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43-407: In hand felling, an axe , saw , or chainsaw is used to fell a tree, followed up by limbing and bucking in traditional applications. In the modern commercial logging industry, felling is typically followed by limbing and skidding . A feller-buncher is a motorized vehicle with an attachment which rapidly cuts and gathers several trees in the process of felling them. In cut-to-length logging

86-671: A hammer on the back side (the poll). As easy-to-make weapons, axes have frequently been used in combat, and is one of humanity's oldest melee weapons. Hand axes , of stone , and used without handles (hafts) were the first axes. They had knapped (chipped) cutting edges of flint or other stone. Early examples of hand axes date back to 1.6 mya in the later Oldowan, in Southern Ethiopia around 1.4 mya, and in 1.2 mya deposits in Olduvai Gorge . Stone axes made with ground cutting edges were first developed sometime in

129-420: A harvester performs the tasks of a feller-buncher, additionally doing the delimbing and bucking. When harvesting wood from a felled tree, the recommended methods should be followed in order to maximize wood recovery. The suggested trend is to make deeper cuts and smaller openness when performing undercuts. The undercut or notch cut is the guiding or aiming slot for the tree and is a V-shaped notch placed on

172-483: A biconical drilled hole and is fastened by wedges of antler and by birch-tar. It belongs to the early Cortaillod culture . The coat of arms of Norway features a lion rampant carrying an axe which represents King Olaf II of Norway , who was honoured as the Eternal King of Norway . In folklore , stone axes were sometimes believed to be thunderbolts and were used to guard buildings against lightning , as it

215-651: A billhook may sometimes be called a "fascine knife". Made on a small scale in village smithies and in larger industrial sites, e.g. Old Iron Works, Mells , the billhook is still relatively common throughout most of western Europe. During the 19th and early 20th centuries the larger manufacturers offered up to 200 or so different regional styles and shapes of blade, sometimes in a range of different sizes from 6 to 11 inches (15 to 28 cm) long in 0.5-inch (1.3 cm) steps. The French firm of Talabot boasted in their 1930 catalogue that they held over 3000 different patterns in their archives. Billhooks would have once been made by

258-407: A handle) date only from 6,000 BC. The earliest examples of handled axes have heads of stone with some form of wooden handle attached ( hafted ) in a method to suit the available materials and use. Axes made of copper , bronze , iron and steel appeared as these technologies developed. The axe is an example of a simple machine , as it is a type of wedge , or dual inclined plane . This reduces

301-422: A moderate carbon content. High-carbon steel is not often used since an extremely sharp and hard edge is not necessary, and a slightly lower carbon content makes the hook easier to sharpen in the field. Hygiene and cosmetic appearance are unimportant so more expensive stainless steel is not used. Billhooks have a relatively thick blade since they are typically used for cutting thick and woody vegetation. The nose

344-521: A number of reasons. Trees are generally felled because: This was an experiment conducted regarding felling trees and the continuous felling of trees in boom-corridors which might lead to an increase in harvester productivity. An efficient way to do this would be to use felling heads which would increase efficiency and fall time. Axe An axe ( / æ k s / ; sometimes spelled ax in American English ; see spelling differences )

387-432: A shallow wedge angle, whereas splitting axes have a deeper angle. Most axes are double bevelled (i.e. symmetrical about the axis of the blade), but some specialist broadaxes have a single bevel blade, and usually an offset handle that allows them to be used for finishing work without putting the user's knuckles at risk of injury. Less common today, they were once an integral part of a joiner and carpenter's tool kit, not just

430-459: A special significance, used by priestesses in religious ceremonies. In 1998, a labrys, complete with an elaborately embellished haft, was found at Cham-Eslen, Canton of Zug , Switzerland . The haft was 120 cm (47 in) long and wrapped in ornamented birch-bark . The axe blade is 17.4 cm (6.9 in) long and made of antigorite , mined in the Gotthard -area. The haft goes through

