Make Homemade Garden Tools from Recycled Materials

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Drilling the end-slotted ash handle.
Drilling the end-slotted ash handle.
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Bending the bow-saw blade with the help of a torch.
Bending the bow-saw blade with the help of a torch.
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A sampling of honest, hardworking hand tools fashioned from scrap saw blades. From left to right, the Goose-Face Swythe; a twin-blade, in-row Sweeder; the highly functional Brush-Whacker; a diamond-head Sweeder; and a steel-reinforced stirrup-blade hoe Sweeder.
A sampling of honest, hardworking hand tools fashioned from scrap saw blades. From left to right, the Goose-Face Swythe; a twin-blade, in-row Sweeder; the highly functional Brush-Whacker; a diamond-head Sweeder; and a steel-reinforced stirrup-blade hoe Sweeder.
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Applying epoxy cement.
Applying epoxy cement.
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After fastening and grinding the bolts, strengthening the working end with wire laid in a narrow loop along the neck and then wrapped to the loop eye, threaded and drawn under the coiled collar.
After fastening and grinding the bolts, strengthening the working end with wire laid in a narrow loop along the neck and then wrapped to the loop eye, threaded and drawn under the coiled collar.
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Use the tang to shape the grips.
Use the tang to shape the grips.
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The working surface of the author's Goose-Face Swythe has one toothed and one beveled business edge, like its namesake.
The working surface of the author's Goose-Face Swythe has one toothed and one beveled business edge, like its namesake.
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Mark and cut the BrushWhacker outline.
Mark and cut the BrushWhacker outline.
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Use a hand or coping saw to cut them.
Use a hand or coping saw to cut them.
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Epoxy is forever.
Epoxy is forever.
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A sampling of honest, hardworking hand tools fashioned from scrap saw blades. From left to right, the Goose-Face Swythe; a twin-blade, in-row Sweeder; the highly functional Brush-Whacker; a diamond-head Sweeder; and a steel-reinforced stirrup-blade hoe Sweeder.
A sampling of honest, hardworking hand tools fashioned from scrap saw blades. From left to right, the Goose-Face Swythe; a twin-blade, in-row Sweeder; the highly functional Brush-Whacker; a diamond-head Sweeder; and a steel-reinforced stirrup-blade hoe Sweeder.
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The cutting edge isn't!
The cutting edge isn't!

Saw blades don’t last very long on a self-reliant country place. A hacksaw blade can lose its bite on one hardened bolt; a staple buried in a fence post will reduce a bow saw to gumming soft pine; and handsaw teeth just naturally get bent out of shape after being set and filed repeatedly. However, all that’s gone is a smitter of steel from their cutting edges; 99 percent of the metal is still good, and fairly begs to be recycled. Well, with a little time and a few common tools (a power circular saw, an electric drill, a vise, a propane torch, hammers, pliers, files and such), you can turn saw steel into homemade garden tools that aren’t sold in any store.

The BrushWhacker

Once, I thought I needed a scythe, a Scandinavian bow saw, a scissors-style hedge clipper and a limb lopper to take on the woody vines, weeds and saplings of all sorts that join in a continual march from the woods to our vegetable garden. But now I’ve got a single tool home-fashioned from an old handsaw blade that handles them all: a curve-edged scimitar machete, or harvest knife, with a long saw on the top, which I call the BrushWhacker. I made one in a couple of hours, and so can you.

To start, first pull that old handsaw off the barn wall and flex it hard a couple of times to make sure the surface rust hasn’t penetrated so deeply that the steel will break on you at first use.

Then remove the handle from the handsaw blade. The one in the accompanying photos was fastened with four brass bolts and came off easily. On some newer saws you’ll have to remove rivets. To do so, grind or cold-chisel the head off on one side and pound the shank through the other with a punch or a big nail.

  • Published on Jan 1, 1985
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