THIS WEEK’S TIP
5/08/09
TAKE CARE OF YOUR TOOLS
My dad once told me, “A dull knife is a dangerous knife.” I was a kid at the time, and like a lot of things my dad said, I had no idea what he was talking about. But I figured it out later in life. A dull knife doesn’t work well. It forces you to use far more pressure on whatever you’re cutting, and that can lead to an accident.
The same is true of many garden tools. A dull pruner crushes the wood as it cuts, which means the cut tissue will take longer to heal. A dull hoe requires more effort to slice through weeds. And a dull shovel makes digging a lot tougher than it should be.
Archive Tip of the Week
Paul with his knife and best friend "Alice"
Every year I set aside the better part of a day to maintain my garden tools. It’s a great rainy day project. In fact, I always do it on a rainy day because my barn has a metal roof. And frankly, to my ears anyway, there’s no better sound in the world than that of rain pounding on a metal roof.
Throughout the gardening season, which for me never ends, I clean my tools after I use them. I scrape the dirt off shovels and hoes before hanging them, and I wipe my pruners and loppers dry before putting them away.
I’ve got a considerable investment in garden tools, and I’m serious about protecting that investment. It takes a bit of work, for sure, but the payoff is very real. I’ve got tools that have been with me in the garden for 30 years, and they work as if they were brand new. Sadly, I can’t make the same claim.
I sharpen the cutting edge on my shovels and hoes with a large file. (Technically, it’s a 12-inch bastard file, which begs the question: Is there a 12-inch SOB?) The trick is to follow the original bevel angle on the tool. A few strokes is all it takes to create an edge that’ll cut through soil or weeds like butter. And by the way, it’s actually a good idea to put a fresh edge on shovels and hoes each time you use them.
Pruners and loppers get a fresh edge as well, albeit with a smaller file. If their edges are in really rough shape, I’ll disassemble them and sharpen them with a whetstone.
mortal enemy of metal. By the way, virtually any oil will work, but I prefer to use the same highly refined horticultural oil I occasionally (rarely) use to control pests and diseases. I also put a drop or two of oil on my pruners and loppers at the point where the blades meet.
Next I treat the wooden handles on my tools. Wood deteriorates over time and becomes brittle, and certain woods can also form nasty splinters. A light sanding will take care of the splinters and prepare the wood for the next step – a coating of boiled linseed oil. Just pour the oil on a rag and rub it well into the wood.
After sharpening, I rub all metal surfaces with an oil-soaked rag. A light coating does the trick, and goes a long way toward preventing rust, the