473-601: A tool for use in forestry. A tool of similar origin is the billhook . Most modern axes have steel heads and wooden handles, typically hickory in the US and ash in Europe and Asia, although plastic or fibreglass handles are also common. Modern axes are specialised by use, size and form. Hafted axes with short handles designed for use with one hand are often called hand axes but the term hand axe refers to axes without handles as well. Hatchets tend to be small hafted axes often with

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516-618: Is a versatile cutting tool used widely in agriculture and forestry for cutting woody material such as shrubs , small trees and branches . It is distinct from the sickle . It was commonly used in Europe with an important variety of traditional local patterns. Elsewhere, it was also developed locally such as in the Indian subcontinent , or introduced regionally as in the Americas , South Africa , and Oceania by European settlers. The blade

559-538: Is also issued to the pioneer corps of most regiments. In the Indian Army , it is given the name "knife gabion". A non-military use as a weapon was a "pruning bill", described as the weapon used in the Pierre Rivière parricide case of 1835. The Finnish military engineer NCOs have a billhook as the part of their personal gear instead of an entrenching tool . It also doubles as a sidearm. Officers have

602-434: Is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape , split , and cut wood , to harvest timber , as a weapon , and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol . The axe has many forms and specialised uses but generally consists of an axe head with a handle , also called a haft or a helve. Before the modern axe, the stone-age hand axe without a handle was used from 1.5 million years BP . Hafted axes (those with

645-456: Is fixed to a wooden handle, in Europe usually made from ash due to its strength and ability to deal with repeated impact. Handles are mostly 12 to 15 centimetres (4.7 to 5.9 in) long and may be "caulked" or round. ("Caulked" handles have a knob sticking out on one side at the bottom of the handle, intended to help to help keep the tool from slipping out of your hand. See sidebar.) Longer handles are sometimes used for heavier patterns, making

688-549: Is said to represent swift and balanced justice. Shango altars often contain a carved figure of a woman holding a gift to the god with a double-bladed axe sticking up from her head. The Hurrian and Hittite weather god Teshub is depicted on a bas-relief at Ivriz wielding a thunderbolt and an axe. The Arkalochori Axe is a bronze, Minoan, axe from the second millennium BC thought to be used for religious purposes. Inscriptions on this axe have been compared with other ancient writing systems. The axe has two primary components:

731-466: Is sometimes also thickened to bring the sweet spot further forward and to optimise the chopping action. The edge of a billhook is not bevelled to a very narrow angle to avoid binding in green wood. The hooked front of the blade is designed to prevent the sharpened inner edge from hitting the ground, which would quickly damage or blunt it. Billhooks were the tool of choice for clearing areas of brush and shrubs, since this activity requires chopping close to

774-544: Is the European equivalent of tools such as machetes , parangs , and kukris . Prior to the advent of chainsaws, billhooks were used to clear brush and undergrowth from around the base of a tree that was to be felled by either axe or crosscut saw. The billhook's use as a cutting tool goes back to the Bronze Age , and a few examples survive from this period, for example, found in the sea around Greece. Iron examples from

817-440: Is traditionally made of a resilient hardwood like hickory or ash , but modern axes often have hafts made of durable synthetic materials. Antique axes and their modern reproductions, like the tomahawk , often had a simple, straight haft with a circular cross-section that wedged onto the axe-head without the aid of wedges or pins. Modern hafts are curved for better grip and to aid in the swinging motion, and are mounted securely to

860-402: Is usually made from a medium- carbon steel in varying weights and lengths, but typically 20 to 25 centimetres (7.9 to 9.8 in) long. Blades are straight near the handle but have an increasingly strong curve towards the end. The blade is generally sharpened only on the inside of the curve, but double-edged billhooks, or "broom hooks", also have a straight secondary edge on the back. The blade

903-620: The Black Forest , Hungary and Switzerland, and have been found carved into boundary stones in parts of Germany and onto rock faces in Italy. Billhooks are currently in common use by thatchers , coppicers , agricultural hurdle makers, charcoal burners and often by other traditional craftsmen, bushcraft , farmers and woodsmen. They are also the primary tool for hedgelayers . In the French Republican calendar , February 8

