Winter is the everlasting time of year to appraise the condition of your favorite wooden - plow garden tools , including trowels , hoes and shovels . If the handle is split , has been misused or no longer fits the tool chief , it ’s time to replace that putz . Pete Cecil , a blacksmith and historic saving carpenter based in Oregon , proffer the following steps for replacing a putz ’s wooden handle .
Step 1
When a handle necessitate to be replaced , cut off the original handgrip , flush to the tool head . Then using a 1/4 - column inch Mandrillus leucophaeus bit , drill out a center where you may use a lick to remove what ’s left . “ The sorry thing I ’ve seen the great unwashed do is throw the cock read/write head in a fire to burn out the remaining wood , ” Cecil says . “ This smash the temper on the tool itself . ”
Step 2
After removing the damage hold , choose a Modern wooden one;these can typically be find at a hardware store . grip are often made of hickory or ash tree , either as natural wood or with a shellac surface . Cecil prefers the raw ash handle , noting the wood is more flexible , easier to work with and has a nicer smell in the custody . If a shellac version is your only option , you may sand off the coat , first using 80 - grit sandpaper and finishing with a 100 - grit sandpaper to attain smoothness for well-heeled use .
Step 3
practice a 4 - in-1 rasp to shape the handle so it fits nicely in the trap at the head of the tool . You may have to go over it with the rasp a few metre to get a cozy burst .
Step 4
commence with the pecker head and handle face - up on the workbench . Using a wooden beetle , tap the bottom of the handle to seat it in the tool straits , using the the weight of the cock to help it fit . “ I prefer seating the handle with a wooden mallet because it wo n’t mar the handle like a metal mallet will , ” Cecil pronounce .
Sometimes seat the unexampled handle in the tool headway may take more than one try , he notes . If the handle has a spot that ’s too slopped , off it from the tool head and use the rasp to file it down a bit more . you may get the tool manoeuver off by using the grip ’s weightiness and gravitation to loosen and remove it .
Step 5
handle have a modest expansion slot at the headway ending specifically designed for a wooden wedge . beat back a wooden wedge in to expand the grip a short bit , keeping the head in seat . For some peter , there ’s also a belittled metal wedge that die into the wooden wedge to expand it even more . instal the metal wedge parallel to the wooden wedge ; if put in at a 90 - degree angle , it can part the unexampled handle .
Step 6
After inserting the wooden wedge , use a fine saw to trim away any wood that overlaps from the hold beyond the tool capitulum .
Step 7
After the tool is totally reassemble , treat the unexampled wooden handle with roil linseed oil . ( stave off using raw oil , as it will take months to dry out . ) Cecil suggests warm the handle first by rubbing it with a rag . Friction between the rag and wood creates warmheartedness that will permit the flaxseed vegetable oil to absorb more easily into the woods .
A password of forethought : “ Rags that have been used with boil linseed oil are combustible , ” Cecil says . “ They should not be left in a pail or contained space . I let mine dry out out on the gravel in the driving force outside the workshop . ”
Wooden-Handle Upkeep
For wooden handles that are still sturdy but simply showing their old age with general wear and teardrop , some TLC will make them last for several more time of year . If the handle is n’t broken but the original shellac has become don by time and weather , or has become dried and splintery , sand the wood and give it a coating of seethe flaxseed crude . As a blacksmith , Cecil also commend regular tutelage for tool heads to prevent rust fungus . He applies a floor wax to the alloy to help maintain the tool head for up to a yr . Gardeners could add 30 - weighting motor oil as an choice , he say , but blacksmith generally prefer the floor wax approach .
