My Home Made Metal Detecting Digging Tools

These are two home made digging tools I made.  I really built them for Metal Detecting but they also work pretty good for planting.  The first tool I made was using recycled angle iron from some old bed frames, and recycle Cast Iron Water pipe. 

It measures from the top of the handle to the bottom of the blade is 18 1/2 inches.  The blade area made out of the bed frame material is about 7 inches long and about 2 inches wide.  The bed frame metal is hardened steel and has held up well with no bending.  The handle is 3/4 inch outside diameter galvanized water pipe.  I had made several prototypes using 1/2 inch square tubing but they bent during testing.  The welded connection has about an inch of straight pipe and and inch of tapered.  So far I have had no bending problems despite abusing it some.

The second digger which I have not really tested I made out of some 1 inch pipe, a short piece of 3/4 inch pipe for the T at the top.  There is also a piece of 1/2 inch square tubing on the inside Just to make sure the shovels neck didn't bend.  The shovel is an old Army Folding shovel from the 40's or 50s.  Its overall length with the blade out is about 47 inches and folded in is 40 inches.  With it able to fold up it should be a little safer and not have to worry about it accidently poking holes in things.

 

 I trimmed the sides of the shovel's blade from 6 inches at the taper to 4 inches to make it a little easier to push into the hard clay dirt.

 

 There is a piece of this 1/2 inch square tubing that was left over from the piece of tubing that runs the length of the shaft.  I added this to make sure the end of the shovels neck would not bend as the 1 inch pipe would not go all the in.

 The folding function still works.

 Note the small hole to drain any water that might get inside of the shaft.

 So far no problems!!!