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946-448: The bed would assure male offspring . Basques , Australians and New Zealanders have developed variants of rural sports that perpetuate the traditions of log cutting with axe. The Basque variants, splitting horizontally or vertically disposed logs, are generically called aizkolaritza (from aizkora : axe). In Yorùbá mythology , the oshe (double-headed axe) symbolises Shango , Orisha (god) of thunder and lightning. It

989-508: The coopers' workshops in France, where they were known as a cochoir, and used in the making of wooden barrel hoops. In the Balkans they were used for harvesting maize . In Finland they are used to cut branches from trees and cutting down small trees, known as vesuri . Images of billhooks often appear on coats of arms of towns and villages, particularly in winemaking areas of Alsace ,

1032-657: The knob . Hammer axes (or axe-hammers) typically feature an extended poll, opposite the blade, shaped and sometimes hardened for use as a hammer . The name axe-hammer is often applied to a characteristic shape of perforated stone axe used in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages . Iron axe-hammers are found in Roman military contexts, e.g. Cramond , Edinburgh , and South Shields , Tyne and Wear . Related forestry terms Neolithic axes Medieval axes Modern axes Superstition Billhook A billhook or bill hook

1075-577: The Renaissance period, notably at the Battle of Flodden in 1513, when the Scottish king James IV was felled by an arrow and bill. The billhook is an issued tool in some armed forces (see fascine knife ). It is used for cutting brushwood for making fascines (brushwood bundles) and gabions  – originally for the construction of cannon emplacements, and later for machine gun emplacements. It

1118-560: The UK a gorse or furze hook would have been used. In France and Italy they were widely used for pruning vines (only recently has wine making come back to the UK), and miniature billhooks were used for harvesting grapes during the vendange in France. In the Netherlands they were often used in a carpenter's workshop (in the UK use of a small hand axe was more common), and they were also found in

1161-421: The axe head , and the haft . The axe head is typically bounded by the bit (or blade) at one end, and the poll (or butt) at the other, though some designs feature two bits opposite each other. The top corner of the bit where the cutting edge begins is called the toe , and the bottom corner is known as the heel . Either side of the head is called the cheek , which is sometimes supplemented by lugs where

1204-529: The axe was normally hafted by wedging . Birch-tar and rawhide lashings were used to fix the blade. The distribution of stone axes is an important indication of prehistoric trade . Thin sectioning is used to determine the provenance of the stone blades. In Europe , Neolithic "axe factories", where thousands of ground stone axes were roughed out, are known from many places, such as: Metal axes are still produced and in use today in parts of Papua , Indonesia . The Mount Hagen area of Papua New Guinea

1247-596: The billhook, although they may differ in shape, width or thickness of blade, length of handle, etc. Another very close relation is the meat cleaver  – sizes and handle-fixing of these are often very similar to billhooks. In some other European countries the same name is used for both tools, and it can be difficult to identify whether the tool is intended for cutting wood or animal bones . Usage of billhooks also varies from country to country – in Sweden they were often used for cutting fodder for livestock , whereas in

1290-459: The effort needed by the wood chopper. It splits the wood into two parts by the pressure concentration at the blade. The handle of the axe also acts as a lever allowing the user to increase the force at the cutting edge—not using the full length of the handle is known as choking the axe. For fine chopping using a side axe this sometimes is a positive effect, but for felling with a double bitted axe it reduces efficiency. Generally, cutting axes have

1333-601: The ground. In German speaking countries, the billhook is known as a Rodeaxt , which translates to "clearing axe". A billhook may vary in shape depending from which part of the UK it originates; there are eleven main types. The southern group of hedgers use hooks often designed for other woodland work besides hedging. They are all single-edged and vary from moderately heavy to very light. A variety of other hooks were also made by most edge-tool makers, including pea and bean hooks, gorse or furze hooks, trimming hooks, staff hooks, slashers, pruning hooks, that are closely related to

