Very Old Shovel, Hand Crafted

[kxxr]

Here is the most basic of farm implements-the lowly shovel. I had to take a picture of this one just because of the handiwork. They don't make them like this anymore. I'll bet this one out lived it's maker by a few decades.

[rusty]

You probably will not find that on a farm.
It came out of a foundry. The wood handle is so you don't blister your hands if you happen to leave it leaning next to the furnace. The photo below is from 1944 catalog.

[kxxr]

good eye.

[wrenchguy]

i got 1 like it branded  "lake county jail".

[turnnut]

perhaps the lake county j-birds had to shovel coal to keep warm ?

[rusty]

Oddly, I found over a dozen jails named "Lake County Jail"....

[wrenchguy]

perhaps the lake county j-birds had to shovel coal to keep warm ?

Indiana, sorry i didn't think anyone would be wondering what state.  Indiana not branded on it though.  Its my home county.

[Branson]

You probably will not find that on a farm.
It came out of a foundry. The wood handle is so you don't blister your hands if you happen to leave it leaning next to the furnace. The photo below is from 1944 catalog.

Glad to see they were still being made in 1944.  However, the identical shovel was standard army issue before and during the Civil War.  The wooden D handle was simply the way D handles were made for decades, if not longer.

[mvwcnews]

I've seen lots of these wooden "D" handles on all kinds of scoops, etc. on farm sales -- so I'd say they were "standard" at one time -- it was easier to cut a "D" out of a big piece of wood than to do whatever you have to do to bend wood for the fancier handle styles that came along later.

[rusty]

I may have jumped the gun on it being a molders shover. molders shovels were/are flat so they can cut straight sided holes in a sand pit, and thus don't have a bump down the center, but they also don't usually have flared sides. , So I suppose it is just a scoop that is old enough to just have a wood handle.
(My picture, if I had looked closely, shows non-flared sides)

>Glad to see they were still being made in 1944
It is the only remaining shovel in the catalog of several pages of shovels that doesn't have a metal strapped handle by 1944. I have been told molders tools generally avoid metal parts because of heat issues, but of course it could have a wood handle simply because it is old...

>shovel coal to keep warm ?
Coal scoop should have a back lip so the coal doesn't slide off the top when you throw it into the furnace..

Thinking just ordinary flat shovel..as Branson says, the style is quite old...
Barn floor, manure...common problem..common solution...

[amecks]

Snow shovel? But when I first saw it I thought manure shovel. Two things we have a lot of here in central NY!!!

[scottg]

The all one piece D handle is actually kind of a later invention, compared to some. I think it came along when saw milling techniques had advanced to a high point, and stands of available trees were still ludicrously abundant.   

   The classic for hundreds, maybe thousands of years previous was the T handle.
Simply a piece of wood joined at right angles at the top of the handle.
These are still available in some places.

   I used to think the T handle would be uncomfortable and unproductive. But you get used to them instantly. I thought maybe the mortise and tenon joint wouldn't be strong enough. 
I was wrong on both counts.

It has become my standard handle repair when a tool breaks off near the top of the old handle. Or when I want a compact tool.
      Saw it off, add a T. 
      yours Scott

[Branson]

At least not toooo long ago, all one piece D handled garden tools -- shovels and such -- were available, from England IIRC.  Not cheap!

The T handle is interesting, too.  A few years ago I bought one at a Civil War event.  It is WW II vintage, issued by the English army, but examples have been found of the same shovel from the Revolutionary War.  Quite cool.

[johnsironsanctuary]

If you look closely, the handle on the kxxr shovel is actually three pieces, from what I can see.  The bentwood shaft, the base of the D and then the hand grip.  There is a rivet or nail to hold each to the other.

[wrenchguy]

i'd say 2 pieces, as u can't see the d and bentwood joint if there is 1.  that lower rivet is there to hold the d portion together.  anyone got any of those rivets with washers? i need like 16 for a bobsled i'm restoring.  i find them online at bulk pricing for like 80 at a time.  thanks.