Time to Tuneup Your Outdoor Tools

While turning new soil recently, I leaned back into my favorite spading fork and snapped the handle right at the ferrule. I searched for a replacement at Orchard Supply, which has an unusually large selection, but couldn’t find one, so I took it to Bob Denman down in Orange County.

Denman loves tools and he’s an expert on the subject--a real tool man. He’s a consultant for Corona, which makes tough pruning tools here in Southern California, and he has his own garden tool company.

Denman & Co., which sells by mail order and from a new store, specializes in sturdy or unusual garden tools, with more than 500 different kinds. The company makes some, including a beautiful old-fashioned push mower with an oak T-handle and a rugged wheel hoe called the Red Pig No. 1. At the store on 1202 E. Pine in Placentia, they also repair and sharpen garden tools.

My fork came back looking brand-new, and I had to check for the bent tine to make sure it really was mine--he had cleaned and painted it along with replacing the handle. It was almost too pretty to take out of the garage.

I suspect the handle snapped because I hadn’t properly cared for this trusty old fork, so I asked this expert for some tips on tool maintenance.

Big Tools

Spades, forks, hoes, rakes and other big garden tools are the easiest to care for, with the handles requiring the most looking after. After a tool is a year or so old, the varnish begins to wear off and at that time, Denman suggests sanding the handle and then protecting it with a finish of boiled linseed oil, available at any hardware or paint store.

This will keep handles from drying out and splitting and is easy to do. Wipe the linseed oil on with a rag and let it soak in. If you have an old, dried-out handle, wipe on several coats, giving each time to soak in. Wait a bit, wipe off any excess, then let it sit overnight and dry.

You should lightly sand and reapply linseed oil to every wood handle once a year, usually in winter when the tools aren’t being used that much (except for planting roses).

While you’re at it, thoroughly clean the blades or tines with steel wool. Tools used frequently will probably stay shiny clean, but seldom-used tools rust. To bring them back to new, clean and then paint them.

Paint is the best protection against rust and doesn’t attract dirt, as oil does. Things like WD-40 last only a few days. Denman uses Rustoleum rust-proof primer, followed by a coat of Rustoleum green or red.

Now, sharpen the bottom edge of spades and hoes. If they’re dull, use what is called a bastard file. Only file the inside of the edge.

If you’re always digging through tree roots or in rocky soil, make a steep bevel (about 40 degrees) that will hold up. A shallow bevel (about 20 degrees) makes digging easy but needs sharpening more often in root-filled or rocky soil. (Bevels are the angle formed by the sides that meet to form the edge, with a shallow bevel shaped like a razor blade and a steep bevel more like the edge of an ax.)

Always file by pushing away from yourself and the blade so you don’t get cut.

Once tools are sharpened, Denman suggests keeping them that way with a small coarse or medium diamond file. He warns that they are “very aggressive” and remove material quickly, so take only a few swipes to hone the edge at the end of each work day.

Shears and loppers

Sharpening is most important on pruning tools because a neat, clean cut heals quickly and doesn’t tear bark. In fact, before pruning any of your roses or fruit trees this month, you should make your bypass pruners and loppers razor-sharp.

Denman again suggests a diamond file, only this time with a fine grit. He likes tiny files that fit in those holsters for pruning shears and suggests taking a few swipes on the blade at the end of every work day, so the shears are always sharp.

Small, flat diamond files work fine, but tapered round ones are even better, especially on shears that have a narrow opening at their base. Just be careful not to file circular grooves into the blade edge. If you’re new to filing, stick with a small flat file. Denman favors one just a few inches long that costs about $8.

Be sure to file only the existing bevel on the one slicing blade of bypass pruners. Try to match the bevel put on the pruners by the manufacturer. It varies from shear to shear.

For instance, Felcos have a shallow bevel (about 22 degrees) because the very edge of the blade is extra hard (at some point you will file through this hardened edge into softer metal and will have to replace the blade, but they are available separately). Coronas have a steeper bevel, about 30 degrees (though newer Coronas have 26-degree bevels).

Never sharpen the flat backside of the cutting blade. Also, never sharpen the “hook,” which is the opposing blade. Simply clean the hook thoroughly. It very important to keep clean the parts of the blade that pass by each other.

Anvil pruners are much more difficult to sharpen--one reason serious gardeners seldom use them--because the blade must end up sharp and very straight. Usually they must be taken completely apart for sharpening.

Keep the bolts tight that hold the blades together on bypass pruners, so there is no space between the blades. Tighten bolts all the way, then back off a bit so they close smoothly. Each shear is adjusted differently, though Denman says the new Coronas were designed to be easy to tighten. Felcos and older Coronas are more difficult, but it’s still an important step to take.

Finally, thoroughly clean and lubricate the blades. Denman suggests a “miracle juice” developed in Southern California for the military, called Break Free CLP, if you buy it at a gun or hardware store, or Corona CLP, if you find it at a nursery.

It contains a solvent that cleans sap and rust from the blades, lubricates them and leaves a light film of protective grease to guard against rust. It uses a synthetic oil, so it does not attract dirt as regular oil does, but actually repels it.

With shears clean, tight and sharp, you’re ready to prune the roses, and your other tools will be ready for the spring planting season just ahead.