-Lap 10" diamond rod (w/oval cross-section) to re-grind the edge to 10-12°/side, by propping the rod vertically in 'Sharpmaker' fashion, with the angle verified using a magnetic angle-finder gauge. The wider oval cross-section and 10" honing length made the grinding go pretty quickly, and subsequent touch-ups will be a breeze on the same rod. A dowel with compound, or fabric & compound, would be ideal for stropping it as well.


David
 
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They are pretty useful for gardeners or folks that need a blade for popping square bales, opening feed sacks, etc.
 
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