Garden tool

[Muddy Camping]

My wife has mentioned she would like an “edging tool” and I would like to make her one. Think flat shovel used to cut grass runners into the flower beds and roots from trees running into the grass.  It would have the same “step” a shovel has to use foot power. Most shovel type tools like this that I buy are junk and I’m kind of rough on them anyway, hints the leaning toward making it myself. 

My question revolves around suggestions of types of steel would be good for this application? The thing will probably stay kind of muddy and more then likely will come into contact with rocks other things that would ding low carbon steel. I would want it to hold an edge over time but don’t have anything other then a coal forge and an oven at the house. Ideas? 

[Daswulf]

If you want rugged, go with a medium carbon steel. In the scrap world I live in ( mostly) think leaf spring material. 

[Latticino]

As far as failure modes, in my experience it is the shaft-to-blade joint that is the potential issue rather than the edge, but perhaps you have excessively rocky ground.  If you are going to make it yourself, the socket or tang/ferrule design will likely be as critical, if not more so, than steel selection.  How are you at forge welding?  The truck leaf spring that Das has suggested can be great for the blade, but will be a ton of work to forge down.  Most of these springs seem to be in the 5160 range, and will be quite tough to forge weld to themselves.  If you go that route I would recommend either a tang and ferrule construction or forge welding on a mild steel socket.  This is not a beginner project.

[Glenn]

How wide do you need the blade of the tool? How deep into the ground do you want to go with the tool?

A quick solution would be to straighten out the goose neck of a hoe. Weld on a piece of metal as a foot rest to the top of the blade (near the handle) if needed.

[Frosty]

When you say garden edger, are you referring to a, half round, flat blade, with steps, in line with the handle? 

Save yourself time and sweat pick up an old shovel (no, not a spade) and cut it out of the flat section. Forge and weld on your socket and bend the steps. Shovel blades are I don't know what steel but I've shot them with a .44 mag. .338 win mag and finally a .22 mag. The larger calibers tossed the blade and left lead smudges. The hollow point .22 mag rounds made holes but they're extreme penetrators, almost armor piercing. I've never seen a .22 mag mushroom. Oh, there were a number of old shovel blades at the local rifle range as targets.

Anyway, shovels are probably high end of medium or low end of high carbon steel and you could do the hard part as stock removal and produce a high quality tool. A proper smith isn't going to do thing the hard way just because. The goal is a GOOD tool. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Charles R. Stevens]

“Edgers” have been around a long wile, the romans called them “turf cutters” 

Culter wheels from your local farmer cut in half , cut edge folded over and a socket formed so as to rivet it from both sides (think bronze sword hilt/entrenching tool) would be pretty strate forward. 

[Glenn]

Do not fall into the bigger is better trap.

Figure out the depth of the cut, the the length of the cut, and how much power you can apply to the tool. 

A farmer's disc blade should work as it was designed to cut into dirt. Depending on the size you could cut a crescent shape from the blade, then s[lit or cut a slot into a piece of pipe and attach as a handle or handle socket. Fabricate by reversing the tool. If the crescent cutting edge is 3 inches wide for instance, you then make a 90 degree bend say 3-4 inches wide as a foot step. This would then make the crescent say 6 or 7 inches wide before the fold. Cut a slot in the pipe handle and weld to the blade. 

To use you would start by putting one end of the crescent on and into the ground, step on the foot step, and either or push or pull on the handle to rotate the rest of the crescent into the ground.  Walk it alone the line of the cut.

This same idea might work with a 6 inch length or a 12 inch length circumference of the crescent. You may have to make a couple of different sizes in order to see what works best for you.