A shank is an essential element of any hand tool, be it a hammer or a shovel. Despite the apparent simplicity and unpretentiousness of this detail, a lot depends on it. Nobody usually pays attention to an insignificant detail, but if the cuttings are loose, appear short or too long, there are notches or cracks on it, it turns into a serious obstacle to the work.
What it is?
A wooden handle is a necessary part of most modern hand tools that allows you to manipulate it. Being a part of hammers or axes, the handle allows you to fully use the weight of the working part of the tool, accelerating it and creating a lever, without which the tool would not be able to do work. The wooden element creates the same effect for shovels, rakes, hoes, braids or pitchforks.
People came up with the idea of a stalk no less than 100 thousand years ago. So, instead of hand-made stone choppers and staples, more advanced axes, spears and other composite implements of labor and hunting appeared. The advantage was obvious and allowed the invention to spread rapidly in the ancient world. A stone mounted on the handle could perform much more devastating work upon impact.
Relatively inexpensive equipment is produced by many woodworking enterprises. They are used for all types of garden tools. The requirements for a modern wooden handle are dictated by the rules worked out over millennia: strength and convenience.
Wooden products completely satisfy these qualities. In the XX century, aluminum and plastic began to be used to make tool handles. Such products are quite easy and convenient to use, however, they are incomparably more expensive than wooden ones, in addition, they cannot be repaired. For the manufacture of wooden cuttings, hardwood is used. No knots, cracks or rot. The resinous and fibrous wood of conifers is not suitable for such products.
The surface of the products is processed so that there are no nicks, irregularities and cracks that can rub the corn. Often the product is varnished. Inventory sizes are calculated depending on a number of factors: load, lightness, strength, convenience. The length of the cuttings is also uneven. It is determined not only by the nature of the instrument, but also by the growth of the one who will work with it. The cuttings are of different shapes in cross section. For shovels and other garden tools, it is made round, and for axes, a sledgehammer and hammers, the shape is chosen taking into account that the tool should be clearly located in the hand. Sometimes a square stalk is used in cross section.
For many garden tools, a classic straight cut is suitable, but for some shovels (shovels and snow), curved handles are used (sometimes with an additional handle on the end). often, such products are already sold with a finished aluminum handle.
Sometimes it is necessary to make a handle yourself, for example, if the standard one is broken, and you do not want to postpone the work. To process the workpiece, you need some minimum carpentry tools: a hacksaw, a hammer, an ax. In especially urgent cases, one ax is enough and, of course, can not do without a nail. With this set, you can make a rather rough ersatz for a shovel or rake.
If you need an element that is close in quality to what the industry produces, then in addition to these tools you will need a circular, planer, sandpaper, wood varnish, screwdriver, and self-tapping screw.
Sequencing
- It is necessary to select the material (board or slab) in thickness slightly thicker than the diameter that will be inserted into the tool body. It is desirable that the workpiece is well dried.
- A circular saw will help to cut a bar of the appropriate size.
- With the help of a plane, the largest irregularities, knots and so on are removed.
- Gradually, the edges of the bar are flattened, by scrolling, the degree of processing in different parts of the workpiece is determined.
- Sanding with sandpaper is a necessary step, if you have to work for a long time, it will protect your hands from damage.
- The blank can be varnished, although this step is optional.
- By rounding the workpiece, its working end is brought to the desired diameter, inserted into the sleeve and fixed with a self-tapping screw.
Processing the workpiece cannot be reduced to making it thinner than the tool body. then it will be impossible to use the product.
Products differ in thickness. If the diameter is close to 40 mm, then this is a shank for a shovel. For hoes (choppers) use cuttings with a diameter of 30 mm. A construction dowel used for assembling log structures and log cabins is made of cuttings with a diameter of 35 mm. Those that have a diameter of 20-25 mm are suitable for rakes or brooms. Thin, with a diameter of 20 mm, cuttings are used to make mops, sometimes a thread is made to install a brush on the working end of such a product. They go to the manufacture of gymnastic sticks. For the braid, you need a longer product with a diameter of 30 mm. A special handle should be attached to it, which is installed perpendicular to the handle at the level of the mowing belt, if you place the braid vertically. this is the only way to get a tool that will be most comfortable to mow.
Some manufacturers cover their products with PVC film, thereby extending their service life. Especially valuable is a coating for cuttings of mops, which are often in contact with water and do not always have time to dry out.
Video: Making Cuttings Using Drills
Rectangular cuttings up to 130 cm long are produced for the popular garden tool. the Fokine plane cutter. The industry produces special wooden handles for axes, hammers and sledgehammers. These products have special strength requirements. The most common material is also an array of birch. The last two differ in size. The handle for the hammer does not exceed 30 cm in length. The handle of a sledgehammer is more massive and can be from 50 to 80 cm long. Common for these products is their rectangular shape in cross section.
The handle for the ax has the most complex shape, combining ergonomics with resilience and strength. The sizes of these products are also different and depend on the size and weight of the ax butt. Long, massive axes of simplified form are produced for cleavers. Currently on sale you can find quite expensive axes with a rubberized plastic handle. Using such a product is quite convenient, but it will not be possible to repair failed expensive equipment. For motorists and tourists they produce a collapsible or folding tool (axes and shovels) having lightweight wooden cuttings.
