Sharpening Shovels...

P

Phry

Joined
Mar 27, 2005
Messages
122
Hey guys,

Being a new member I'd like to say thanks to everyone who contributes to this forum. I've learned a great deal since I got here and my sharpening abilities have increased exponentially.

However, I've got a few shovels I agreed to sharpen for my doctor, and I realize that I'm not sure how to go about doing them. One is a standard garden spade, whereas the other is a square point.

I plan to use a Dremel tool and grinding wheel, but my question was where should I be removing steel? I work in a hardware store and a coworker suggested I grind along the face (concave side) of the shovel as opposed to the back (convex).

I've seen spades that have grinds on the face, so this makes sense, but they seem to have come that way from the factory.

Suggestions?
 
I work in the horticulture field, which doesn't make me an expert on sharpening shovels, but I'll share my opinion based on my experience. A pointed shovel can be chisel ground on the front or the back or even have a bevel on front and back (just keep it obtuse so you have some strength behind the edge). A flat spade, particularly an edging spade, seems to work best with a chisel grind ground on the back of the blade. This allows you to see exactly where you're cutting your edge. Hope this helps!
 
I guess you need to ask your doc what he uses his square point shovel for. I use mine a lot for scraping ice off of a shady part of my front walk and driveway. For that I chisel grind the top side of the flat end of my shovel (I consider that the inner surface of the edge). This leaves me with the sharp edge right at the bottom of the shovel for better scraping.
 
sharpening your shovel weakens the edge... it will chip and roll when you hit little rocks and pebbles as soon as you start digging. sharpening is not necessary unless it's a spade and you're gonna fight with it. if the ground is hard, you're better off with working the earth with a pick or mattock first.
 
Ok,,,,,this I have a view on...

I have a job where I work all day with a shovel. YES!, it does help to make them sharp.

However not that much that you need to worry about the type of grind. A sharp shovel will cut grass roots and dig into the clay and dirt faster.
When I was new to my job I used to carry a file with me to but a sharp edge on the blade of the shovel during my free time, But this proved to not really help all that much.

I shovel thats really sharp will soon get dull just working in the dirt so unless someone tells me different , I believe that a once or two times a year or so sharpening is fine.
 
Y'know, this is a good question. Just thinking about it (instead of going out and sharpening my shovels, digging with them, then relating my experience :footinmou :D ), it seems to me that a chisel grind makes the most sense. From where I sit (instead of stand and shovel :rolleyes: ), a chisel grind would leave a thicker edge directly behind the cutting edge; this will allow the shovel to absorb more hard hits without chipping as easily. A chisel grind also presents one bevel to maintain, instead of two, so upkeep should be easier. FWIW, there's my opinion on the matter :cool:
 
DaQo'tah Forge said:
...once or two times a year or so sharpening is fine.
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My family on my mothers side were farmers, their shovels and various digging tools were not what I would call sharp in that you could slice paper and do fine cutting with them, the dullest knife I own was "sharper", however the edges were formed to allow better penetration into dirt than standard hardware fare. They were reshaped far more often than a couple of times a year, but they were used very heavily.

I would not actually sharpen a shovel unless it was something like the Cold Steel one and you want to chop with the sides. I would reshape most shovels to allow them to penetrate better, how far would depend on what was being cut. I would put a fairly thin edge on a shovel intended to cut through icy snow, and a much thicker edge on one that had to be used to sling crushed stone all day long.

The biggest difference in use would be for various utility like Jeff noted in scraping, so ask about how the shovel is used.

-Cliff
 
Yes, a well formed edge (not really sharp) makes it much easier to dig with in certain soil types (especially wet soils) not so much an issue with sandy soil.

I use a file to keep all my agriculture tools well formed, and spray them with wd40 to keep rust at bay.

For a root cutting edge on a shovel I keep a sharper on some shovels.
 
knifetester said:
For a root cutting edge on a shovel I keep a sharper on some shovels.
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Lee Valley sells a large serrated knife intended to cut roots which I keep meaning to have a look at.

-Cliff
 
I think that there should be a better way to get wet clay to pop off the blade of the shovel. I have noticed that there are now some types of kitchen knives that have holes in the blade to allow air in and the sticky foods to fall away. I would be interested if there was some type of shovel design that would also help in getting the clay to fall away faster.

A sharp shovel is better than a very flat-dull shovel, you notice this the moment you pick up the tool and start to use it. As I said I have a job where I end up digging a lot and I can tell the difference between my sharp shovel and the other guy's never sharpened shovels. A sharp shovel cuts the grass sod way faster and is a real joy to use.

However, after you cut into the sod and get down past the black dirt into the wet clay the sharp and dull shovels are about equal.
 
When snow gets really wet and sticky I have used lubricants on shovels in the past to get it to come off, these would not last long on soil however. I don't think the flutes would work well on clay as it isn't a set shape like most kitchen foods, but would simply conform to the surface. You could easily grind in a set and check it out.

-Cliff
 
Shovel edge care is very simple. . . .

Generally a flat mill file is used, but other devices can be used. When using a file, file away from you with long strokes, down and to the side. Attempt to keep the same angle as the original bevel. Lift the file off of the tool on the return stroke. You will see a slight shine as the edge is improved.

When the top is finished, flip the shovel and run the file over the bottom edge a couple of times to remove roughness.

I always apply light oil when finished. If it's post-season maintenance, leave the oil on. Digging more, wipe the oil off.
 
Lee Valley sells a large serrated knife intended to cut roots which I keep meaning to have a look at.
Click to expand...

I have a couple beater knives I use for this in my tool set, an old hickory kitchen knife, and old serrated bread knife and a mora. Knives are not really ideal, they are only good for smaller roots, and require you to stop digging, get down on your knees and work. With a sharpened shovel you just lay into them with the sharpened edge, dents becomes apparent (soft steel hitting rocks and such), but is not really an issue most of the time, they readily are beaten down or filed out (the surrounding metal).

For really thick roots I use an estwing or collins beater axe. I never use my good axes for root work, it would quickly ruin them.

As a side note, my father used to use a hammer to sharpen sythes, sickles and such. He would lay the edge down and cold forge the edge. On thin, soft steel of odd shapes (hooks) it worked well enough to get them into form, then he would zip across them with a rod file to finish.

Not optimal, but it worked well enough for him.
 
The root knives are generally intended for more precise work, gardening and such. The are also available in a semi-spade pattern, serrated on one side, plain on the other, wide blade with a slight dish. For really heavy roots you can use a mattock or similar.

Hammering to sharpen used to be common for the softer and more ductile steels, plus you just could not afford to actually replace tools as often as you would have to if you sharpened out every ding in the blade. I do it now only to repair major primary grind dents mainly.

-Cliff
 
When I was in field school for Archaeology, they made us keep a file in our bags for sharpening our square blade shovels. We had to cut flat layers of earth and try to keep everything looking even and square. It was more for precision than to help us dig but it does cut through roots much faster when sharp.

We just used a hand file and put the angle on the face of the shovel. It worked well and gave us a nice edge on back for scraping the floors of our pits.
 
Thanks for the speedy replies everyone.

The shovels will be used for general garden usage, so from what I gather, simply forming an obtuse bevel on the face side should be more than adequate.
 
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