Sharpening a shovel with a grinder. How to sharpen a shovel with a grinder

The search engine has at least one shovel, for example I have two, but I'm thinking of buying a third one, no, I'm not greedy, it's just that different places require both individual settings for the metal detector, and preferably different shovels!

Search engine Dmitry Shostak demonstrated his brand new freshly sharpened Fiskars and shared his thoughts on what and how to sharpen a shovel for detecting, then I quote Dmitry with photos

“... any tool needs sharpening, even if not immediately, but still, sooner or later YOU will be forced to do this very sharpening. So, let's begin. I bought a Fiskars shovel, I understood before buying, and I saw that the shovel was not sharpened, apparently the manufacturer decided to leave this question to the buyer. Before starting to sharpen anything, more than one article was read about HOW TO SHARPEN A SHOVEL EVERYTHING? From the back or from the inside? Well, so I thought about it, remembered the shortcomings of the old shovel and what would I like to get from the new one? And I decided to sharpen from the inside of the shovel, making the edge at an angle and about 6-7 mm wide. Why did I decide to do so? Yes, because with such a sharpening it will be convenient to cut the grass and the upper layers of the soil - this was one of the main goals. On trips to the fields, experience has shown that it is necessary to cut or mow the top layer of 3-4 mm with grass and its roots, the old shovel, alas, did not cope with this task, and it took a long and tedious time to break through this layer and uproot it, but this is not so and easy to do. It is much easier and faster to make and more accurately cut the layer and then continue to dig in softer soil. I sharpened with a file, not because there was no tool, but because I didn’t want to overheat the material at the very edge of the bayonet.

One of the most common tools in the garden is a shovel. Over time, the working edges can become dull, this phenomenon will lead to the unusability of the device. Therefore, gardeners often wonder how to sharpen a shovel, and what tools are needed for this.

Shovel sharpening

According to their purpose, shovels are divided into:

1. Bayonet. They are used for digging soil (garden, trenches, pits). During operation, the working surface may become dull. Requires timely sharpening.
2. Sovkovye. They are used to move materials subject to flowability, as well as work related to loading and unloading. Sharpened in rare cases.
3. Sappers. Such a tool has found a narrow application for performing special tasks in combat situations.

Bayonet-type products differ from analogues in their shape. The working part is made in the form of a rectangle, or tapers at a certain angle. For sharpening edges of various shapes, the same methods are used, depending on the type of work. They do not have instructions in which the manufacturer specifies the base material. For the manufacture of tools can be used:

• steel with a high carbon content;
• steel with the addition of stainless elements;
• alloy steels;
• titanium and alloys of various metals.

The handle is made from any type of wood, as well as some light metals. The working part is made by hot stamping, while it is necessary to further process the metal surface by hardening. During inspection, the presence of cracks, burrs and chipping is not allowed. The handle is securely fixed with metal. When the shovel is bent as a result of pressing, it is considered defective.

What is the purpose of sharpening shovels?

If during the digging of the soil you have to apply maximum effort, this means that you need to sharpen the shovel. Such manipulation will allow in the future to carry out work on trimming the small roots of plants, digging soddy soil. Correcting the working edge is recommended for new shovels, since the edges are not sharp when made with a hot stamp.

The bayonet type, made of steel from old rails, must be constantly corrected. However, some devices do not require sharpening for the entire service life.

sharpening tool

Sharpening a shovel involves the use of high-quality tools. However, the speed of dressing the cutting edge depends on the skill of the worker. For quick sharpening, the following devices are used:

• hand file with a fine notch;
• angle grinder;
• manual machine for grinding with sandpaper;
• industrial or desktop grinder.

Distribution was found by a machine with two circles located on the same axis. However, they differ in the size of the abrasive material. With the help of such a device, it is possible to perform coarse and fine dressing of the cutting edge. However, when using a tool of complex shape, it is recommended to use portable machines with manual control.

In the absence of electrically driven devices, you can edit the working edge with files and sandpaper, but the process will take a long time. The use of a grinder is possible if there is a disc for metal processing.

Sharpening a shovel with a file

Sharpening methods

There are three main ways to process the working edge of a metal bayonet shovel:

• hand file with a fine notch;
• angle grinder;
• industrial grinding machine.

Preparatory stage

Before starting manipulations with the processing of the edge of the tool, it is necessary to make sure that the handle is securely fastened. If only the metal part is available, then it can be clamped in a metal vise. To prevent injuries, it is necessary to provide the master with personal protective equipment, which includes glasses and gloves, as well as overalls.

The power tool should be inspected for defects, wires and power cables should be intact without damage or creases. It is forbidden to use grinding wheels with chips and chipping of the working surface.