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1376-403: The head by wedging. The shoulder is where the head mounts onto the haft, and this is either a long oval or rectangular cross-section of the haft that is secured to the axe head with small metal or wooden wedges. The belly of the haft is the longest part, where it bows in gently, and the throat is where it curves sharply down to the short grip , just before the end of the haft, which is known as

1419-403: The head meets the haft, and the hole where the haft is mounted is called the eye . The part of the bit that descends below the rest of the axe-head is called the beard , and a bearded axe is an antiquated axe head with an exaggerated beard that can sometimes extend the cutting edge twice the height of the rest of the head. The axe haft , sometimes called the handle or the helve ,

1462-524: The late Neolithic , elaborate axes (battle-axes, T-axes, etc.) had a religious significance and probably indicated the exalted status of their owner. Certain types almost never show traces of wear ; deposits of unshafted axe blades from the middle Neolithic (such as at the Somerset Levels in Britain) may have been gifts to the deities . In Minoan Crete , the double axe ( labrys ) had

1505-679: The late Pleistocene in Australia , where grind-edge axe fragments from sites in Arnhem Land date back at least 44,000 years; grind-edge axes were later present in Japan some time around 38,000 BP, and are known from several Upper Palaeolithic sites on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu . Hafted axes are first known from the Mesolithic period ( c.  6000 BC ). Few wooden hafts have been found from this period, but it seems that

1548-414: The later Iron Age have been found in pre-Roman settlements in several English counties, as well as in France and Germany, where it is called "Hippe" or "Sechsle", and Switzerland, where it is called "Gertel". The tool has developed a large variety of names in different parts of Britain, including bill, hedging bill, hand bill, hook bill, billhook, billook, brushing hook and broom hook. In American English

1591-466: The local smith to the user's specifications but now sizes and shapes are largely standardised. The handles are mostly rat-tail tang , except the Yorkshire having such a long handle that a tang is just not practical – they have a socket instead. The smaller hooks have variations in the shape of the handle: round, oval and pistol-grip. Billhooks are almost universally made from ordinary steel of

1634-485: The other), or a pronounced thickened nose (such as the Monmouth pattern). The reasons for many of these variations are now lost. The use of a billhook is between that of a knife and an axe . It is often used for cutting woody plants such as saplings and small branches, for hedging and for snedding (stripping the side shoots from a branch). In France and Italy it is widely used for pruning grape vines. The billhook

1677-448: The side of the tree in the direction of intended fall. The back cut or felling cut is made on the opposite side of the tree of the undercut and is cut through the base of the tree severing the “hinge” holding the tree up. The Tongue and Groove cut is a type of cut that uses the tree as its own guide for where it will fall. This is commonly used by loggers when they need precision in their drop It may be necessary to fell trees for

1720-561: The tool double-handed. The blade and handle are usually linked by a tang passing through the handle, but sometimes a socket that encloses the blade. Some styles of billhook have scales of hardwood or horn fitted to the handle. Some billhooks (for example the Kent pattern) have a single-bevelled blade, available in both right- and left-handed versions, others (such as the Machynlleth pattern) have dished blades (concave one side and convex

1763-465: Was an important production centre. From the late Neolithic / Chalcolithic onwards, axes were made of copper or copper mixed with arsenic . These axes were flat and hafted much like their stone predecessors. Axes continued to be made in this manner with the introduction of Bronze metallurgy . Eventually the hafting method changed and the flat axe developed into the "flanged axe", then palstaves , and later winged and socketed axes. At least since

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1806-451: Was believed ( mythically ) that lightning never struck the same place twice. This has caused some skewing of axe distributions. Steel axes were important in superstition as well. A thrown axe could keep off a hailstorm , sometimes an axe was placed in the crops , with the cutting edge to the skies to protect the harvest against bad weather . An upright axe buried under the sill of a house would keep off witches , while an axe under

1849-413: Was named Serpette "Billhook". In the medieval period a weapon similar to the halberd was called a bill or billhook . It consisted of a pole with a bill-like blade mounted below a spearhead, with spikes added to the back of the blade to increase the versatility of the weapon against cavalry and armour. The English, in particular, were known for using massed billmen rather than pikes or halberds in

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