How to refurbish a spade

Seriously.

In summary, it’s my dear old Father’s 70th birthday next month and he has really come into his own as a Dad over the last year. He’s always been a top bloke, but he has helped me financially so much with this bloody house recently (that he still hasn’t seen), I want to give him something that relates to the house.

I’ve normally had a money no limit approach to dear old Pop, but sadly I don’t have that luxury now, hence this idea. He’d probably prefer it as well!

He likes his gardening, so my idea is to renovate a very old spade & fork that were here when I bought the place. The metal bits are clearly very solid, but rusty and the wooden handles are on their way out.

Basically, I need to do:

a) do something with the metal parts to strip off the rust to make as nice as possible and

b) make a new handle for each, out of some sort of wood.

My idea of an end product, is a clearly old metal bit (can’t be avoided!) with a nice solid wooden handle, which I’ve made – being able to carve something into it would be a bonus.

I will be consulting google, but before I do – any advice/suggestions from you guys & gals?

As a start for the metal parts a wire brush and some elbow grease will get you back to good metal. Having done that you could wax it maybe or there are clear polyurethane varnish/finishes for metal. If you can find it theres something called ‘penetrol’ which is used as a paint additive but it makes a good seal/finish for bare metal when used on its own

you can then get nice hickory handles[/url] that would replace the existing ones if they’re too far gone (but give the original ones a going over with a wire brush too – they might turn out nice)

Hi G 🙂

Thank you. The rust is more than surface though. I’ll give it a go with wire brush but not sure how much impact just elbow grease will have…was hoping for some nuclear-grade stripping advice 🙂

Regarding the handles, that’s where I was really hoping to add the personal touch and make them myself. Just what from, and how.

Far easier.

mrs is chuckling at this thread

A wire wheel in a grinder would make short work of the rust.

I’d be tempted to visit the local plater’s and see what finishes they can do.

grinder with a flappy wheel for the iron, 120 grit or so, don’t take to much off, then a nice oil. as for the wood, i think you’d struggle to get the shafts out tho, they are put in when the iron is hot and then quenched to grip tightly, and riveted, maybe just a sand and an oil?

I believe Ash timber was used traditionally. You can maybe find some ideas here.[/url]

If you can find somewhere selling Ash thats a traditional handle-making timber. Oak might be easier to get in a ready to use chunk. Ebay can be a good place to look for hardwoods in small quanities

For the metal in wire-brushing doesn’t do enough I think something like sandblasting might be too destructive and change the character of the metal too much. Companies that galvanise steel first ‘pickle’ it in acid to remove rust and other oxides – that might be an option if any local companies can be sweet-talked into just pickling them for you.

Are you sure that the wooden handles need to be replaced? That might be difficult as modern tools may not be manufactured the same way; such as the long riveted metal portion on the fork.

Unless the handles are rotten or something, I’d sand them and apply boiled linseed oil. Its supposed to penetrate the wood, not sit on top of it like a paint, so apply numerous thin coats with a cloth.

As to how – most woods will be sold in a square/ rectangular section rather than round (maybe a bit of hardwood handrail or table leg could be scavenged though). So if you werent starting with a ready made handle (even if you were then going to work on it further) you could chat up someone with a lathe or go at it with a plane and or ‘spoke shave’ of if you’re feeling brave a ‘draw knife’

The latter looks like a devise for chopping own lower torso off but its actually reasonably safe to use

If you want to put any bend into your handles you can make up a do-it-yourself steam bending get up by sealing the wood inside a bit of drainpipe and steaming it with a wallpaper stripper. After and hour or so oak is soft enough to bend over your knee. Make up a jig or former in the curve you want – take the steamed wood out of the pipe and quickly clamp it in the jig and it will set in the new shape as it cools.

One possibility is country parks / forestry commission etc often have wood-craft days / courses/ demos where you can use bodging tools (pole-lathes, draw knifes and so on) and that might be a good way of getting a good bit of wood and some tools to use

A wire wheel in a grinder would make short work of the rust.

I’d actually go for a cup brush in a drill, a grinder can be a bit too eager and you’d loose the character of the metal – the torq and momentum of a heavy brush spinning that fast makes them difficult to use with accuracy. With a grinder you’ll also be picking bits of crimped wire out of your clothes, hair, teeth and pants for weeks. There are also disks of ‘non woven abrasive’ that are gentler than cup brushes and remove paint and rust without digging into the metal

You can try electrolytic rust removal. IT a method I only heard about 6 months a go and have not tried yet so can’t give any first hand tips as I’ve always used a flap disk / wire brush e.t.c. Looks potentially gentler though.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Electrolytic-Rust-Removal-aka-Magic/

There is a joke in this thread somewhere surely.