The metal part of the shovel must first be cleaned of earth and dirt. Rinse the working edge with running water and wipe with a dry cloth. It is recommended to beat off the edges of the tool. Such manipulations will further accelerate the process of sharpening the shovel. However, beating requires high skills of the master.

How to sharpen a shovel

In the process of work, it is necessary to maintain a sharpening angle of up to 20 °, while achieving a cutting edge thickness of not more than 0.5 mm. When using a power tool, do not apply excessive force, as this may lead to a defect in the metal, or breakage of the grinding wheel.

To check the quality of work, you can use a sheet of paper or a wooden block. Cut off the edges with the edge of a shovel, if you have to apply effort, then the editing process is repeated. The working surface should be free of dents, chips and burrs. Metal of poor quality, even after sharpening, cannot be restored to its original sharpness.

Proper blade sharpening

Advantages of the method:

1. High quality cutting edge. When using a tool with an electric drive, it is not possible to achieve a similar result. The file regulates the thickness of the metal both on the working edge and on the side faces.
2. There is no heating of the metal surface. When using a grinder and emery, overheating occurs, which leads to a change in the properties of the metal part of the shovel.
3. Ease of carrying. Possibility of editing the tool in any place without the need to find a source of energy.

When sharpening it is necessary:

1. Fix the metal part securely. It is recommended to use a vise. It is forbidden to exceed the force when tightening the lips, this may lead to deformation.
2. Rough handling. First of all, editing is carried out with a file with a large notch. They move from the front side to the back, the reverse order is prohibited.
3. Precise processing. Editing is carried out with a file with a fine notch, while achieving an edge thickness of not more than 0.5 mm.
4. Removing sharp edges. A square profile file is used, with its help, edges sharpened with a smaller angle are removed.

Editing a shovel with a grinder

The disadvantage of the method is:

1. The need for a power source.
2. As a result of the critical heating of the metal, the technical characteristics of the edge decrease. This phenomenon leads to the fact that the edge quickly blunts in the future.
3. The difference in the thickness of the edge of the shovel. High rotation speeds do not allow to maintain a thickness of 0.5 mm along the entire length of the tool edge.
4. The metal after processing must be additionally edited with a file with a fine notch. This will help to avoid injury when transporting the shovel.

The advantages include only the speed of editing. When processing, the grinding wheel must be guided towards the holder. Sharpen only the front side of the tool.

Sharpening a shovel with a grinder

Sharpening with an emery machine

For high quality edges, it is necessary to use machines with adjustable speed of rotation of the emery wheel, as well as a large abrasive weight. This will avoid vibration during processing. You can sharpen a shovel by following the instructions below:

1. Fix the workpiece securely. In this case, the master needs to press the working part of the shovel to the stop on the machine.
2. Initially, it is recommended to remove a metal layer no more than 0.3 mm thick. Thus, cracks and dents on the edge of the shovel are leveled. Further change the angle of the workpiece relative to the surface of the grinding wheel. In the process of work, for cooling, the edges must be watered with water. Dark spots will appear on the edge, which, however, do not harm the characteristics of the metal.
3. Finishing is done with a hand file. Burrs and microcracks are removed. Areas with excessive edge sharpness are removed.

How to sharpen a sapper shovel

You can sharpen a sapper shovel, like a regular bayonet, in any of three main ways. It is previously recommended to beat off the edges of the metal part, which in the future will help reduce the loss of time for editing the edge with a tool. Movements are carried out on the front side, burrs are only removed from the back.

Compliance with the instructions and safety requirements will help to keep the tool in working condition for a long time, reduce the effort when digging the soil in the garden.

V. FOKIN

The earth crumpled. In winter, firewood was brought from the garden: they dragged, sawed, pricked - so they compacted the beds even through the snow cover.

I remember my childhood.
- Sons, do not start business today - we will dig a garden.

…After breakfast, we reluctantly take apart the shovels. My father takes the largest, “Stakhanovka”: one and a half times more than my mother’s ... My brother and I get the lightest ones, with short cuttings ...

The earth crumpled. In winter, firewood was brought from the garden: they dragged, sawed, pricked - so they compacted the beds even through the snow cover.

... By lunchtime, there are calluses on my hands. More and more often we sit down to rest.

“And the shovels need to be sharpened ...” the neighbor commented, turning one of the shovels in his hands. Originally from the village, he knows a lot about gardening.

He took the first one that came across, put it on a block of wood with the back to himself and asked for a file ... Work with a sharpened shovel went better with him than with us ...

We were embarrassed and didn't know what to say. Their 4-5 acres (albeit with calluses) were almost always mastered without sharpening shovels. It was madness for him to work with a blunt instrument: he has a larger plot. We quickly sharpened other shovels and pretty soon finished the job. So I learned the first rule: you need to work with a sharpened tool.

