The official clark grand shovel autism thread: historical shovels, military shovels, shovel engineering, shovel theory, the small-game shovel, shovel maintenance, shovel acquisition, and more

The shovel is among the most common tools, omnipresent, hardly noticed, frequently abused, poorly understood by most. The shovel is a far more nuanced creature than it appears, and it is to your benefit to gain a full appreciation of it

A good shovel is versatile, capable of easily moving all kinds of soil, from clay to sand. It not only captures earth, but sheds it without undue effort. It shears through roots and turf with ease, but does not bend when it strikes stones

It is light, but tough. It can be used to pry without breaking the handle, and the blade can flex without bending. Every one of these characteristics can be created with specific design elements which I will explain in this thread

The near perfect example I will be using is this old True Temper that I rehandled. If I had to guess, I think it was made between WW2 and 1970. It's deeply and complexly curved. The deep curve allows it to scoop wet muck and sand

as well as topsoil, and helps it to aggressively bite into packed earth and clay. The slight radius and flares along its length reduce binding, and provide a less stable surface for clay to stick to, easing unloading

If the form and alloy of a tool is it's body, the heat treat is it's soul. A good shovel is hardened and tempered for toughness and impact resistance. An unhardened shovel must be much thicker, heavier and cruder, to be as strong as a well HT'd shovel, making it harder to use

My True Temper is heat treated and taper forged. Taper forging means that the steel thins as it gets closer to the edge. This allows easier sharpening, less effort in use, and less weight for a given size

The dramatically curved socket is more ergonomic in tight spaces, and puts less stress on the handle than a straight socket if the shovel is used to pry something.

Here it is compared to a recently made shovel of similar size. Note the lack of curvature, the crude welded socket, and the excessively thick, unsharpened blade. Also note the flat point on the True True temper vs. the angular new one

The flat point shears right through roots, but doesn't bend if it hits a rock. The angular point either glances off roots or gets stuck, and often bends on rocks. This can be corrected with a little grinding.

This new green one is a little better, but is too straight and lacks the refinement of the True Temper.

Shovels should be sharpened to a somewhat obtuse edge profile, with the apex slightly flattened. I use a file. Only the curved leading edge needs to be sharpened.

A well sharpened shovel is also excellent at humanely and quietly dispatching garden pests. I've used mine to put several badly wounded wild rabbits out of their misery. The flat point acts rather like a guillotine

Almost no new shovels are made with all the characteristics I've described. So how should you get a good shovel?

Handleless but well made shovel heads are very abundant in junk piles and garage sales, and new handles are inexpensive. Rehandling a shovel takes little time, and is in my opinion the best way to get a decent one