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Which side to sharpen?


Alpo

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You have a flat blade (or, if you prefer, a square point) shovel.

 

a381b6d6-f9c5-4a8c-bd2a-9c07bed27d08_100

 

You plan to slide it along your driveway, cutting off the grass that has grown up through the expansion joint.

 

Logically if the front edge of the shovel is sharp, it will cut better.

 

So you get out your handy dandy file and prepare to sharpen the edge. Since this is not an ax, you do not want to sharpen it from both sides.

 

Which side would be best to sharpen it from?

 

Sharpening from the back of the shovel would certainly be easier, but it seems to me that sharpening from the front of the shovel would place the edge where it needs to be.

 

It also seems like sharpening from the front side would be a easy way to cut your hand.

 

So, boys and girls, which side should you sharpen it from?

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I’ve always sharpened my shovels from the back, it’s easier to file but usually I introduce it to the 6” belt sander because it’s more expedient. And if that’s wrong I don’t wanna be right.

On a hoe I’ll do the front for the same reason, it’s just easier to get at with the belt sander 

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I’m thinking that when you slide it on the driveway you are going to get a bevel on the backside anyway, might as well sharpen that side first.

 

But you will ding it pretty quickly either way.  I would spray the cracks with herbicide and go relax.

 

 

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1 minute ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

I’m thinking that when you slide it on the driveway you are going to get a bevel on the backside anyway, might as well sharpen that side first.

 

But you will ding it pretty quickly either way.  I would spray the cracks with herbicide and go relax.

 

 

For a driveway my 2 weapons have always been kills everything for the cracks and a weed wacker for edging 

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I know that sharpening from the back makes a much better snake chopper (the real reason the flat blade was invented).  

Most people think the flat shovel was invented for shoveling railroad ties level, but they're wrong.  

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Just now, Dusty Devil Dale said:

I know that sharpening from the back makes a much better snake chopper (the real reason the flat blade was invented).  

Most people think the flat shovel was invented for shoveling railroad ties level, but they're wrong.  

I just pound the snot out of rattlers,  the edge doesn't matter for that.

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I’d sharpen the back side. As already mentioned, the back side will wear and create the “chisel” if you sharpen the front. I sharpen hoes and shovels as a general rule anyway. Makes them work easier. 
 

Sam Sackett 

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1 hour ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

 I would spray the cracks with herbicide and go relax

That's a not bad idea, if all I wanted was to clean out the crack. But I have some low spots in the yard, and I figured if I cut the grass and dirt that's growing up out of the driveway off, I could use it to fill the low spots. Save me from buying fill dirt

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4 hours ago, Dusty Devil Dale said:

I know that sharpening from the back makes a much better snake chopper (the real reason the flat blade was invented).  

Most people think the flat shovel was invented for shoveling railroad ties level, but they're wrong.  

This reminds me of the time I came home and my wife said “You need to go out back and talk to Vince. He said he killed a Rattlesnake in the backyard and is really upset.


Now Vince was a bachelor who had bought the house that backed up to our yard. He was a city boy originally from Ireland. Vince had never lived in a country village so he was not used to snakes.


So I went out to talk to him. Vince showed me where he had killed the “ Rattlesnake”. There I found 1 inch pieces of a hapless Garter snake. Apparently Vince had used a shovel to chop the innocent Garter snake into mincemeat. After I settled Vince down and assured him that Rattlesnakes were not going take over the neighborhood he promised not to chop up any more Garter snakes.

 

CJ

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21 minutes ago, Texas Lizard said:

Any difference with the international date line??? Like East West....

 

Texas Lizard

I guess that’s the difference between starting to sharpen from the right or left edge of the shovel. So the shovel will pull right or left when inserted in the earth 

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On 2/26/2023 at 3:05 PM, Alpo said:

You have a flat blade (or, if you prefer, a square point) shovel.

 

a381b6d6-f9c5-4a8c-bd2a-9c07bed27d08_100

 

You plan to slide it along your driveway, cutting off the grass that has grown up through the expansion joint.

 

Logically if the front edge of the shovel is sharp, it will cut better.

 

So you get out your handy dandy file and prepare to sharpen the edge. Since this is not an ax, you do not want to sharpen it from both sides.

 

Which side would be best to sharpen it from?

 

Sharpening from the back of the shovel would certainly be easier, but it seems to me that sharpening from the front of the shovel would place the edge where it needs to be.

 

It also seems like sharpening from the front side would be a easy way to cut your hand.

 

So, boys and girls, which side should you sharpen it from?

The right.  I'm a right kind of guy.

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That's a transfer shovel not a trenching shovel. Angle from the scoop down so when you run it along the ground it slides smooth.

 

 

 

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