... Three years later, I came across a small article from the magazine "Technology - Youth" ... It was called: "Do you sharpen your shovel correctly?" - By the way, I think...

What a competent and meticulous article ... It turned out that our neighbor, and even more so we, sharpened the shovel incorrectly. He put it with its front surface on a block of wood (it’s more convenient - it doesn’t swing), and with a file he chamfered on the back surface. It is necessary to sharpen, as it was written in the note, only from the front side.

By that time, I graduated from a technical school with a degree in tool production - I examined the note and the drawing placed in it from the point of view of science ... Indeed, if a shovel were stuck into the ground strictly vertically, it could be sharpened from any side. And since the gardener plunges the shovel into the ground with a certain inclination of the handle towards him, the sharpening of the back surface becomes a brake when the blade moves in the soil. So you need to sharpen the shovel only from the front side. That's when, it was written in the article, it will become easier to dig.

In the spring sharpened as it should. Digging easily and quickly - the soul rejoiced ... Here is the second commandment: you need to work with a properly sharpened tool.

However, I will say: neither before nor after reading the note, I have not seen a properly sharpened shovel in anyone. All sharpen from the back. Probably, because it is more convenient: the shovel lies on a block of wood - it does not move. If it is properly sharpened, it is necessary to hold it additionally, as it rests on the block of wood with a bulge and sways from side to side. By the way, I still haven’t seen a properly made shovel in stores (taking into account the recommended sharpening). Neither ours, nor foreign. That's technical progress for you...

The shovel is a thousand years old and still has the wrong sharpening.

When I was designing a flat cutter, I remembered the recommendations of the note I read in the magazine, and the theory of cutting, and the features of tool production, and much more that I studied at the technical school, and then at the institute.

How to sharpen a shovel?

Now there is no doubt: with the use of a manual flat cutter, the torment of gardeners will end. The flat cutter turned out to be both light and productive, although it had a peculiar shape. And with an unusual handle. Letters are still coming in. Is it possible to make the handle round?

- It's impossible, - I answer - It's the same as presenting a hockey stick with a round section: with great effort, you can't hold it in your hands. But with a flat cutter, you have to loosen, and make grooves for seeds, and hill up, and cultivate the land quite deeply - for example, under potatoes ... And also chop off strawberry whiskers, mow weeds and extra raspberry bushes ... You can’t hold a round-section stalk in your hands ...

Tried.

- Something your flat cutter tortured my neighbor, nothing works for him.
– Has he read the pamphlet?.. Does he know how to work?
“He didn’t buy the pamphlet…”
- ... And what, it doesn’t work out?
- The third handle adapts from a shovel ...
- All clear. Round handle - not for a flat cutter.

V. FOKIN, inventor

Other articles of the issue under the heading Mother Earth:

Discuss the article. (Discussions: 2)

Sharpening a shovel with a grinder

How to sharpen a bayonet shovel?

You can sharpen a shovel in various ways: on a conventional electric emery, a grinder, or the old-fashioned method - a file.

Each of these methods has its pros and cons. But first, let's get acquainted with the general principles of proper sharpening of shovels.

firstly, the shovel must be cleaned of dried earth before sharpening;

secondly, you need to sharpen the shovel only from the inside. From the outside, you can only remove the burrs that appeared during operation;

in the third, overheating of the sharpened section of the shovel is in no case unacceptable.

fourthly, it should be taken into account that during sharpening a shovel, a lot of force is applied to it, so it is necessary to securely fasten it;

and, finally, sharpening must be done from the outer edge to the middle.

Sharpening a shovel with a file is carried out in two stages:

at the first stage, they are passed with a file with a rough notch until the point is given the necessary sharpness, maintaining a sharpening angle of about 20 degrees.

At the second stage, they work with a file with a fine notch, grinding and leveling the cutting edge to a thickness of at least 0.5 mm.

The advantages of this method are that when working with a file, the sharpening angle and edge thickness are controlled, and it’s impossible to create overheating. In addition, it is always possible to take a file with you to touch up the cutting edge in case of unexpected contact with a hard object.

Of the shortcomings, perhaps, only one can be cited - the duration of the process.

Using a modern technological tool - for example, a grinder and emery, the sharpening time is significantly reduced, but the quality can be lost, since at high speeds of the cutting tool it is difficult to keep track of the uniformity of the edge being ground over the entire length of the surface to be treated, and local overheating is also possible, which leads to a decrease in the hardness of the metal.

Personally, I prefer to use a special attachment with Velcro for a drill to sharpen a shovel, but instead of a drill, I use a screwdriver. Firstly, it has less speed, and secondly, it does not need an outlet. As with a file, I carry out the initial processing with coarse-grained sandpaper, and for final refinement I change it to a finer one. But still, you have to work carefully, because even here you can heat the edge of the edge to redness.

