[AT] Was: Corn Picking and storage, Now: Comments on new shovels

[Alan Nadeau]

I use shovels for a lot of multi-tasking, prying out rocks, etc. where the 
tip of the blade gets used as a bar.  Because of that I try to find ones 
with a substantial amount of steel in them.  I bought one that has a steel 
handle as well as a 14 ga. blade.  Never really looked at it until I tried 
to dig with it.  Could barely get it into the ground.  It, and most of the 
ones I see now, had never been sharpened.   It's the same way with garden 
hoes, stamped out and that's it for an "edge".   First thing I do with a new 
digging tool now is attack it with a grinder.   The other thing I found is 
that some shovels have the "step" at the top of the blade turned towards the 
back of the blade.  I you're trying to dig more than one shovel deep the 
rearward turned step hangs on the edge of the hole.   Pure genius!


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rob Wilson" <ro.wilson at att.net>

> Probably did like the local old nursery owner does here. Every morning he
> makes his crew take a file and sharpen the shovel to a knife like edge. By
> the end of the season he figured you should have worn out the shovel. It
> works.
> Rob