Restoration : French Billhook

I have seen a lot of heavy use blades but the extend to which this billhook was used is among the hardest cutting I have ever seen a blade come through and still remain functional. It did take some work to get through the thick layer of rust on the edge and it revealed an edge which was simply manged beyond all expectations.
However a 36 grit belt quickly knocks the edge back into shape, and considering this is likely spring tempered, there is no concern about edge draw during grinding as would be an issue with low tempered high HRC edges and I know I will have to remove about 1/16" more metal to just get past the stress fractures from previous use anyway.
The handle as well was basically covered in grime and was sticky with what I hope was glue, that was also all removed and lighted covered and then buffed several times with linseed oil. The edge was then sharpened and could easily slice newsprint with 90% of the edge though was still ragged with small chips every inch or so left from the huge ones visible on camera.
It is however easily functional enough to start getting some use. Specifications :
-740 grams
-edge is 13.5 (5) dps
-16" over all, 10.5" blade
-4" wide
-balances 4.5" in front of the handle
That edge is the original grind, only 13.5 degrees per side, a typical Mora is 9-11 degrees per side, for a very heavy duty tool this was not keep at a very abrupt angle but kept at a very low profile to obtain very high cutting ability. This amount of weight, forward balance, and extremely low angle is an almost dangerous amount of cutting ability.

[@IMZReady4Anything]

Very cool! I love old tools! I gotta go rooting in the barn next chance I get. I have never seen one of those. Where were they commonly used and what for? Is it mainly a weed clearing tool or a harvester?

[@CliffStamp]

@IMZReady4Anything This one comes from France, they are common used to clear brush and chop and split wood. Normally they are not hit with sticks/batons but actually hammers/mallets, hence the common peened down spine like on this one from the metal on metal impacts. But they are made out of spring steel (or similar) which is actually spring hardened so they are pretty much indestructible.

[@knivesandstuff]

i do all my sharpening on the belt except for a final hone. just slow it down and spray the belt with simple green :D I also keep the blade wet. if you start seeing evaporation near the edge dip it again.. but honestly unless you are going too fine a belt, and pushing too hard for friction it wont ever get over 100C. I agree that without a lot of practise 1 tiny slip can burn out an edge.

[@raphlvlogs271]

a beast of a blade.

[@IMZReady4Anything]

Cool, but wasn't the hoodlum spring steel and indestructible too ... Lol send me one I got some more black locust around some where lol. No but really that's cool cant wait to see it in action.

[@knifedrago]

Wow that an old Billhook. you gonna use that for? BTW, what happened to the forum?

[@mccullenj]

Did you have any issues sharpening the curve of the blade with the belt sander?

[@CliffStamp]

@knifedrago No idea, I just hope Noss is ok as he did mention health problems, but the closing of the YT channel is a bit of an odd move as that is deliberate unless hacked.

[@shawny142]

Really nice job on restoring it. Exceptional. I thought it was a nice joke about oiling the blade. That is basically a layer of rust over that bill hook.

[@CliffStamp]

Bill, thanks for the information. Yes the striking is a problem as the spine of this one and the other ones does have the exact problem you described.

[@CliffStamp]

@knivesandstuff If you are keeping it wet and grinding light then it should not be an issue, however even dry grinding light will reach extreme temperatures right at the very edge (hence the sparks). Roman Landes was the first I saw really speak out about rapid dry grinding and the micro-hardness tests which can show the temper draw that results even when the blade feels cool to touch.

[@CliffStamp]

@knivesandstuff Of course this only matters really if the blade is optimally hardened anyway. If you have a knife with 25% retained austenite, which is over soaked, which has temper embrittlement, etc. then a 1-2 point temper draw is the least of your concerns.

[@CliffStamp]

@knifedrago My main use, aside from fooling around just chopping up stuff for recreation and examining aspects of knife performance, is cutting wood to burn, mainly from harvesting deadfall on family owned land. I also maintain a number of family grave plots and have to do weeding, sodding and various brush clearing there.