Why shovels are sharpened sharply and how to do it

Surely someone wondered: “why are shovels sharpened sharply”? It should be noted here that the sharper the iron cutting part of the shovel, the easier it will be to use the tool for its intended purpose. Therefore, it is necessary to sharpen at regular intervals so that work in the garden or in the garden is more comfortable and convenient.

In addition, you need to know that tool sharpening has certain features. They lie in the physics of the process, which is determined by the quality of the material of the product. Shovels today are made from iron of varying quality. More expensive models are made of high-quality alloy steel, which keeps its sharpness longer, but cheap products blunt much more often. The physics of sharpening, as well as the chemical composition of the alloy used to produce the iron part of the shovel, also determine the sharpening method that is most effective in each particular case.

The quality and physics of sharpening is determined not only by the quality of the product and the experience of a person, but also by the chosen technique. To date, in order to give the shovel the desired sharpness, the following tools are used:

• file;
• grinder or angle grinder;
• sandpaper with a grinder.

Let's consider each method in detail in terms of the features and physics of the grinding process.

file

The use of a file is the most traditional and standard method. The advantages of using this tool include:

• the file is always at hand;
• it is small;
• affordable cost;
• ease of use;
• excellent sharpening quality.

As a result of the use of a file, it is possible to obtain an excellent quality working edge of a shovel. In addition, during the sharpening process, it is possible to constantly control the thickness of the metal layer that is removed. Thus, we will obtain a uniform thickness of the metal in the lateral and frontal planes. In this case, you can get the most optimal physics in the operation of a garden tool.

Separately, it should be noted that during the use of the file, the metal does not heat up, as a result of which its physical and mechanical properties do not change. In the situation of using other methods of sharpening, these parameters cannot always be kept unchanged and, as a result, the shovel may begin to become dull much more often.

Sharpening with a file occurs according to the following scheme:

• blade fixation. It should be firmly fixed and not move. Many use a vise for fixing. But here, be careful with the fixation force, otherwise you can damage the stamped blade;
• choose a file with a large notch;
• we process the front part of the edge with the tool.

As a result, you will carry out the first, rough processing of the shovel. Remember that this process should be carried out only on the front side of the cutting part. The file is moved towards the handle from the edge of the blade.

After rough work with a file with a large notch, we arm ourselves with a file with a fine mesh and carry out fine sharpening. At this stage, the blade thickness is adjusted to 0.5-0.6 mm. The angle of the grinding movements should be approximately 40-45 degrees. Keeping this angle will help you avoid premature abrasion of the blade. Remember that the width of the processed edge should not be more than 5 mm. Make sure that the thickness of the blade is uniform along its entire length. Otherwise, thinner sections will dull faster, which will have a bad effect, so to speak, on the working potential of the shovel.

Video "Sharpening by folk methods"

Bulgarian

In today's world, many people prefer power tools.

How to sharpen a shovel with a grinder

This allows you to automate and simplify many work processes, including sharpening blunt tools. The Bulgarian has gained the greatest popularity in this matter.

The advantages of using a grinder include the following points:

• the speed of the process;
• ease and convenience of using the grinder.

If you spend some time with a file to bring the shovel into working condition, then you can do it with a grinder in just a couple of minutes. But here, extreme caution and accuracy should be observed in order to prevent the blade metal from heating up and changing its physicochemical properties. As a result of heating, the metal softens, and this, in turn, can lead to blunting of the cutting edge, as well as to breakage of the main part of the tool.

In addition, the assumption of overheating of the metal will make the sharpening procedure more frequent. As a result, the edge will wear out much faster and you will need a new shovel for the next season.

But there are still more minuses in using a grinder than pluses. The negative aspects of its use include:

• high cost of the tool;
• complexity of control;
• the need for experience with a grinder;
• the possibility of overheating of the edge metal;
• the impossibility of clear control over the resulting edge thickness;
• the appearance of chips and burrs on the metal. And this is traumatic;
• the possibility of deterioration of the physico-chemical properties of the metal;
• difficulties in the further operation of the shovel in case of violation of the grinding process.

Thus, using the grinder, you must very carefully monitor the speed of the grinder. Here you should also fix the shovel well. Edge processing in this case is carried out from the bottom up. Moreover, sharpening the rear part is needed only for shovels. Remember, you need to press the grinder on the edge only slightly.

sandpaper

Another method of sharpening a bayonet is to use sandpaper along with an emery machine. This method allows you to get the optimal processing speed, as well as high quality and sharpness of the cutting part of the tool. Adjusting the speed of the machine will help you achieve the required thickness in the shortest possible time.

