Twybill

[cracker72]

Know what it is?


It's a tool used to clean up mortices made by drilling holes in a line.

Here's a manufactured one.



And here's the one I knocked up in a couple hours from OCS. I make a lot of cleft gates, cut many mortices, and this new tool has been fantastic.
The knife edge is used to clean up the mortice sides and the hook has a chisel edge to level the mortice floor and hook out the waste.

[Marksnagel]

Really nice! Is the short handle and long blades make for a tendancy to twist in your hand when used?

I like it.

Mark <º)))><

[John B]

"Its a cracker" to quote Frank Carson here's another one made from a spanner when we were larking about one weekend

My understanding is that in use the hook to break and remove the adjacent hole walls, and the blade is used to cut out and shave the drilled holes sides to produce the mortice,
It's good to see someone making their own tools to their specific requirements, thats what it's all about.

Nice Job, Whereabouts in Devon be you?

mod request: please learn how to post and not quote an entire post full of large photos. People with dial up disconnect from this long of an upload, for what has already been seen.

[cracker72]

Really nice! Is the short handle and long blades make for a tendancy to twist in your hand when used?

I like it.

Mark <º)))><

Thanks Mark. No twisting really, slices across the grain lovely.

"Its a cracker" to quote Frank Carson here's another one made from a spanner when we were larking about one weekend

My understanding is that in use the hook to break and remove the adjacent hole walls, and the blade is used to cut out and shave the drilled holes sides to produce the mortice,
It's good to see someone making their own tools to their specific requirements, thats what it's all about.

Nice Job, Whereabouts in Devon be you?

I like that!

I'm near Bow, Mid Devon.

[jake pogrebinsky]

Hi,cracker72,great tool!To my shame i never did know what the twybill was for,so thanks for that,as well.

You know,forging a tool that has a specific purpose helps a lot,these days.So many people forging as a hobby,divorced from the actual use of an object,are wondering off into some strange,fantastical shapes...(Nothing wrong with fantasy,in my book,but,a real tool refined by the many generations of craftsmen has that shape that the one man's imagination has to work at,to rival).
Would be nice to see what you're up to with them nice hewn timbers in the photo,as well.Or the tool in action.

By the way,you wouldn't have any idea as to what that may've been used for?Is there an analog in a traditional English toolchest?

Thanks,and all the best.Jake

[John B]

Hi Cracker, That location 's handy for a good coke supply (Clannaborough), Do 'ee get to Westpoint? Invite stands if you haven't been yet, we will be having a forge in weekend and barbecue in August.

Jake, another shot of the top of the tool, and some sizes may help on identifying your mystery tool

[jake pogrebinsky]

Hi,John.Here's a link to a few more examples of the same:http://rusknife.org/forum.php?tid=1172&page=3
(Sorry about the text being in russian,but the discussion there sheds no light on the possible nature of the tool).
In the last photo there,on the map where some of the finds were discovered(Mordovia region),there are some other objects.Arrow-heads,and an obvious scorp.So it's clear that the finds are a mixed bag.

Regards,Jake

[cracker72]

Hi,cracker72,great tool!To my shame i never did know what the twybill was for,so thanks for that,as well.

You know,forging a tool that has a specific purpose helps a lot,these days.So many people forging as a hobby,divorced from the actual use of an object,are wondering off into some strange,fantastical shapes...(Nothing wrong with fantasy,in my book,but,a real tool refined by the many generations of craftsmen has that shape that the one man's imagination has to work at,to rival).
Would be nice to see what you're up to with them nice hewn timbers in the photo,as well.Or the tool in action.

By the way,you wouldn't have any idea as to what that may've been used for?Is there an analog in a traditional English toolchest?

Thanks,and all the best.Jake

Hey Jake, thanks!
I'll post up some pics of my woodwork when I photograph some of the recent stuff.
I posted that tool of yours on another forum and here's the response -
"Can you give us some context? I would guess it was for cutting mortises in timber frame buildings and judging by the shape of the up and down tang bits by the eye where the handle fits through I would say it was pretty old. Having said that I have not seen anything quite like that in the old framing pictures just can't think why else you would want such a long thin axe. Another possibility (now I think of it more likely) is a stone cutters axe, if it had an equal extension on the other end with a point it would be a very familiar pick axe and smaller more refined axes of that type were used for dressing stone."

