Noborigama Sickle (Japanese Billhook)

[macmex]

When Jerreth and I celebrated our 40th in Hawaii I brought home two types of sickles which I hadn't already tried. The Noborigma is by far the most formidable looking, of the tools I brought back with me. Fortunately it fit inside a checked bag, so there was no flap at the airline counter about it.



When I purchased it I had no idea what to call it.


"Tosa," it turns out is the place it originates from. "Noborigama" refers to the style of tool.

I wasn't even sure what the best use for the tool would be, yet I saw that it had a longer handle than my grass sickles and I thought it might be useful for cutting brush. While we were still in Hawaii I did use it to chop open a coconut. In doing so I reckoned that one ought to be exceedingly careful about holding anything while chopping with this tool. It would remove a finger in a blink. I think, if a person is going to chop with this, it would be best to use a stick (probably with a side branch stub) to hold things, rather than ones hand. The Noborigama sickle has a thick, heavy blade with is scary sharp.

When I got it home I tried cutting weeds with it and, yes, it worked. But the grass sickle is far better for that. Here's a picture of Japanese grass sickle. I use these almost every day of the growing season.


Having said that, I do find this to be an extremely useful tool. The original design was for tree trimming, but the way one uses it, is not to simply hook onto a limb and pull, but rather to CHOP. The curved blade with the cutting edge on the inside produces a tremendous amount of cutting force. Combined with the very sharp edge it has and POW! It really cuts. It's best for use on trees, limbs and brush under 2 1/2" in diameter. I've used mine to take out small trees which have grown up in fences around our place. It works very well.

The thick heavy blade mounted on  strong, light, long handle develops some real force. I think of it less as  sickle and more as a machete. 

[rdback]

Nice looking tool George. Kinda looks like an old corn knife. Happy 40th by the way.

[macmex]

Yes, I had an old fashioned corn knife, about 10 years ago. It was manufactured by a renowned smith in NJ, many decades ago. One day it just up and disappeared. I'm hoping it will turn up someday, in some strange place.

[heavyhitterokra]

Wow! I had forgotten about the old corn knives!

My grandpa used to have us kids chop his green corn stalks every July after harvest, and throw it over the fence to feed his milk cows. Great memories!

[macmex]

Sad news, I broke it! I was really finding it useful, especially in eradicating bamboo and cutting saplings out of our fences. The other day I was cutting a sapling, which was deeply ensconced in some wild rose vines. I swung once, and made a sizable cut in the sampling. The next time I swung, I heard a "crack," and wondered if the sampling was snapping under some kind of pressure. The third swing broke the handle of my tool! My guess is that I missed the sampling and hit it with the handle instead of the cutting blade.



Of course, this happens just when I get really attached to this tool. These Japanese tools have a unique manner of being fastened to their handles. I'm going to have to do some investigating in order to learn how to replace the handle.  

[chrysanthemum]

That is sad news. I wonder if the store in Hawaii carries replacement handles and could give you information on how it’s done.

[heavyhitterokra]

Not to worry, George. Keith's True Value Hardware in Fort Gibson sells replacement handles for about $3.00 at least pre-covid. I replaced the handle in that hoe that you got for me. It had a knarled spot in the handle and I accidentally kneeled on it while pulling weeds and heard it crack. It about broke my heart to hear that, but my son took me to Fort Gibson and showed me their stash of handles and I was all better after that.

stores.truevalue.com/ok/fort-gibson/16331/

Here is a map of their location:

stores.truevalue.com/ok/fort-gibson/

If worse comes to worst, we've got plenty of hickory trees around here.  It wouldn't take any time at all to skin one and mill the end for a blade attachment.  I've got saws and hammers.  16 penny common nails make good rivets.

P.S.
Who ever cut the tang kerf in that handle put the wood on 90 degrees out of rotation.  Handles cut from lumber have grain just like 2x4s and baseball bats.  It the grain is turned the wrong direction when you hit a ball, it will break the bat.  That's why wooden bats have stamps on them, so you'll know what side to face upward before swinging it. Same thing with handles, if you cut the tang kerf against the grain, it will break when you swing it.  That handle was a factory defect.

No matter though, we'll cut one out of a full hickory sapling and it will have concentric grain that won't split.  If that doesn't work, we'll use Beau D'arc.  King Kong couldn't break that stuff.

[macmex]

Jerreth and I had discussed the idea of repairing this sickle handle. Tuesday I even researched a bit on this, online. Yesterday (Wednesday) I awoke to find that Ron had emailed me, telling me of how he had found a suitable piece of hickory and cut a handle blank for my Noborigama sickle. I was excited. Jerreth's comment at breakfast was "Go for it. Learn how to do this!"