When using a machine tool and sandpaper to get a sharp edge, the main thing is to fix the shovel with high quality and firmly. Vices won't work here. In this situation, it is necessary to use a special stop. First, a rough sharpening is carried out, and then a finishing one.

Whatever type of tool you choose to improve the sharpness of a shovel, always follow safety precautions and operating rules. Only in this way will you achieve a positive effect.

Video "Sharpening a bayonet shovel"

If your farming process has noticeably deteriorated, use the cutting sharpening tips that you will find in the video.

How to sharpen a shovel?

A shovel is an indispensable tool in garden work, so it is important that it remains sharp and comfortable to dig with.

We sharpen a shovel with a file

Using a file has only a few drawbacks - it is a rather long and tedious process. But the benefits are much greater. The file has a small size, which allows you to always have it at hand. Manual sharpening makes it possible to control the thickness of the metal layer being removed and sharpen the shovel exactly as much as necessary. With strong heating, the physical and mechanical properties of the metal change, as a result of which it becomes softer and more brittle. And when working with a file, such strong heating does not occur.

When working, you must try to prevent the appearance of too thin sections on the edge of the shovel - they will quickly become dull.

How to sharpen a shovel

It is simply impossible to work in the garden or garden without a well-sharpened shovel. Although in appearance these tools practically do not differ from each other, the materials from which they are made can be completely different. Well-known manufacturing companies often produce such products, which do not require sharpening at all. These properties of an improvised tool are due to the high quality of the steel used, which also leads to a high cost of goods.

Tool selection

In their purpose, shovels are of several types. Simple gardeners are accustomed to dividing them into two varieties:

• bayonet (for digging soil, digging landing holes, ditches);
• scoop (for loading and unloading, carrying those materials that have flowability).

It should be remembered that it is necessary to sharpen, first of all, the tools that will be used to dig up the earth on the site. They usually have blades that are rectangular or slightly tapering towards the top. In this case, sharpening is carried out using approximately the same technology.

The most difficult thing is to decide on the selection of the material of manufacture, since these tools do not have parametric technical instructions.

You should know that they are made from carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steel, titanium, as well as a variety of alloys.

The handle is made from a variety of materials, ranging from birch poles to a special aluminum alloy.

The metal blade itself can be made in different ways. High-quality work, when a good metal is strongly heated, but not melted, and in a softened form it is stamped with a special press. Poor quality - simple stamping from a tin. Sometimes it is indicated directly on the metal that the shovel is made of a rail, although in reality this does not at all guarantee the high strength of the tool.

Thanks to the use of modern technologies, the products of the manufacturer Fiskars, which are of good quality and wear resistance, are very popular.

It is necessary to immediately put aside the shovel, on the surface of which cracks, scratches are visible, and even more so various kinds of shells, creases, bruises. In terms of its thickness, the metal used should not be less than two millimeters, and the edge knife itself should not be less than half a millimeter.

It is very important that the smooth surface of the entire tool is properly hardened, not damaged, not bent with slight pressure, and the handle is not loosened. The weight of a high-quality metal blank should not exceed one kilogram.

Choice of sharpening tool

It would seem that everyone knows how to sharpen a shovel, but it is impossible to do it efficiently without having special tools at hand.

Note: how well this work will be done is determined not only by the sharpening material, but also by the skill of the performer.

Among the suitable tools are: various kinds of files, whetstones, grinding machines such as grinders, grinding machines.

The most suitable in this case is a grinding machine equipped with two discs for coarse and finer grinding. Files and sticks should be used. if the household does not have suitable electrical appliances.

And yet - how to sharpen a shovel?

Before doing this work, you need to make sure that the cutting is planted firmly enough. Indeed, in this case, the handle will allow you to well fix the blade itself. In another case, it is possible to clamp the tool panel in a bench-type vise, and put the cutting itself in a special nest after the end of sharpening. It is not difficult to determine the choice of the sharpening angle using factory processing, strictly observing its parameters.

Before starting this process, which threatens with the possibility of injury, protective equipment should be prepared and, above all, special glasses, as well as canvas gloves. Check the electrical wires supplying the electric current to ensure that there are no defects in the insulating materials. Then it is good to clean the metal sheet and the handle from adhering earth, or wash it with water, wiping it with a dry rag.

Some precede the process by beating the blade of the shovel by tapping it with an ordinary hammer, which makes it easier to sharpen the working edge of the shovel. This is easily done by grabbing the tool by the handle and resting the blade on a small anvil. It should be noted that a certain experience is required here, otherwise you can only spoil everything.

In the case of using a sharpening machine, the shovel and handle must be properly fixed. Pressing with the help of the foot rest is ineffective and, moreover, quite dangerous.

