EZdigger made better

[Gunnar of bradford MN]

Fired up the forge today and got rid of my old EZ digger because it was like trying to push a pop can into the ground .So i got a 3/8" sqrewdriver made from crome vanadium steel american steel its way stronger than the chines steel puonded it out and smothed it put some notches in the sides for cutting roots It just sales into the ground . As you can see from the other one it is not very streem lined this becomes a problem when getting into harder dirt so i put all the hardware on my new G-Z digger O.K enuff of this

 

[tvr]

Nice job Gunnar!

If you don't have a forge or an anvil ... for pieces of metal not too big, like that screw driver, I have used a propane torch to heat it cherry red. Used a 20 lb. sledge hammer as the anvil and a regular hammer to beat the metal. Make sure the sledge is well braced. Heat, hammer, heat, hammer, repeat until it is like you want. Like metal detecting, patience and persistence while observing what is happening and adjusting technique get better results than just trying to beat it quickly.

Tempering can be done once you get the shape you like by heating it cherry red and dunking into a can (metal not plastic) of oil. You can use water for tempering, but the first plunge into water boils the water off the surface and doesn't give as much fast heat transfer as oil will.

Make sure the area is well ventilated and you are away from brush, the house / car etc. In any case, if you try it, be careful and think out what can happen that is bad and make sure the bad doesn't happen!!

It's been a couple of years since I've hammered metal. I may have to make one!
tvr