So, after work I grabbed the broken pieces and headed over to Ron's place. Here are a few pictures of the process. I didn't get step by step photos.



Ron cut the handle blank longer than the original. As we worked and conversed, I toyed with the idea of leaving it longer. After all, It would give me more reach. This is how Ron fastened it down while he measured, cut and chiseled out the narrow area where the metal retaining ring fits, and cut the slot for the tang.

Ron just happened to have a curved chisel which cut in exactly the right arch, we needed for reducing the end of the handle, to fit that retaining ring. Ron commented that this saved a whole lot of time. I think it took Ron a little over an hour to do this part of the job (the part where I was present). He worked carefully, to avoid a mistake. The sickle blade went in very well, so well, that it crossed my mind that we might get away with wrapping the whole thing with duct tape! (Not too seriously considered)

Ron used two nails to replace the original rivets. I thought he was going to find nails that fit the original holes, and wondered how he was going to measure and drill so accurately that he would be able to sink a nail through the handle and right through the hole in the tang. Instead, Ron fit the tang and blade in their proper place and then drilled new holes, right through the handle and tang, placing the first nail into place before drilling the second (last hole). He hack sawed the ends of the nails off and peened them on his grandfather's anvil. "Peen" means that he rounded them off, flattening the cut ends, as he did. This fixes the nails in their place and makes the handle sturdier. 


As he finished, we once again discussed the length of handle. Ron commented that the physics probably should dictate a shorter handle, as the long handle would put a lot of leverage on the relatively short tang and retainer on the handle. Excitely I took the Noborigama sickle home. I was running over an hour late for starting chores and it was really hot and humid.

My family had supper ready shortly after I got home, so I only milked before eating. Then, after supper, I headed out to finish chores. Perhaps the most time consuming part of chores, right now, is that I pretty much need to cut three wheelbarrow loads of forage, to feed our penned male goats (bucks) and rabbits. I need that much so that I can grab and feed in the predawn hours the next day, as well. 

For being so happy about having my sickle back in service, I felt slightly hesitant to take it to task at hand. I felt a little insecure, thinking, "Sure hope I don't break it again." The first thing I did, in spite of running behind schedule, was shorten the handle. I just really didn't want to risk breaking this tool. I was glad  when I hefted the finished product. It felt very good. 


I took it, my grass sickle and my ko gama sickle and attacked an overgrown fence line quickly filling the wheelbarrow with grasses, weeds and small saplings (goats especially relish brush and saplings). It didn't take too long to get all three loads, and, much of the time I used the Noborigama sickle. It shines for cutting brambles and saplings. I decided, however, that I need to go easy on "whacking" on things. Though I still swing and hit, while cutting some things, a lot of the time it works quite well just hooking the blade behind a sapling and pulling. This cuts the trunk cleanly and easily.

When finished I then had to feed goats and rabbits before retiring for the night. Satisfied, I took a final photo of the tools which made my work so much easier.


 

[heavyhitterokra]

Don't worry George, if you break it, we'll just make another one.  I was just now looking at the first photos that you posted of the bill hook sickle and noticed the old handle sported a sticker that said, "Made in Japan" now, you could replace that one with a piece of masking tape that says, "Made Out Back." 

[chrysanthemum]

I am very impressed! Good job, gentlemen.

[macmex]

I have been using this tool every day, while cutting forage for the animals. Goats, especially, appreciate leaves, as in branches from saplings and shrubs. Cutting such things actually saves me time, compared to cutting grass and weeds. So as often as I can I cut some brush for our two bucks. This tool is the absolute bomb for cutting brush, saplings and briars. Most of the time I find that I'm not hacking at things, but rather placing the hook of the blade behind them, and then pulling. If I bend the sapling a bit and then do this, then I can cut some things as think as 2" in diameter, and that, with only two or three pulls. On top of that, it does work alright for cutting weeds. So once I have it in my hand I just may not change tools.

Finally, one more plus. The noborigama sickle works really well for cutting weeds and brush growing along fences. The hook lets me slip the blade between the fence and brush or sapling and then pull. Pop! It cuts and I never even got close to accidentally hitting the metal fence with the blade! It's a keeper for sure!

The other day one of my grass sickle handles went out on me. It made me happy to think about fixing it as Ron fixed the Noborigama 

[macmex]

If anyone would like to get one of these, I just found a source that has them. Haven't been able to find one for two years now! If I had the funds, I'd get me an spare. I've become exceedingly fond of this tool!

Niwaki Billhook Sickle