In this case, it is necessary to maintain a sharpening angle equal to approximately twenty degrees for the blade itself. Do not forget that the metal is only five millimeters thick, and with inept handling, you can simply grind off the blade without improving its sharpness. When working with a file, you need to know that you will have to spend a lot of time, although, in principle, this is the only negative.

Whereas the pluses are much more significant: this tool is small in size and can easily fit in a pocket of overalls; it is easy to check how much the metal layer has been removed and to carry out sharpening in full accordance with the need; there is no overheating of the metal surface, from which it may lose its properties. The sharpening process itself consists of several stages: cleaning the surface from the ground, plant fibers; strong fastening to avoid injury; sharpen from the front side of the blade - from the edge to the wooden handle.

The beginning of sharpening is best done with a coarse-grained tool, and then a good walk with a fine-grained one.

At the same time, you need to monitor the uniformity of sharpening so that there are no very thin places, otherwise they quickly become dull.

Whether you have achieved the desired sharpness, you can check by taking a shovel by the handle and trying to cut an ordinary paper sheet with a blade or sharpen a wooden stick. If this does not work, then the sharpening of the shovel is not completed. In this case, it is better to contact the master.

You should know: when the metal panel of a shovel is made of low-quality materials, it dulls rather quickly and bends instantly - in this situation, sharpening will not give any effect.

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home » Tools for working in the country.

How to sharpen a shovel?

A shovel is an indispensable tool in garden work, so it is important that it remains sharp and comfortable to dig with.

We sharpen a shovel with a file

Using a file has only a few drawbacks - it is a rather long and tedious process. But the benefits are much greater.

Tips from masters on how to sharpen a shovel, qualitatively and for a long time

The file has a small size, which allows you to always have it at hand. Manual sharpening makes it possible to control the thickness of the metal layer being removed and sharpen the shovel exactly as much as necessary. With strong heating, the physical and mechanical properties of the metal change, as a result of which it becomes softer and more brittle.

And when working with a file, such strong heating does not occur.

How to sharpen a bayonet shovel with a file? First of all, it must be cleaned of adhering clods of dirt, plant residues, etc. and fix it motionless so that at the most inopportune moment it does not fall and cause injury.

Sharpening occurs along the front part of the cutting area of ​​the shovel in the direction from the blade to the handle of the shovel. First, coarse sharpening is done with a large-cut file, then a fine-cut tool is used to finish the blade.

When working, you must try to prevent the appearance of too thin sections on the edge of the shovel - they will quickly become dull.

We use power tools

How to sharpen a shovel quickly and effortlessly? To do this, you can use a grinder or grinder.

It is necessary to work with the grinder carefully. There are many reasons for this:

• A rotating tool wheel can cause serious injury.
• With excessively intensive sharpening, the metal overheats, as a result of which it significantly loses its strength.
• At a high speed of disk rotation, it is very difficult to control the uniform sharpening of the shovel tip. With a high degree of probability, the cut will be uneven, with burrs, chips.

How to sharpen a shovel with a grinder? This must be done from the bottom up, being careful not to press the tool too hard so as not to thin the edge. For safety reasons, be sure to protect your eyes with goggles and wear gloves.

Much more efficient in the work of a special emery machine. It allows you to adjust the speed of rotation of the disk and makes it possible to choose the optimal mode. In addition, modern machines, as a rule, are equipped with clamps that allow you to firmly fix the tool being sharpened and prevent it from fluctuating during the sharpening process. For uniform surface treatment of the shovel, it is recommended to use heavy abrasive wheels.

But no matter how hard a person tries to sharpen a shovel correctly on a machine, it is still a rough tool that will surely leave minor flaws, and they will have to be corrected with a fine notch file. At the same time, it should be understood that even the most accurate sharpening will not save a poor-quality shovel from quick breakage. Therefore, when choosing a tool for working in the country, you should not save.

A shovel is an indispensable tool for solving a large number of tasks, especially in agriculture. But with its frequent use, it can become dull, and therefore the process of work will significantly slow down and become more complicated. It is still possible to solve this problem, but for this it is necessary to sharpen the shovel. And how to do it right, we will consider in this article.

Shovel sharpening options

Before proceeding with the sharpening process itself, it is also necessary to clean the surface of the shovel from the earth adhering to it, as this can complicate further sharpening.

To sharpen a shovel, you can use one of the following tools:

1. File;
2. Bulgarian;
3. Emery machine;

How to sharpen a shovel with a file?

The oldest and most traditional method of surface treatment of a shovel is file sharpening. The undeniable advantages of a file are its small size and low cost, and therefore it can be found in almost every home. In addition, the working edge of the tool processed with a file is of excellent quality.

Sharpening a shovel with a file must be done along the front of the edge

In the process of working with a file, you can also control the thickness of the metal layer being removed, and this, in turn, will allow you to maintain the thickness along the frontal and side planes.