Depending on the quality of the raw materials and the performance, the cuttings can be of the highest, first or second grades. For higher quality, the absence of knots, cores and other defects is characteristic. On products of the first grade traces of knots are permissible. The second grade, in addition to knots, can be characterized by some deformations: it can be bent or curved. The best material for the manufacture of any cuttings is considered an array of birch.
Dimensions
Cuttings go on sale en masse, they are made in a variety of various kinds of residues from forestry production. Some manufacturers make these simple products from specially prepared raw materials.
Shovel handle is made in standard length. 120 cm. Sometimes there is a longer one. up to 130 cm. The diameter of 40 mm is selected in accordance with the diameter of the shovels produced by the industry. The weight of the product made from the dried billet is close to 1 kilogram. Lighter products with a diameter of 20 mm are used for equipment experiencing less effort, and for the manufacture of gymnastic sticks.
The length of such products can be from 35 to 110 cm. Round products in the section are also available in smaller diameters: 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 mm. Hatchets are more universal, their length is from 35 to 70 cm. The quality requirements in this case are increased.
Sledgehammer handles have a rectangular section and can reach a length of 80 cm.For hammers, short rounded or rectangular cuttings are produced with a length of not more than 35 cm.The thickness of such handles may vary depending on what weight the hammer is supposed to be installed on them.
Popular manufacturers
There are a lot of domestic producers of cuttings, it is relatively easy to establish this production, if only material would be birch wood. All more or less successful forestry enterprises, and even small companies, have a workshop or workshop for the production of cuttings. Established their production and some small businesses. Some individual entrepreneurs, having a machine of their own manufacture, successfully produce cuttings in a sufficiently large amount. The main production is geographically concentrated in a strip of small-leaved forests from Central Russia to Altai.
- The Yaroslavl company Geteria also specializes in cuttings. The company produces round cuttings in cross section of various diameters. The range of products "Geteria". shanks for shovels, rakes, mops, pitchforks and brooms. Both a dowel and a dowel are produced. The material is birch and aspen. Heteriya successfully develops markets not only in Russia, but also in Belarus and Kazakhstan.
- Enterprise "VectorRus" in Vologda also produces cuttings and handles for gardening, building and bench tools. The sales volumes of this manufacturer traditionally remain high, and the products are distributed in the regions of Russia and in Belarus.
- In the Urals, the Konzar enterprise, based in Yekaterinburg, is known. It produces a large number of birch handles and cuttings of mainly circular cross section. Along with other products of the manufacturer, cuttings are distributed in the Urals region, in Western Siberia and Kazakhstan. The production of wooden products in colored PVC film, the so-called eurocuts used for the equipment of mops and brushes, has been established.
Produce cuttings in all countries of Europe. Famous Hungarian manufacturer of garden tools. Framaker KFT. The German company Dienaturstambauer produces roundwood, lumber and cuttings, including PVC-coated ones. In Chinese Harbin, a large enterprise produces various diameters and shapes of cuttings and handles on an enormous scale.
How to choose?
When choosing ready-made wooden cuttings, first of all, you need to pay attention to their quality. The price of the products is low and the savings when buying a lower-quality product will not be significant, but the consequences can be tangible: damage to inventory, corn, abrasion, splinter.
All products according to GOST are divided into three grades:
- the highest. with a perfectly smooth surface;
- the first grade may have up to three small (not more than 3 mm) knots on the smooth surface of the product;
- the second grade may contain knots with a diameter of up to 7 mm.
The best material for wooden cuttings and handles in terms of price and quality is birch. It is lightweight, well processed, maintains elasticity and hardness for a long time. Some manufacturers make handles from more expensive ash and oak. Undoubtedly, the wood product of these species is more beautiful than birch, but it often has more weight. The same drawback is observed in beech products. Cuttings from poplar and aspen are found. they are strong and light enough, but unlike birch, they get wet and lose their properties quite quickly.
It is very difficult to determine whether a stalk is made from sufficiently dried raw materials. You can check by weight. A raw or stubby stalk is always heavier. On average, the weight of a normally dried product should be close to 1 kg.
What exactly should not be on the surface of a good handle:
- cracks: both longitudinal and transverse;
- wormholes;
- various kinds of chipping. traces of processing the cuttings;
- chips and flakes. this is a sign of poor raw materials, that is, the handle was made from waste;
- rot (including mold traces). this indicates poor quality raw materials or poor storage conditions.
Recently, quite expensive universal metal cuttings with an adjustable length have appeared. The product is called a "telescopic handle." This peculiar model is used for shovels or brushes. Such a tool is very convenient for motorists. A tool equipped with such a handle is suitable for any person. you just need to adjust its length in height.
How to plant?
It’s not difficult to put a shovel on a prepared handle correctly.
- The lower part must be given a conical shape, periodically trying on a shovel. The handle must not be allowed to dangle.
- Insert the handle into the shoulder of the shovel to a length of not more than 15 cm. Excessive force can lead to deformation of the shoulder.
- Fasten everything with a self-tapping screw or otherwise. So, fastening with a bolt will require drilling the handle together with the tulle. It is better to fasten the handle with a self-tapping screw. it is easy to replace it in case of loss or breakage.