Heirloom Garden Tools

[60 acre hillside]

Anybody use garden tools that have been collected for more than one generation? I use my dad's garden rake purchased about the start of WW2. Folks had a neighbor to pick one up in town, Mom was surprised at the cost remarking that he likely bought the most costly one. With almost 70 years of service it is as good as ever and am sure no better one can be bought today.We have better steel than ever before but it is not in the garden tools. also have a half dozen good hoes. one of the better oned was found hanging on a fence at the side of a cotton field with the handle rotted away, a school janitor gave me a discarde mop handle. all these tools are kept in the dry and the metal parts are oiled and the wood parts get a rub down with linseed oil at least annualy. They will all be good for another generation of cared for.

 

[timcasbolt]

Sadly, my Dad was not a man to take care of his garden tools, and there are very few remaining.

I do use a lot of his mechanic"s tools, which have held up much better since I took them over.

I disagree with your statement about the quality of today"s steel however. All of the steel we get today is partially or mostly recycled steel. Including rust, castings, vegetable matter, chicken lips, and anything else that was laying around at the time.

 

[60 acre hillside]

I said the GOOD steel, best ever produced, is not made into homeowner's garden tools. Can you buy a good shovel? axe ? post hole digger? Yet there sare some great metals made into spacecraft, medical equipment, and tableware.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I still have my grandaddy's axe, dad put a handle on it, and I replaced the head!

 

[Anonymous-0]

You can't buy a new good shovel, hoe, or garden tool at any store today, no matter the cost. The best ones available will be an older one at an estate auction, flea mkt. etc. That is where I buy mine, but you have to be selective on which ones you buy. I have several of the older pointed shovels that you can leave out in the rain and will not rust unless of course they are out in the elements for several weeks. And then they will still clean back up real good, with a little polishing. Older ones were made out of virgin steel and newer ones are recycled steel, which includes all kinds of metal, steel,cast iron and whatever.

 

[rustyfarmall]

Even if you managed to hang onto the vintage spade, or garden fork, you cannot buy a new handle that is worth bring home. I finally gave up and turned a length of steel pipe into a spade handle. Doubt if I will ever need to do it again.

 

[bo]

Sure you can buy quality tools. Go to Lowe's or Home Depot and get the ones with the fiberglass handles. If you don't leave it outside to rust, then your grandkids will say..."It was Grandpa's, you can't buy tools like this anymore." and they'll be just as wrong as you are.

 

[Harold Hubbard]

I bought a new dung fork several years ago. The fine print on the handle said "Warranty void if used for commercial or AGRICULTURAL purposes."

 

[timcasbolt]

Sorry to offend, but there isn't much, if any, steel in the aerospace, medical, or food service industries.

 

[DownSouth]

I'm not lucky enough to have any that were handed down in the family, but I do find some really nice oldies but goodies at estate sales now and then and they come home with me. Some get used, some get hung on the wall in the barn like the big scythe. Not much use for it, so it's a look at piece now. Only gave 50 cents for it.

 

[SweetFeet]

I agree. It seems like everything from new shovels to hoes to rakes is far poorer quality than vintage tools.

Also agree that medical facilities and commercial kitchens use a lot of steel. I have worked in both. Commerical kitchens are chock full of stainless steel cabinets, countertops, work tables, carts, sinks, cookware, steamer-table liner pans and lids, ovens, walk in coolers and all sorts of tools, tongs, knives and utensils, etc. Our school cafeteria is pretty much stainless steel from wall to wall - except for the floors. Medical facilities also have all sorts of high quality metal tools: from needles and tweezers to scalpels and bone saw blades, to carts for moving patients, to bed frames and IV hangers and I don't even know what all else.

 

[El Toro]

These garden hoes belong to my wife's parents. The one on the right was made by a blacksmith in the 1920's. I did install a new handle on it. Hal