cruiserkev
Elite Member
I had a few hours to myself earlier this year and made some useful changes to my digger just for fun. I'd seen the T handle mod and decided to go a slightly different route using parts I had laying around. Not my prettiest work but I'm all about function over form.
The blade was rusting up on me after wet digging so I used a wire wheel to polish the exposed steel, then did a few treatments using some gun bluing liquid I had. After that I used a matte clear coat to seal the steel up. I knew from past shovels that any coating wears off quickly so I'm expecting to have to re clear coat it once in a while.
I had found a spherical magnet and a brass tube on an earlier hunts and decided to craft a pommel using a long screw to attach it. Turned out more wobbly than I liked so it was strengthened with epoxy and some electrical tape.
This is it after a couple of months of digging. Coating is worn a little on the tip but I'm not seeing any rust. The magnet is useful for picking up nails and screws. I even used it to identify some large iron in a deep hole that my detector had gotten confused with a good target. I have huge hands and feel that the tool has better balance and leverage now plus looks a little more intimidating.
My girlfriend called it "Sting" over the weekend. Love that!
HH! 
The blade was rusting up on me after wet digging so I used a wire wheel to polish the exposed steel, then did a few treatments using some gun bluing liquid I had. After that I used a matte clear coat to seal the steel up. I knew from past shovels that any coating wears off quickly so I'm expecting to have to re clear coat it once in a while.
I had found a spherical magnet and a brass tube on an earlier hunts and decided to craft a pommel using a long screw to attach it. Turned out more wobbly than I liked so it was strengthened with epoxy and some electrical tape.
This is it after a couple of months of digging. Coating is worn a little on the tip but I'm not seeing any rust. The magnet is useful for picking up nails and screws. I even used it to identify some large iron in a deep hole that my detector had gotten confused with a good target. I have huge hands and feel that the tool has better balance and leverage now plus looks a little more intimidating.
My girlfriend called it "Sting" over the weekend. Love that!
HH! Attachments
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