Another advantage is that when sharpening with a file, the surface does not overheat, which could change the physical and chemical properties of the metal. And because of this, the shovel will become blunt much more often.

How to sharpen?

When sharpening a shovel with a file, in order to ensure its immobility, we need to fix its blade. For these purposes, you can use a locksmith vice. But at the same time, it is also not recommended to tighten them too much, as this can damage the stamped blade.

Next, we take a file with a large notch and begin to process the front of the edge. In this way we carry out the first rough processing of the product. It is recommended to sharpen a shovel only on the front side of the cutting part. But we carry out movements with a file from the edge of the blade towards the handle.

Next, we need a file with a fine notch, with which we perform fine sharpening. With such a file, we adjust the surface to be treated to a thickness of 0.5 - 0.6 mm. At the same time, to save the metal from premature abrasion, it is recommended to work at an angle of 40 - 45 degrees. The width of the processed edge should not exceed 5 mm.

In the process of work, it is also necessary to ensure that there are no thin sections, since such sections become dull rather quickly, due to which the shovel will fail ahead of time.

How to sharpen a shovel with a grinder?

Thanks to modern power tools, the process of sharpening agricultural tools has been greatly simplified. For these purposes, you can use a grinder or an ordinary grinder.

With the help of such devices, you can sharpen the blade of a shovel in 1-2 minutes. But at the same time, this must be done very carefully, since if the metal is sharpened incorrectly, it can overheat. And this, in turn, will lead to a change in the structure of the metal, that is, the metal becomes soft.

When sharpening a shovel with a grinder, you need to monitor the temperature - it is unacceptable for the metal to overheat.

For a cutting edge, this quality is unacceptable, as it will bend and quickly become dull.

In this case, it will be necessary to treat the surface of the shovel quite often, which can lead to its rapid abrasion. It is possible that you will not be able to work with such a shovel even for one season.

Since the disc rotation speed is quite high on the angle grinder, it will be quite difficult to achieve a uniform edge thickness. Consequently, the cut of the shovel will be of poor quality, which will lead to the weighting of further work.

In addition, burrs and chips that are created due to the high speed of processing can lead to injury.

How to sharpen?

But in cases where you still decide to sharpen a shovel with a grinder, you need to do it very carefully. We fasten the shovel in a vice, and hold the grinding tool in such a way that the disk rotates towards the handle. Only the front part is processed, while the direction of processing should be from bottom to top. We sharpen the back of the working element only on shovels.

In order not to get too thin an edge part of the surface to be treated, we do not press too hard on the grinder.

How to sharpen a shovel with an emery machine?

With an electric emery machine, the processing speed is the most optimal, which allows you to process the cutting part with sufficient quality. Modern emery machines have smooth adjustment of the stroke, in connection with which it is possible to obtain the optimal rotation speed of the emery wheel.

To obtain a more uniform surface of the cutting part, heavy abrasive wheels should be used. Circles of this type are less prone to vibrations and fluctuations during operation. Therefore, a more accurate amount of the layer to be removed can be obtained.

For better sharpening, the workpiece must also be firmly fixed. In this case, the vise will no longer fit. But as a rule, modern emery has special stops that allow you to minimize fluctuations in the workpiece.

How to sharpen?

First of all, roughing of the edge of the part is carried out. To do this, we remove the top layer of metal for a thickness of 0.3 - 0.4 mm. Thanks to this operation, it is possible to eliminate all mechanical damage that may occur during the operation of the tool.

After that (relative to the abrasive wheel and at an angle of 40 degrees), we turn the workpiece and make uniform translational movements up and down. Processing is carried out until we achieve a thickness of the remaining layer of 0.5 mm. In order to exclude the possibility of overheating of the metal during processing, its surface should be watered.

In this case, the colors of “tarnish” will appear on the processed material, which should not be frightened. This is due to the physicochemical effect on the metal.

After finishing work on the machine, we begin to customize the part, which can be done with an ordinary file with a fine notch. Thanks to this procedure, it will be possible to remove the defects that appeared as a result of processing (burrs, chips, nadir, etc.). Otherwise, garden tools will quickly fail.

Working handle of a shovel

A properly sharpened shovel is not the only factor that will facilitate the process of work performed. An important role is also played by the handle of the tool. Its length should correspond to the height of the worker. A shorter lever can cause rapid fatigue. It is convenient only when digging narrow holes and wells. Ideally, the total length of the shovel and handle should be up to the worker's shoulder.

It is recommended to make it from hardwoods (birch, oak, etc.), from even stem trees of the 5th-7th age. You can, of course, use soft rocks (aspen, alder) for these purposes, but such a cutting will not last long.