Hi Cracker, That location 's handy for a good coke supply (Clannaborough), Do 'ee get to Westpoint? Invite stands if you haven't been yet, we will be having a forge in weekend and barbecue in August.

I didn't know they did coke there! I buy a couple pound of beef shin now and then :-). I've got a steady supply of timber off cuts from my main business which I turn into charcoal for the forge. I really get through it, but hey, I don't have to spend any money!

The BBQ sound good, thanks.

[jake pogrebinsky]

Hi again,cracker72,and thanks for that expanded inquiry.Afraid,that not being a professional historian,archaeologist,et c.,and not even being that well informed,here's what little that i can contribute(with any degree of certainty...).

These objects,most probably,are from the pre-Mongol period(earlier than the 13th cent.)
For those of them that are officially provinanced,the surrounding content offers no clues(some of these are from private,"pirated" digs,which are only all too common all over the world).
The protrusions,"langettes" on the sides of the eye are a common feature of many periods,earlier and much later,and in and of themselves only indicate the possible heavier duty usage of tool,expanding the area of contact with the haft.(Similar to the longer back of eye in the last photo,and,making the eye so overbuilt relative the bit,lends credence to the possible masonry/earth-digging/root-chopping application).
And,no,it's a very typical wrapped eye,and had no extention on the poll side.
Sorry,that's all the context that i posess...

Off the top of my own head,based on my woodworking experience,all the tools for the deep mortice work were always straight,simply because they were never striking,but always struck tools(or pushed by hand).These are obviously radiused for striking,very odd,given the reach of the bit...

Thanks again,Jake

[bigfootnampa]

I have studied the twybills before and they seem to have been largely used by hurdle makers who used them for quick rough mortising. Thus a medium depth mortise tool in striking (rather than struck) design. I think that Jake's mystery tool may be for similar use... likely in timber framing (because of it's extra deep reach). IME repetitive strikes can be done with astonishing accuracy given a skilled craftsman and especially if the strokes are kept fairly short... A tremendous amount of work can be accomplished that way very quickly too. A recent experience comes to mind where I was removing very hard old putty from window sashes... lots of tools at hand and the best solution available seemed to be to use the straight claw hammer like a dull adze to pulverize the putty. This required exacting placement of each strike as they needed to fall right at the edge of the wooden sash hitting the sloped putty at a precise angle many many times very quickly. Seems unlikely when described, but I was able to do it almost flawlessly with only a few minutes of practice. Now I want to get my forge going and make a specialized tool for this process... sort of a light cold chisel peened hammer with a curve for striking! Maybe a very slight crown on the striking edge?

[jake pogrebinsky]

Well,Clay,there may be something to what you say...I'm trying to think what sort of a joint such deep morticing can involve,and the only thing that comes to mind is the long groove used in stave joinery,on the top floor of the "loft",or the interior partitions.(By the way,what is a hurdle?).
I'm not intimately familiar with the ancient NW Europe building techniques,but it's a fact that those characters there were anything but tool-poor.As in that they had all sorts of morticing options that would be more convenient:Morticing-axe,chisels/slicks/adzes aplenty,and augers,in a way all that a timber-framer has today.
But yes,possible.

[bigfootnampa]

Jake I am no expert on timber framing but I do have some examples here on the farm... a barn with a German style log framed core and added wings... a similarly styled smokehouse and a disassembled pair of cabins (also the farmhouse core is built this way). Here in Missouri the German style log construction was predominant until about 1860 when sawmills made easier ways the norm. I note that they used a great many mortises in the lowest logs to house tenons on the ends of the flooring logs. These were fairly closely spaced and pretty deep too as the logs usually spanned the whole width of the floors... though sometimes with a log beam in the center to give added strength. I am guessing that the German and Russian traditions evolved from the same roots (Viking!)and might have been similar in many ways. Anyone making so many mortises would be sure to want efficient tooling for the job. It could be a root chopper too but seems overly delicate for such a task to me. The very early Viking buildings seemed to make a lot of use of sod with timber framed skeletons and I could easily see the need for deep mortises in such buildings.

