Quick Build Crevice Tool MK II

[TenOunce Tone]

G'day all,

Well after the first attempt at a home made crevice tool failed under field conditions.. The scoop snapped off in mid scrape!! Don't worry, all gold was recovered!

I decided it was time to get serious..

Off to bunnings and $8.65 later I walked out with the following items..

Once back in the man lab..

I started to ponder how am I going to bend this steel, not having an oxy set or better still, a blacksmiths furnace in the man lab and having left my power to bend steel with my bare hands on the counter at Bunnings, I had a look around..

I spied the next door neighbors skip sitting there all green and big.. a few strategic pokes and thrusts and the steel was now in a condition I could start working..

I then lopped off a couple of centimeters off the end to make the angle a bit tighter and put 10mm marks along the edge so I knew how much of the pipe was over the steel rod.

I then started to tap the tube onto the rod and stopped at somewhere between the 20 and 30 mm mark..

I then cut the tube at about 90 mm leaving me with a 65 mm scoop.. a bit of grinder and pliers action later and i had crafted this..

I flipped the ends and clamped in the larger radius hook, this would become the Scraper / pick end of the tool..
I drew a couple of lines to a point on the rod so i had a bit of a guide to grind to.. twenty minutes later I had this..

Here is a close up of the tip..

I know it is only "mild steel", I will more than likely have to re sharpen it a few times but it should get the job done, remember its a crevice tool, not an excavator..

The main inspiration came from seeing a few scoop picks on line in the states, after paying $20us and then $30 postage I thought there has to be a better way.. at $8.65 for parts and the bonus, I got to use my Grinder!
I think I did well.

I will let you know how it goes on the next deep crevice I come across..

Cheers, Tone

 

[Nugget]

Very creative TT, I'm looking forward to seeing it how it goes.

Nugget.

 

[PeterHarden]

TT,

Looks great and no reason why it shouldn't work and a heap cheaper than the over the counter ones !

 

[cactus]

looks good to me. on my way to the shed to try and make one

 

[XIV]

should be a lot stronger than the aluminum one you made
let us know how you go with it

 

[kiwigolddigger]

pioneer spirit strong in this one

 

[SuperPeter]

Done , Im off to make 1, simple but yet very effective. Ty

 

[dezman]

Great idea, off to bunnings today.

 

[AlluvialRic]

I have made most of my crevicing scrapers from 8g & 10g fencing wire or the stuff ceiling fixers use as hangers. It can all be flattened out to form little digging or scraping 'hoes' or ground to a point.

I like the idea of the scoop TenOunce Tone is making. Could it be done with thin steel or stainless tube? Would be stronger and could be filed or ground to a sharper edge for getting in under the gravel.

Ric

 

[kawman]

It may be possible to drill a hole into the end of the bar and fit a piece of a drill bit in it with adhesive and then sharpen... Much harder Carbon steel tip...

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Ric and Kaw, beautiful thing about making your own equipment is you can try anything you want. i would have used stainless but could not find any that fit neatly and was not going to cost too much. the components cost less than ten dollars and i hane about 800 mm of the ali tube for refits as needed.

 

[Ryan27]

G'day all,

Well after the first attempt at a home made crevice tool failed under field conditions.. The scoop snapped off in mid scrape!! Don't worry, all gold was recovered!

I decided it was time to get serious..

Off to bunnings and $8.65 later I walked out with the following items..

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/288/1373614972_tubestock.jpg

Once back in the man lab..

I started to ponder how am I going to bend this steel, not having an oxy set or better still, a blacksmiths furnace in the man lab and having left my power to bend steel with my bare hands on the counter at Bunnings, I had a look around..

I spied the next door neighbors skip sitting there all green and big.. a few strategic pokes and thrusts and the steel was now in a condition I could start working..

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/288/1373615212_mk_2_01.jpg

I then lopped off a couple of centimeters off the end to make the angle a bit tighter and put 10mm marks along the edge so I knew how much of the pipe was over the steel rod.

I then started to tap the tube onto the rod and stopped at somewhere between the 20 and 30 mm mark..

I then cut the tube at about 90 mm leaving me with a 65 mm scoop.. a bit of grinder and pliers action later and i had crafted this..
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/288/1373615496_mk_2_02.jpg

I flipped the ends and clamped in the larger radius hook, this would become the Scraper / pick end of the tool..
I drew a couple of lines to a point on the rod so i had a bit of a guide to grind to.. twenty minutes later I had this..
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/288/1373615694_mk_2_05.jpg

Here is a close up of the tip..
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/288/1373615755_mk_2_08.jpg

I know it is only "mild steel", I will more than likely have to re sharpen it a few times but it should get the job done, remember its a crevice tool, not an excavator..

The main inspiration came from seeing a few scoop picks on line in the states, after paying $20us and then $30 postage I thought there has to be a better way.. at $8.65 for parts and the bonus, I got to use my Grinder!
I think I did well.

I will let you know how it goes on the next deep crevice I come across..

Cheers, Tone

Hi Tone
Great effort!
I still have my very first home made tool. I still use it today.
Today I have quite the collection of crevice tools.
I use them all regularly.
Ryan