Storage

It is simply impossible to work in the garden or garden without a well-sharpened shovel. Although in appearance these tools practically do not differ from each other, the materials from which they are made can be completely different. Well-known manufacturing companies often produce such products, which do not require sharpening at all. These properties of an improvised tool are due to the high quality of the steel used, which also leads to a high cost of goods.

Tool selection

In their purpose, shovels are of several types. Simple gardeners are accustomed to dividing them into two varieties:

• bayonet (for digging soil, digging landing holes, ditches);
• scoop (for loading and unloading, carrying those materials that have flowability).

It should be remembered that it is necessary to sharpen, first of all, the tools that will be used to dig up the earth on the site. They usually have blades that are rectangular or slightly tapering towards the top. In this case, sharpening is carried out using approximately the same technology.

The most difficult thing is to decide on the selection of the material of manufacture, since these tools do not have parametric technical instructions.

You should know that they are made from carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steel, titanium, as well as a variety of alloys.

The handle is made from a variety of materials, ranging from birch poles to a special aluminum alloy.

The metal blade itself can be made in different ways. High-quality work, when a good metal is strongly heated, but not melted, and in a softened form it is stamped with a special press. Poor quality - simple stamping from a tin.
Sometimes it is indicated directly on the metal that the shovel is made of a rail, although in reality this does not at all guarantee the high strength of the tool.

Thanks to the use of modern technologies, the products of the manufacturer Fiskars, which are of good quality and wear resistance, are very popular.

It is necessary to immediately put aside the shovel, on the surface of which cracks, scratches are visible, and even more so various kinds of shells, creases, bruises.
In terms of its thickness, the metal used should not be less than two millimeters, and the edge knife itself should not be less than half a millimeter.
It is very important that the surface of the entire tool is properly hardened, not damaged, not bent with slight pressure, and the handle is not loosened. The weight of a high-quality metal blank should not exceed one kilogram.

Choice of sharpening tool

It would seem that everyone knows how to sharpen a shovel, but it is impossible to do it efficiently without having special tools at hand.

Note: how well this work will be done is determined not only by the sharpening material, but also by the skill of the performer.

Among the suitable tools are: various kinds of files, whetstones, grinding machines such as grinders, grinding machines.

The most suitable in this case is a grinding machine equipped with two discs for coarse and finer grinding.
Files and sticks should be used. if the household does not have suitable electrical appliances.

And yet - how to sharpen a shovel?

Before doing this work, you need to make sure that the cutting is planted firmly enough. Indeed, in this case, the handle will allow you to well fix the blade itself. In another case, it is possible to clamp the tool panel in a locksmith-type vice, and put the cutting itself in a special nest after the end of sharpening.
It is not difficult to determine the choice of the sharpening angle using factory processing, strictly observing its parameters.

Before starting this process, which threatens with the possibility of injury, protective devices should be prepared and, above all, special glasses, as well as canvas gloves. Check the electrical wires supplying the electric current to ensure that there are no defects in the insulating materials.
Then it is good to clean the metal sheet and the handle from adhering earth, or wash it with water, wiping it with a dry rag.

Some precede the process by beating the blade of the shovel by tapping it with an ordinary hammer, which makes it easier to sharpen the working edge of the shovel. This is easily done by grabbing the tool by the handle and resting the blade on a small anvil.
It should be noted that a certain experience is required here, otherwise you can only spoil everything.

In the case of using a sharpening machine, the shovel and handle must be properly fixed. Pressing with the help of the foot rest is ineffective and, moreover, quite dangerous.

In this case, it is necessary to maintain a sharpening angle equal to approximately twenty degrees for the blade itself. Do not forget that the metal is only five millimeters thick, and with inept handling, you can simply grind off the blade without improving its sharpness.
When working with a file, you need to know that you will have to spend a lot of time, although, in principle, this is the only negative.

Whereas the pluses are much more significant: this tool is small in size and can easily fit in a pocket of overalls; it is easy to check how much the metal layer has been removed and to carry out sharpening in full accordance with the need; there is no overheating of the metal surface, from which it may lose its properties.
The sharpening process itself consists of several stages: cleaning the surface from the ground, plant fibers; strong fastening to avoid injury; sharpen from the front side of the blade - from the edge to the wooden handle.

The beginning of sharpening is best done with a coarse-grained tool, and then a good walk with a fine-grained one.
At the same time, you need to monitor the uniformity of sharpening so that there are no very thin places, otherwise they quickly become dull.
Whether you have achieved the desired sharpness, you can check by taking a shovel by the handle and trying to cut a regular paper sheet with a blade or sharpen a wooden stick. If this does not work, then the sharpening of the shovel is not completed. In this case, it is better to contact the master.

You should know: when the metal panel of a shovel is made of low-quality materials, it dulls rather quickly and bends instantly - in this situation, sharpening will not have any effect.