I am looking for a manual of forestry/garden tool sharpening and maintenance, published in the 20th century in the UK, ideally pertaining to billhooks, scythes, etc. The internet search is useless now.

[catuscay@meow.social]

I am looking for a manual of forestry/garden tool sharpening and maintenance, published in the 20th century in the UK, ideally pertaining to billhooks, scythes, etc. The internet search is useless now. Please help! #gardening #tools #forest

[irisfreundin@troet.cafe]

@catuscay Just a tip: Follow the gardening group and ask those questions there - you'll reach more people.

@ gardening@fedigroups.social

(without the blank)

[novanaturalist@cosocial.ca]

@catuscay You are probably wanting a copy of BTCV's Tool Care Manual - eg: https://www.nhbs.com/toolcare-a-maintenance-and-workshop-manual-book

BTCV, now called TCV, still have their practical handbooks available online, though I think they are rebuilding their website https://www.tcv.org.uk/news/tcvs-conservation-handbooks-online-now/

[neverbeaten@mas.to]

@catuscay
Is it a specific book that you know exists, or are your criteria components of an search for something you're uncertain exists?

[hicksy2@mastodon.green]

@catuscay in all seriousness, buy a cigar stone and just do it! You will learn more from actually holding the stone and tool in your hands than you will from a book.

[hicksy2@mastodon.green]

@catuscay but I would be mildly impressed by anyone with a hand tool manual on their coffee table. More impressed by anyone with hand tools and a cigar stone on their coffee table.

[novanaturalist@cosocial.ca]

@catuscay Of course the excellently titled website "Talking Billhooks" is a load of billhooks (and slashers), but not sure it includes tool care advice. https://www.billhooks.co.uk/

[verdevivo@mastodon.social]

You might want to look into older publications by the Rural Industries Bureau, as they often produced detailed practical guides on maintaining tools like billhooks and scythes in mid-century Britain.

[mossyquartz@social.vivaldi.net]

@hicksy2 @catuscay Yes, what hicksy2 said is same as what I remember my father said his father told him. I also remember something my grandfather did after cleaning and sharpening his tools; he kept them in a bucket of a mixture of sand and oil in the cellar during the off-season, winter.

[hicksy2@mastodon.green]

@MossyQuartz @catuscay oiling is a good point, that and cigar stone being the best thing to use for anything sickle size or bigger. I cannot really put into words how to do this.... Hence my advice to just try it as I am suspicious how well a book could explain it.