Sharpening Shovels and Spades for Garden Work!

This is how I have been sharpening shovels and spades for Garden Work for many years.

Many people pay for someone to sharpen their gardening gear, but I prefer to do this myself.

Image 1 - A Bench Grinder.
Image 2 - A hand Grinder.

There are a few ways to do this. You can use a file, a Bench Grinder as is shown in Image 1, or a hand Grinder as is shown in Image 2.

I have used a file, bench grinder, but mostly now all I use is a portable battery powered hand grinder.

Watch out
for
the Dog 🙂
Image 3 - A damages shovel blade.
Image 4
Image 5

The shovel end as is shown in Image 3 is damaged and will need to be brought back into shape.
Image 4 & 5 show a sharpened spade blade.

This is how I sharpen the blade.
I use the grinder on one side to get an angle on the blade tip and also to grind down any irregularities.
If there is damage to the end of the blade the damage makes it harder for the blade to cut/dig so we should smooth those out and also get a nice bevel.

So I tilt the grinder and go along the end like that, taking care not to stay in one place to long because that may affect the hardness of the steel, then I do the same on the other side.
You can use a Sharpening Stone or a file to go over where the grinder has been, and also to remove the burr that appears on the other side of the last run you made with the grinder.

Once you have dine this a few times you can just pick up the portable grinder and have the blade sharpened in hardly any time at all.
You will know that you have done a good time the next time you use your spade or shovel as it will be very noticeable.

I only do this probably once a year, or if I realise that the blade is blunt and hardly cuts through grass when I dig.

It works for me.

All the best from
James M Sandbrook.
18th of November, 2021.