Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

[LongBlade]

Those are some great old Hawkbills Joe and S-K ...

[smiling-knife]

Thanks very much LongBlade. This is a French prunner with horn scales.

[LongBlade]

Nice old French pruner S-K ... and here's another knife with horn handles...

Here’s abit of a different knife for this thread that I think belongs here imo… The knife called a Billhook or Pruning Knife (or sometimes a Fascine knife though many fascine knives had cutting blades on the spine as well) is essentially a fixed blade hawkbill… I know they were used for many things from cutting branches to vines, clearing brush etc etc. They were used here in the US from the 1700s into the 1800s and probably early 1900s in some areas. … I’ve read it has alot of versatility and in fact was used throughout Europe as well many other countries around the world - it is considered a very old knife pattern – lots of utility. Definitely not a fancy knife by any means and a real work horse as a tool.

I believe this knife is old but really hard to date – I would say 1800s is in the ballpark – some say possibly latter half of 1700s when these were often used here in early development. While this came from a local estate and it was believed to have been made in the US and was on temporary display at a New England small museum as such there is no solid evidence or provenance surrounding the knife. Billhooks such as this were made in France, Italy and England among many countries – fixed blade billhooks were not as common in Spain from my reading but were made as folding pruners in far more numbers. Supposedly some billhooks were made in the US but not in great numbers and only by small shop blacksmiths. Billhooks were brought over during our early history from England and France & Italy is a possibility – in any event it was no doubt all handmade and forged with a hammer – and one can see the marks of hammer forging in the right light… Many were made by blacksmiths and stamped but only with initials etc and generally not a location which makes these even harder to ID… I showed a photo of the stamp which looks like “RC” or “RG” – I think - but no clue as to origin….. The blade is 6 1/4" and handle 4 1/4" ...

The handle is 2 pieces of horn pinned to the tang (no ferrule) - handmade pins and hammered – you can see the layers of horn from age and wear… Interestingly most old billhook handles were wood with a metal ferrule to prevent handle splitting though horn handles were used as well. The end of handle is actually the tapered tang of the knife which extended through the handle. I am not sure the end of the tang was made to encircle the butt end of the knife and act as a permanent bail. It may have originally acted as a hand guard but was bent over the end at some point or perhaps was not comfortable to the user’s hand so it was reconfigured to be out of the way - a few different photo angles were taken to try and show it best – In my hand if it was a hand guard I can see how it would not be comfortable given my grip… I will say this billhook had alot of use – when holding the horn handle you can feel exactly where the original user(s) fingers would grip the handle given the wear… In the hand it is no doubt very comfortable - heavy but well balanced. You can see where it was hammered on the spine during use.

Anybody have any thoughts regarding this knife? any other info on billhooks or billhooks to share? Just curious - when researching this type of knife on the internet I found there are no doubt some billhook collectors out there NOD

Thanks for looking!

[TripleF]

No name....

[djknife13]

Lee, I had one of those laying around for years and I don't even remember where I got it from. I think I picked it up just because it looks like a big hawkbill. I think sugar beet harvesters use them out in the beet fields on the western part of the state. Mine has a wooden handle and appears to be a newer USA version with just the number 34 hand stamped on the blade.____Dave

[Bfeldman]

Here’s a few knives that fit the bill. The black handled one is a thiers-issard and the brown handled one is from m Klein and sons.

But the one I’m curious if anyone has any ideas about is the last one. No stamp, a very interesting locking mechanism and the guy who sold it to me gave me some story about it being made out of a railroad spike by a guy in Mexico but as I’m not sure I buy it.

[doglegg]

Three cool ones Bfeldman. That guy in Mexico must have been a real craftsman as that is a cool knife.

[Bfeldman]

Three cool ones Bfeldman. That guy in Mexico must have been a real craftsman as that is a cool knife.

Thanks. I’ve never seen a locking mechanism like this one.

[LongBlade]

I like the French 2 blade Hawkbill .. though I think it was repinned at some point. The knife noted as Mexican looks like a Spanish Billhook folder - not sure about Mexico... maybe ...

