On 26/07/13 09:23, Martin wrote:
On Thu, 25 Jul 2013 14:36:53 +0100, RustyHinge
wrote:

On 23/07/13 19:08, Christina Websell wrote:

I dug one up in my garden a while ago, very rusty and with no handle.
I got a kind friend of mine to sharpen it on her grindstone and have it back
suitable to slash anything in its path. Just need a new handle and watch
out those brambles ;-) My friend says if I can get a new handle, she will
cut the top stop off and put it on for me.
Here we call them "hedge splashers"

Slashers, ITYF

Mine has a top blade too.

Proper billhook. (Hatchet-on-a-stick)

Slasher handles *can* be obtained from old-fasioned ironmongers. Hickory
is best - I always manage to break ash handles in pretty short order,
even when linseed-oiled..

Fork handles next?

Yes, in spades.


--
Rusty Hinge

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Jul 2013 06:21:50 +0100, RustyHinge
wrote:

On 26/07/13 09:23, Martin wrote:
On Thu, 25 Jul 2013 14:36:53 +0100, RustyHinge
wrote:

On 23/07/13 19:08, Christina Websell wrote:

I dug one up in my garden a while ago, very rusty and with no handle.
I got a kind friend of mine to sharpen it on her grindstone and have
it back
suitable to slash anything in its path. Just need a new handle and
watch
out those brambles ;-) My friend says if I can get a new handle, she
will
cut the top stop off and put it on for me.
Here we call them "hedge splashers"

Slashers, ITYF

Mine has a top blade too.

Proper billhook. (Hatchet-on-a-stick)

Slasher handles *can* be obtained from old-fasioned ironmongers.
Hickory
is best - I always manage to break ash handles in pretty short order,
even when linseed-oiled..

Fork handles next?

Yes, in spades.

Wick-ipedia?
--

I might be able to find a handle for it and my friend knows how to fit it if
I can but if not it's back to duct tape around the handle.

On 23/07/13 20:44, Tom Gardner wrote:
On 23/07/13 19:08, Christina Websell wrote:
I dug one up in my garden a while ago, very rusty and with no handle.
I got a kind friend of mine to sharpen it on her grindstone and have it back
suitable to slash anything in its path. Just need a new handle and watch
out those brambles ;-) My friend says if I can get a new handle, she will
cut the top stop off and put it on for me.
Here we call them "hedge splashers"
Mine has a top blade too.

They are an amazing price to buy on the internet:
http://www.timelesstools.co.uk/billhooks3.htm

I remember thoroughly enjoying using one when I was a child,
when pruning apple trees. The one I used (which was probably
1930s vintage) had far more of a hook-shaped blade (like a
capital letter J) than any I've seen since.

Must remember to try to find another...

It turns out there was no need to find another.

Much to my surprise I found the billhook buried in some
of my father's tools. After sharpening it works just fine
and is as pleasant to use as I remember.

Plus the blade was just as hook-shaped as I remember,
with the edge curving round about 120 degrees.

Happy daze.

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 25 Jul 2013 10:01:02 +0100 (BST), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

On Thu, 25 Jul 2013 10:18:35 +0200, Martin wrote:

You snipped the bit where she called it a splasher? Why?

Brain read what it wanted to read not what was there... that is I
didn't spot the typo.

OK I was correcting her typo/mistake.
--

Martin in Zuid Holland


I didn't do a typo. Here in my small part of Leicestershire that tool I
described, kind of a billhook but with a blade on the back of it is called
a hedge splasher. with a P. don't ask me why, it's just so.
I just need to find a wooden handle for it as my friend is confident she can
fit one to it.

If I can't I can still use it by wrapping the handle in foam from my slingie
thingie I got in hospital; and on top of that, duct tape.
It's so amazingly sharp now that I am almost afraid of it.

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Tue, 23 Jul 2013 21:35:40 +0100, Christina Websell wrote:


Just have to get a handle for it, although I can use it without one as
the iron bit wot had one on once is still there.

The tang.

To fit a new handle, the top bit would have be sawn off, as there is
something round there that presumably kept the original handle on and
would prevent a new handle being fitted.

I find that a bit hard to understand. Chance of photo somewhere?
(with a directlink to the image file so we don't need "plugins" or
WHY to view a file that browsers can do without any "help").

Assuming I can find a new handle, and I might be able to, I will have a
lovely old hedge splasher up and running.

There is at least one on eBay (£6.20 inc)... I'm not sure how you fix
the tang into the handle, just shoving it into a hole in the handle
won't work reliably as use will make it work loose... Is there a hole
in the tang soa pin can be fitted through the handle and tang? or
maybe the tag goes right through the handle and is then hammered to
spread it out larger than the hole in the handle.

Here we a

http://billhooks.co.uk/edge-tool-mak...akers/handles/

Some form of the latter. (Warning: you might spend a lot of time
exploring that site...)


The nearest thing I can find is the Elsworth 307 but the handle is not the
same. has a similar hook, but the top blade doesn't extend so far across.