# 3/8 scale scratch built coal shovel



## Russell G (Jun 7, 2009)

Hello folks, I'm brand new here. This is my first posting with a photograph. If there's no photo, I apologize. This is a shovel I made out of aluminum and wood. I carved the two ends out of aluminum with a flexible shaft machine using ball cutters to get close and finished the shaping with files and sandpaper. I used a toothpick turned down to size for the shaft and handle. Here goes:




































I hope you're seein a shovel!


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Dang! I'm VERY impressed. That's a museum quality shovel!


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## Les (Feb 11, 2008)

Russell,

That's a great piece. Thanks for posting the pixes, and the technique.

Ooh, yeah, WELCOME to the board!









Les


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Is the block in the second photo a die you used to press metal into to form the shovel, or just the top half ground out, and then followed by grinding away the bottom half? That (to me, at least) seems like a ton of work for a shovel, but the end result looks great! 

Later, 

K


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

My Dad had a shovel just like that to stoke the furnace back in the early 1950's before we converted to an oil fired one.

The only difference is his thumb and forefinger were small enough to wrap around the "D" handle with plenty of room for the rest of his hand there too.

WOW! That is nice!


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## Russell G (Jun 7, 2009)

Thank you for the compliments and interest guys! Thanks for the welcome Les. It was a ton of work, K, but I'm goofy enough that it doesn't seem like work. I suppose I could've scraped, sanded, and painted 2 or 3 window frames in the time it took me to make the shovel, but THAT'S work. Makin the shovel is my therapy. I made it for a friend to give to a friend of his. Any time spent in the shop is livin high.


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## Russell G (Jun 7, 2009)

Sorry K, I didn't answer your question. The block in the second photo is the shovel itself. On my first try, I carved a wood die and tried to press some aluminum from a soda can into it. The metal tore every try even when I annealed the aluminum. I tried with some .010" brass and the same result. Finally I decided to carve it. The tricky part was hand drillin the socket for the wooden shaft in the upper end of the scoop. You don't have to be off center much to turn all that work to junk. I had to finish all the carving, filing, and sanding before I cut it off the block. It's too small to hold and too thin to clamp. So it's cross your fingers and drill.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

That's impressive!


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

...It was a ton of work, K, but I'm goofy enough that it doesn't seem like work...

There's probably a lot of that in all of us. Fantastic work, er, play.  

Later, 

K


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Welcome to the board and you do beautiful work. Impressive! Thanks for sharing.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

"She got the gold mine -- I got the shaft.." and had to make the shovel, too! (Sorry, I couldn't resist it any longer. I'm a baaaaad boy) As I said above, 'wow!'. And, yeah, welcome aboard! We're all that special kind of 'nuts' here.


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## altterrain (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow, that's nu.., er, impressive. 
It certainly beats the heck out of my 7/8's (1:13.7) scale tools made from bamboo skewers, tin cans and a little epoxy - 










-Brian


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## Russell G (Jun 7, 2009)

The weathering looks real good on your tools. I like the bamboo handles too. I'm gonna give that a try. And thanks to all of you welcoming me and sayin nice things about my stuff!


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## Sourdoh (Jan 6, 2008)

The shovel is incredible! I must say that I wouldn't put that much work into a shovel that just sits in a coal bin! That's dedication to scale. Now, I want to see what else you've built.


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## Russell G (Jun 7, 2009)

Thanks Sourdoh, I'll show ya some other stuff in the introductions category. I'm new here and I oughta introduce myself.


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Russell

Hey that's some really nice work, and one heck of a nice shovel.

A fair piece of time back I ran across a method for making shovels, who knows maybe it'll save you some work. Check out the additional pictures of the process accessed via the link in the originating reply.

*Shovel Making*


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Great work, can't wait to see some of your other handiwork.


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## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

That is awesome, you are my kind of model maker Russel.

Regards,


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## Russell G (Jun 7, 2009)

thanks Eric, Jerry, and Steve! Interesting to see somebody else make one a different way. I appreciate the kind words fellas. Thank you for the editorial help Steve, as you can see, I've been needin it.


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