True confession time. Like Stu of Toy Story fame, I don't take care of my toys ( sigh, hanging my head). Not that I take glee in blowing them up or feeding them to the dog; it's more a matter of being busy and getting distracted. Things are always "I need to get to( insert task to procrastinate here)". Oh! I guess I need to clarify about the "toys" per sea. My gardening tools. For example, my wheeled cultivator. It actually isn't that effective in a clay soil garden like we have here in Georgia, but in my raised beds, has done okay. I really just like the thought and look of it. As you can see it needs some love. This is just one of the many tools needing some attention in my toy box.
Okay, now that we have that clear and out of the way. I am happy to announce you can teach a somewhat old (ahem) dog new tricks. Better late than never right!
So yesterday I gathered all of my wooden handled garden tools to give them some love and attention. I gathered them all, sanded all the handles and cleaned them off and then proceeded to coat each of them with boiled linseed oil. FYI, as long as your linseed oil has no additives, it is safe to use in a garden.
This Boiled linseed oil soaks into the wooden handles, protecting them from the elements. It's been on my "to do" list for a while, but something else always takes precedence. Now all of my wooden handled tools are ready to go; including, now my wheeled cultivator. What cha think?
Two of my tools, and really very important tools, were broken. I have a 4 tong cultivator and a hoe//cultivator that were broken. This morning I re-glued the handle of the cultivator. I still need to fix the head of it so it will go back on. That has to wait until the glue dries. I was able to fix the hoe/cultivator. It was never really made very well to begin with, but I fought with it until the head came off. Once it was off I could at least fix it. I sawed off the tip of it that had rotted ( I know cause it wasn't protected). I had to reshape the handle to take the metal collar that sits just below the head. That required shaving it down and sanding it well. I then glued the collar back on before addressing the actual head. In order to fix the problem that was there from the get go( in other words, not my fault), I had to saw off the pin that held the head to the peg that, in turn, slides into the handle. It was loose and wouldn't keep the head straight. Once I took that pin off, I removed the old pin/peg, and, instead, reattached the head to the handle with a washer and a rather large eye hook. My thought process was that now I can easily hang this up when not in use! As you can see, I've been using it.
Pretty proud of the finished project. I think my dad would be torn between pride in my ingenuity, and eye rolling because I should care for my tools better. So frugal tip of the day, and one I should have been paying better attention to, care for your tools; all your tools(toys), so they can stand the test of time!
Any other procrastinators out there? You can tell me tomorrow!
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