I was trying out the idea of a folding relic shovel. I tried the cheap tri-folding shovels and didn't like the results. Plus they don't stand up to any abuse...hence the word describing them.."cheap".
I found on http://cheaperthandirt.com/CORP020-2333-1403.html The German folding shovel. All I can say is that it is heavy steel and not that flimsy tin. It'll weigh more because of that but it is durable.
It being wider than most relic shovels, I took the handy dandy Dremel cutting wheel and cut the blade down from 4" at the top and 3 7/8" at the bottom. I discovered quickly during tests that the blade had lost it's rigidity so I formed a slight bend in the center to strengthen it.
I took it with me on the Chisolm Trail Hunt and was impressed with it's durability. However, the short handle did pose a few problems. A Tnet member suggested a longer handle. After returning home, to the farm store I went and picked up a standard length shovel handle. The German shovel handle uses rivets to hold it in place, a pin punch and hammer solves the removal of them. Next was changing the taper on the new shovel handle to fit. After 1 hour it fit snug with a few raps of the hammer, insert new pins and hammer them down.
The next step was to shorten the handle by 8" and give a fresh coat of paint. I haven't had to use the pick part, but did notice that you can change it to the front and create a larger step area for your foot. The downside is that in that position it will not fold up.
I found on http://cheaperthandirt.com/CORP020-2333-1403.html The German folding shovel. All I can say is that it is heavy steel and not that flimsy tin. It'll weigh more because of that but it is durable.
It being wider than most relic shovels, I took the handy dandy Dremel cutting wheel and cut the blade down from 4" at the top and 3 7/8" at the bottom. I discovered quickly during tests that the blade had lost it's rigidity so I formed a slight bend in the center to strengthen it.
I took it with me on the Chisolm Trail Hunt and was impressed with it's durability. However, the short handle did pose a few problems. A Tnet member suggested a longer handle. After returning home, to the farm store I went and picked up a standard length shovel handle. The German shovel handle uses rivets to hold it in place, a pin punch and hammer solves the removal of them. Next was changing the taper on the new shovel handle to fit. After 1 hour it fit snug with a few raps of the hammer, insert new pins and hammer them down.
The next step was to shorten the handle by 8" and give a fresh coat of paint. I haven't had to use the pick part, but did notice that you can change it to the front and create a larger step area for your foot. The downside is that in that position it will not fold up.
. Only found wire, nails and a large chunk of scrap iron, but It took a lot of prying and it held up to the rigors of to the force. I didn't have any problems cutting through prairie sod.
