was used by my Grandparents to clear brush in southern Germany. I used it to trim Christmas trees.
The wooden handle is loose and cracked. I wrapped it in gaffers tape but would like to fix it.
What is it called? How could I fix the handle? It is now located in Houston TX.
by retep4891
3 Comments
It looks like a billhook machete. Without seeing how the handle attaches to the blade I couldn’t say which method is the best for repair
Nice old bill hook. First remove the tape before it gunks everything up. The handle is probably just dry, soak it in boiled linseed oil and it’ll swell up.
If you need to replace the handle your best bet is to break the current handle off completely, carefully cut the pummel washer off or push it out of the way if you can. Then carefully with a light hammer, flatten out the end of the tang. Make a new handle, by carving, turning, buying, whatever. Then find a new washer that’s got an undersized hole, file it to fit closely over the tang, slide the new handle on, lightly tap/peen the tang enough to compress the handle. Done. You may want to fit a similar washer near the top of the handle to prevent your replacement from splitting, also I’d use brass instead of steel personally but you can use just about any metal.
There are many ways you could approach this.
DIY
Stabilize and reinforce the original.
Replace the handle. You could stack You could use a hickory billet and drill. 2 part scales. Cast resin.
DIWM A quick bit of searching shows many options, from an old fashioned hardware store to a number of custom knife shops who do repairs. A custom ship could do something really slick, something honoring your heir / German heritage and the long useful history of this billhook.