Honestly? You’d save a lot of time and possibly even money just buying new ones. It’s not like they have any sentimental value to you or your father, why on earth would he want someone else’s skip fodder, even if tarted up a bit?

Mind you, if you want to practice renovating knackered garden tools, I’ve got a few you could work on, also abandoned by previous house owner 🙂

jonba – Member
There is a joke in this thread somewhere surely.

You could home dip the metal part, leaving a very decent, clean but still “aged” steel finish. I’ve used this product before, on a suspension part for a car and an exhaust manifold, they came out completely rust free. Doesn’t leave a shiney finish though, its actually quite dark:
http://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/deox-c

As for the handle, you don’t show any pics, but if the original is unrestorable just buy a new hickory job and get your dads name on it or suchlike. 😀

Before you hand them over, give him a cake with 66 candles on it.

Piss takers 🙂

Fair points though, in my head was some restored quality British-made ‘don’t make them like that anymore’ garden tool, lovingly restored by his son with a handmade quality oiled solid wood handle, to stand back and behold as a labour of love.

What it would probably be, is a bit of a shit present. A rusty spade that meant sod all to anyone.

I’ll get an iPad.

A fantastic end to the thread!
Good work.

but the shovel would make an excellent iPad holder 🙂

Or be very handy to smack you over the head with 🙂

Replacing the handles with new ones sounds like a good idea. When you’ve done that, you’ll probably find the metal bits don’t do the handles justice, so you’re probably best off replacing those as well.

I think I can comment, being on the far side of sixty. It looks a nice gesture to me.

They don’t make them like that any more, and look at the taper on the fork’s tines. Is it original, or from years of use? I’d suggest that, if you can de-rust the tools, then get a pro to fix new handles. Do rivets in tools like this have to be worked hot, as in steelwork?

Oh, and a D – handle, not a T.

Trigger’s broom? 😉

Do rivets in tools like this have to be worked hot, as in steelwork?

Nah! You just drill them out.

thecaptain – Member
Honestly? You’d save a lot of time and possibly even money just buying new ones. It’s not like they have any sentimental value to you or your father, why on earth would he want someone else’s skip fodder, even if tarted up a bit?

In summary, it’s my dear old Father’s 70th birthday next month and he has really come into his own as a Dad over the last year. He’s always been a top bloke, but he has helped me financially so much with this bloody house recently (that he still hasn’t seen), I want to give him something that relates to the house.

I’ve normally had a money no limit approach to dear old Pop, but sadly I don’t have that luxury now, hence this idea. He’d probably prefer it as well!

He likes his gardening, so my idea is to renovate a very old spade & fork that were here when I bought the place. The metal bits are clearly very solid, but rusty and the wooden handles are on their way out.
The metalwork looks solid, the fork tang is stamped by the manufacturer, which shows quality, rather than use a wire brush on a drill, which would be a bit heavy-handed, I’d just use some wire wool on the fork, then wire wool and 3-in-1 oil on wire wool to bring up the colour, the spade id go over with a stiff wire brush, then wire wool and oil, the reason being those are good solid tools, with years left in them, and they’ve got great colour and patination, that only age and use can deliver.
The woodwork probably needs replacing, I’d centre-punch the rivets and carefully drill them out, then find some decent hardwood handles, ash, hickory, or hornbeam if you can find it, it was traditionally coppiced for making tool handles.
I’d hate to see good tools like that replaced by cheap modern mass-produced stuff, when a little bit of work and new handles will see them good for another few decades.

If the handles are solid and not loose, I’d leave them on there. I’d rather have a worn handle that didn’t wrattle, than a new one that did.
For the metal part, you need to get to work with a strip disk. You’ll need a few as they aren’t very hard wearing, but you won’t lose surface detail.
http://catalogue.3m.co.uk/en_gb/gb-asd/Abrasive_Discs/Clean_and_Strip_Discs

Or if you do split them, just get them shot blasted and save s lot of ballache.

If you’re after new handles try here, not cheap, but good quality.

Saying that they don’t make them like this any more, I was looking for some bits earlier and came across a company called Carters[/url] up in Huddersfield who still make tools the proper way, and make ash handles for tools as well.

So, if you are after new bits it would be worth giving them a call.