[@CliffStamp]

@shawny142 Yeah, I have cleaned them off before, but these simple carbon blades will patina almost instantly in use anyway plus I like the way it looks anyway. You would almost need a sandblaster to get it off here though (or a chemical agent) as this is literally decades of patina.

[@CliffStamp]

@knivesandstuff I can solve that problem. Sucks on the injury, I tore my thumb pretty bad a few years back, could not even lift a glass to drink, was months before it was 100%. But I also would not stop using it which extended the recovery time.

[@CliffStamp]

@mccullenj I didn't as much sharpen as just grind the damage out with the sander. But in any case, the only difficulty was keeping the edge perpendicular to the belt when the blade is that wide/long so it is a bit awkward to handle. To sharpen I just used the edge of a small slipstone which is only 1/4 wide.

[@Prometheus1111]

aren't you a member of the blade forums? your name looks familiar. nice video. i love to do restoration on blades. still perfecting the art. nice job on the edge there. you mentioned burning the blades on a belt sander. have you heard of the worksharp 2000? i just ordered one and got it and it has a belt sander attachment and the machine has a motor with less rpms than most sander/grinders and it has a "heat sink" that draws cool air in to keep the heat off as it's a dry sharpening system.

[@CliffStamp]

@shawny142 Unless you force it, it literally takes decades for a patina to build up this thick. This is an old knife, it has to be generational. It is common to see kitchen knives around here which are close to a hundred years old and they look exactly like this, they have a very heavy black oxide coating which is just layers and layers of patina. This is extremely durable, much more so than any coating you can get applied just due to thickness alone.

[@Myrmecia]

If you Google "the edge tool maker" (with the quotes), you will find at the top go the results a video showing bill hooks being made the traditional way in rural England.

[@Billman1949]

Hi, this a Paris straight pattern - forged blade (modern ones are often stamped from sheet, not forged from bar) - cannot see any maker's mark, but nearly every industrial edge tool maker made them. Usually sold as black (i.e. with forge scale) of fully polished - today they are usually painted. The are often struck with a hammer to split knotty wood, but should not be used in this fashion, as the back edge can split off and shards fly into the user's face...

[@ajaxtelamonian5134]

Just had one arrive in the post should work good

[@CliffStamp]

@IMZReady4Anything That is the funny thing, these cost like $5-$10 each if you buy them used. It is rather amusing to note that you pay 40X more and have a weak/fragile blade, at that price there is no reason not to expect no retained austenite, proper martensite tempering and why not even a differential drawn spine, or get fancy and run a full bainite blade.

[@me2bfc]

How do you like the linseed oil finish? I've never been able to get one the way I like, and it seems to take forever to dry, if not just a little longer. I switched over to Tru-Oil and it works much better.

[@knivesandstuff]

@CliffStamp true. I just finished the XXXL.. it weighs 1024grams. lol.. my wrist is too sore to test it though.

[@CliffStamp]

@69penetrator69 There are some decent modern interpretations as well, Fiskars for example has a decent interpretation which uses the same handle (almost) as on their axe line. They are also common in Japan, though the styles are slightly different, the blades are more narrow and the handles typically longer.

[@shawny142]

@CliffStamp Dang! A decade? How long has that particular billhook been around?

[@CliffStamp]

@prometheus19799791 I was a member yes. Yes, I would be careful of air cooling unless it was active and heavy forced and even then I would not think it would be able to keep the very edge from over heating. A sharpened edge is only 0.5 microns, it will over heat by friction I would assume faster than air could cool it. But again, this isn't something to be paranoid over, just try it and if the performance is satisfactory then that is all that matters.

[@Lazylizardgear]

lol that edge looks almost serrated at the beginning.

[@CliffStamp]

Do you use regular or boiled linseed oil?

[@CoonassJedi]

Dear god the savagery.