14 November 2012

Garden Tools II

I've done some repairs/modifications to existing tools i've had around the yard.
This first one is a digging bar. I made it from the leftover beak side of a pick-mattock i bought last year from wal-mart.the bar is 3/4 black pipe with a piece of 5/8'' rebar down the center for additional wieght. I used plumber's putty to join the pieces after grinding down a nipple on the end of the beak.This fit just perfectly into the pipe! Dad's addage of measure 2x cut 1x works well, but I've modified it a little. Measure  & cut ad nauseam infinitum.
The second piece is the companion to the digging bar. it's the mattock side. I originally bought the pick/mattock from Walmart last fall. Three weeks ago i was clearing a small weed patch and stopped to rest a moment. while leaning on the handle,it snapped with no warning! I'm just grateful I wasn't swinging it at the time! Never buying garden tools from Walmart again (and if I can I'll just craft them from what I have lying around!)
Third is a leaf rake. the handle snapped about three weeks ago, so I put a piece of 1/4-in. PVC pipe onto it, shoved 5/8-in. rebar down the center adn bolted it on. Viola!
The last one is the first one I made almost a year ago and was the first one i did. I'd just bought the new leaf rake adn rather than throw out the older one wich had some badly bent tines, I just cut off the outer ones and re-aligned the innner ones. Now I have a rake that can get into the chicken house door to clean it out. (Eeww!)
I'll post pics here later.