Garden hoe I made for myself

Storm Crow

Storm Crow

Joined
Apr 12, 2006
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Not a knife, but it definitely has a blade and is custom built. :D

I currently live in an apartment not far from my shop. I don't have a garden, but there is a bit of a yard, and it grows a lot of grassburrs. If you aren't familiar with these, count yourself lucky. They are resilient plants and their seeds are little spheres covered with spikes that have microscopic barbs. These can easily drive deeply enough into unsuspecting flesh to draw blood and hurt like the devil to pull back out. The seeds grow in clusters, and when dry will scatter at the slightest disturbance, spreading themselves and attaching to anything mobile so they may come to soil further afield. These end up in my carpet, where they are suddenly encountered with my bare feet.

So I need to hoe the plants in my apartment's yard before they can produce seeds. I didn't have a hoe. The ones available for sale at Home Despot and similar stores are heavy, ugly, with blades at the wrong angle, likely as not made in Communist China, and generally unsatisfactory.

Good thing I have a power hammer.

This is what I forged out last week. It is forged from a single piece of scrap leaf spring that I had in my shop. I hardened and temepred it, and managed to find a handle to put it on (it was actually more difficult to find the handle than to make the head because stores expect you to buy a new tool rather than replace a handle, a sure sign of our degenerating civilization ;) ). It is held on by friction at the moment, but will be receiving a screw to help hold it on if it becomes loose.

It's lightweight, is at the correct angle for use, and is much more interesting and beautiful than what I could have found in a store. It's almost sculptural in form. And most importantly, it works well.

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My hat's off to you. Yes there was a day when a metal tools were forged, I have made turning tools, draw knives, tire irons, metal augars for plumbing, hand azes, all because I could not find the right tool for the right job or because the right tool had to be ordered and a good one was very costly. Again looks like a handy tool.:thumbup:
 
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Thanks, guys!

Loosearrow - I come to knife making from a blacksmithing approach, and I see a mighty much of non-knife forged objects. I enjoy focusing my forging on tools, and knives seem to be the most common tool I make.

Mooreknives - Yes sir, there is an unbeatable pleasure to using a tool you have made and have it work better than what you could buy. I've also made a number of other tools for myself, including a drawknife and adze. I'm in the process of making myself an ax to help clear brush. All going well, might have it fiished today. We'll see.
 
would you be interested in taking on a rake?
You could do rather well making this kind of tool for the right price. As a trail builder, I can tell you that there is a difference between what is readily available in hand tools, and what will actually do a good job.
The essential trail building tools; rake, spade, polaski. If you were to make a 'package' of these tools, designed for trail building, I'll help get the word out with peeps who will buy them, and will help you with design. Your major strength here is your socket building skills, but I can tell from this tool, that you have a pragmatic approach as well which is key for tool building.
 
Lorien, it would probably depend on the rake design. Show me what you're talking about and I can tell you if I think I can build a good one.

You're very right about the difference between what works well in a tool and what you can walk into a store and buy. Part of the problem is that so few people use hand tools enough these days to actually learn what constitutes a good tool, and another part of the problem is that people have gotten so used to buying as cheaply as possible that it becomes difficult to make a living making a higher quality tool, from a manufacturer's standpoint at least if not an independent craftsman.

I'd be interested in talking with you about said package of trail tools.
 
Storm Crow said:
Part of the problem is that so few people use hand tools enough these days to actually learn what constitutes a good tool, and another part of the problem is that people have gotten so used to buying as cheaply as possible that it becomes difficult to make a living making a higher quality tool, from a manufacturer's standpoint at least if not an independent craftsman.
Click to expand...

Indeed - very true words. From kitchen knives, utility/working/fighting knives and machete/swords, almost all of us as makers have to deal with this painful issue.

Great thread.
-M
 
that's awesome man.. much better than the one I made for the wife. I hope she doesn't see this thread...
 
that's one fine lookin hoe you got there! since you made this hoe, can we refer to you as the "metal pimp"? :D just kidding brother...i love it! that thing is really cool
 
give me a call any time between 9 and 6 westcoast time, tuesday to saturday, 1-250-642-3123 or email to lorien at bladeworks.ca
 
That's a fantastic garden implement. I love a good handmade tool. Goodness knows there are few enough of them available in hardware stores, let alone made locally.

Now I have to ask...did you heat treat it under a harvest moon and quench it in the blood of a virgin garden gnome? ;) :D
 
Thanks, guys! I think this hoe has gotten as much attention as anything that I've made and posted online. :D

Lorien - I'll shoot you an e-mail.

Aaron - Don't be silly; that's old superstition. If you study modern metallurgy, you'll see that the urine of a fern-fed goat is far superior and much easier to obtain. ;)

Actually, it was quenched in some commercial quench oil.
 
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