[Bfeldman]

I like the French 2 blade Hawkbill .. though I think it was repinned at some point. The knife noted as Mexican looks like a Spanish Billhook folder - not sure about Mexico... maybe ...

Good eye. It definitely looks like it was reprinted which is interesting because it doesn’t show a ton of wear otherwise.

[Eustace]

I am glad when I find old Bulgarian knives in such a condition.

[LongBlade]

Nice set of knives Eustace ... A pruner and budding grafting knife as a pair is very cool ..

[royal0014]

Very nice set, Eustace

[kootenay joe]

Some fine very old knives being posted. Lee's Billhook is a fine survivor, could easily be a 200 yr old knife.
Here is one i just fopund in my basement. I put it there some years ago because the blade looks rusted beyond saving. But today it spoke to me so i took some pictures. "H & J.W. King Warranted 1869". King was an importer so this might have come from Germany. Liners & bolsters are integral. Note the big swell of handle towards the butt. Snaps are all very crisp, has a half stop and no play, solid in open position. Pretty good for 150 years old.
Any advice on getting the 'scale' off the blade ?
kj

[doglegg]

I am glad when I find old Bulgarian knives in such a condition.

Eustace, I somehow missed these until now. Great condition! Proud for you.

[LongBlade]

Some fine very old knives being posted. Lee's Billhook is a fine survivor, could easily be a 200 yr old knife.
Here is one i just fopund in my basement. I put it there some years ago because the blade looks rusted beyond saving. But today it spoke to me so i took some pictures. "H & J.W. King Warranted 1869". King was an importer so this might have come from Germany. Liners & bolsters are integral. Note the big swell of handle towards the butt. Snaps are all very crisp, has a half stop and no play, solid in open position. Pretty good for 150 years old.
Any advice on getting the 'scale' off the blade ?
kj

Thanks for comment on Billhook - it is an oldie - some followup research indicates to me 1850 or later and most likely Italian in origin... though probably somehow imported and used here in the Northeast based on where and how it was found...

KJ - That is an old pruner for sure - I know you mention possibly Germany but I wouldn’t know - I haven’t seen too many German made Hawkbills but not ones I would collect ... I’m not familiar with that stamp at all... but in terms of cleaning that knife it is pretty far gone.. looks to be very deep pitting and corrosion - I think buffing it to death may not even work ... personally I rather see it like this than a shiny and lousy facsimile of a knife!

I’m still sticking to pre-1860 for integrated liners/bolsters as I still have not seen many later examples and certainly none after 1900 despite that conjecture in another thread ....

[kootenay joe]

I think this one has integral liners/bolsters and it was made in 1869. Goins has some info on this brand.
I was not thinking of buffing, more like rubbing or flicking off the superficial scale that covers both blade surfaces.
kj

[Robo]

I made a separate post about this old Keen Kutter K136 pruner in "Knife Q&A" but I fiqured I'd run some photos of it here amongst these other great pruning and Horticultural knives. Enjoy!

[LongBlade]

Great looking Hawkbill Robo ... the etch on a Hawkbill is very cool and not something often seen ... Thanks for sharing it in this thread!!

[Robo]

Great looking Hawkbill Robo ... the etch on a Hawkbill is very cool and not something often seen ... Thanks for sharing it in this thread!!

My Pleasure, Lee!

[Eustace]

My friend send me this pictures. Has anyone seen something like this?

[LongBlade]

Very interesting knife Eustace ... I can’t tell from photos but is that a spud used to graft on the back end of knife or is it just an extension of the handle? Not sure from where it originated but looks European in style...

[Eustace]

I'm almost sure it's French. The stamp is "aparie" or "aparis"

[LongBlade]

I believe your correct Eustace as the stamp appears French - I didn’t pay attention to the stamp ... looks like a folding billhook (aka pruner) that has the handle open from a folding extension... pretty cool ...

[kootenay joe]

Does it have 1 blade and 2 springs ?
Does the handle extension fold closed when blade is open to keep blade locked open ?
"Aparie" makes me think of bee keeping.
Never seen anything like it.
kj