Sharpen, clean and oil a shovel - PEP BB tool.sand.shovel

Kyle reporting live from the skip event.  I'm doin Paul's shovel maintenance so he don't have to.  I used tung oil to grease 'er up.

Time to put the shovel away and it needed a good cleaning. I thought it was pretty sharp when I started sharpening but as I really to to that part I was surprised at how dull it really was. Not anymore!

Requirements to complete:
- Can be any metal shovel (not metal edged plastic snow shovels)
- Protecting oil can't be petroleum derived

To get certified for this BB, post the following:

 - pic of dull or rusty shovel
 - action pic
 - pic of clean, sharp shovel
 - describe the oil used to protect the metal

I sharpened the shovel using a file, abraded the rust off using steel wool, then oiled it with linseed oil and a wool cloth.

Here is my shovel maintenance.
I used a rotary and wire brush to clean it. A file to sharpen it. And linseed oil to oil it.

Sanded rust away with low grit paper, sharpened with hand file, and oiled with hemp oil (visible in photo)

Came across this old shovel while cleaning out the shed and decided to clean it up a bit. Hit it with a wire brush, some steel wool and some 80 grit sandpaper before sharpening it up with a file and finishing it off with some linseed oil.  💪🏻

To get certified for this BB, post the following:

  - pic of dull or rusty shovel
  - action pic
  - pic of clean, sharp shovel
  - describe the oil used to protect the metal

Every step of shovel care makes perfect sense, now time to actually do it! I found a WL shovel needing love, and used linseed oil for the final step.

Requirements to complete:
- Can be any metal shovel (not metal edged plastic snow shovels)
- Protecting oil can't be petroleum derived

To get certified for this BB, post the following:

 - pic of dull or rusty shovel
 - action pic
 - pic of clean, sharp shovel
 - describe the oil used to protect the metal


Dirty shovel


First I used a metal brush on the angle grinder. It did a pretty good job. I did not get a picture of the brush in use as that would be unsafe.


Then I used the sander to get a finer polish.


I used sandpaper for the tough spots. You can see some of the rust coming off.


I had to hammer a dent in the tip back into place.


I ended up buying a tool file (technically called a "bastard file") for tool maintenance. This will be nice to have on hand and was pretty cheap.


I oiled the shovel with linseed oil.


A nice, clean shovel. I used it right away and compared it to my other shovel and it is a major improvement!