Hurdles are the early ancestors of the modern fence panels. They were lightly built of willow and saplings and made to be easily reconfigured. Hurdle making is a nearly lost craft but VERY interesting. The lightest versions were for sheep handling while somewhat heavier versions worked for cattle. Hurdle makers traditionally mortised a log or heavy timber as a base and inserted vertical stakes in this around which the hurdle panel was woven. My guess is that the base was too heavy to be portable and was remade at each farm where the hurdle maker worked. Interestingly the twybill spawned an even odder French version with no wooden handle (just the socket like remnant in metal). These grew very long and were used in all manner of timber framing.

I also note that a modern tool in favor with timber framers is a chain mortiser which is kind of a small chainsaw designed just for deep mortising and that such mortises seem common in modern timber framing so likely were in days of yore also. I have personally used chainsaws for deep mortising and heavy joinery myself and they can do a stunningly accurate job if used skillfully. Your tool seems to be tailor made for such tasks to me. A struck tool can be very accurate but for all but the very pickiest work IMO a skilled user can move faster and more safely with a striking type tool... and timber framing is usually somewhat rough and ready work.

[jake pogrebinsky]

Thanks,Clay,for that explanation of what a hurdle is especally-to my shame,had no idea!
As far as timberframing goes in general(VERY genearal,and all very subjective,and IMHO,as they say).
The tradition does kinda,generally,encompasses Northern Europe,probably stems simply from the timber availability.(I would't use either term Viking or Russian,both are in different ways subjective and confusing).
The very crudest form was,of course,the log cabin.
For many reasons people,as the resources allowed,had a tendency to go from the solid log wall to any variation of a supporting carcass of beams(or logs).
Carcasses were(and are)cut in a miriad of different variations of joinery.Some of it,naturally,on the rough side.
But actually,the overwhelming tendency was "always"(much past 1000 years ago woodwork gets hazy,it ain't in the greatest shape for study)to get the joints nice and tight.VERY nice,and VERY tight,in fact.The nice was for preservation reasons,sealing the pores,shedding water,et c.The tight was for a number of fairly critical structural reasons(commonly joints were driven with the "commander").
So no,the striking motion wouldn't cut it.Those things were pared,with single-bevel tools often,with often a great precision.
Most naturally there were all sorts of styles,traditions,work and workmen,goes without saying.
I know what you mean about the chainsaw,(i don't even own a circular saw right now ,and consider meself hot with it But,it would not be suitable for timberframing,in MOST of it's common manifestations.
A friend in town from whom i lease a part of his shop is a timberframer.I've helped him very little,and only on one project,and used the chain-morticer.I'd class the precition of it's result as anal retentive
As a log-builder i've found the timberwork to be much harder,an extra dimention of joining PLANES.I carve logs with a chainsaw,but only finish the LINES with a chisel(and then still,to a precision of a part of a pencil-mark/line)And it's no accident-it really helps a structure,apparently,when the joints are some wooden analog to the sliding fit in machinework.And finished smooth to boot...
That was rather longwinded...Hope only that it makes sense :)

[ThomasPowers]

Hurdles were quick and dirty items done out in the field generally and fast crude workmanship. I would strongly doubt that traditional hurdle makers would do any drilling for their mortises and the twybill can be held in the hand for fine paring as well as rough chopping.

We tend to have different concepts of fit and finish these days; but even now we have the saying about "spending a 100 dollars of time on a ten dollar bill job" as a way of going out of business.

Thomas who has been making wattle panels for a LH campout lately.

[John B]

There are hurdles and there are hurdles, the one's made for lightwork are usually interwoven withies (split willow and hazel) and no drilling is required when making them (except for the base board used to set the uprights in prior to weaving the withies)
More info here http://www.hazelwattle.com/hurdlemaking.html

The larger ones more like fencing panels made from split boards require more of a frame to hold them, and that is when a mortice is required to give rigidity to the structure.

[cracker72]

I make stuff like this with my twybill, definitely a paring tool.

[jake pogrebinsky]

Wow,great stuff,cracker72.That shaving-horse is sweet!
Thanks,it really helps to discuss things in a concrete way,as in the tool and a corresponding piece of woodwork.Right on!