How to Sharpen a Shovel

My dad seems to have a ton of shovels, and just about zero shovels that are convenient to use. So I decided to create a guide to sharpen them. I am an eighth grade student who attends school at Westwood Middle School. I’m pretty sure this qualifies me for the student prize, although I’ve been wrong before.

You will need as follows :

a dull shovel

a vise

a file

(optional) a wire brush. I used a dremel with a brush attachment

(optional) a pair of pliers

You’re gonna mount the shovel in your vise. I mounted it like this at first, but later decided it would be better to mount it like this, in the second photo.

I noticed that the tip of my shovel had been bent down over many years of work, so I took a pair of pliers to bend it up. If you’re using a flat edged shovel you won’t have this issue.

Next, you’re gonna want to clean the caked dirt off of the edge to make cleaning easier. I didn’t have a wire brush, so I used a dremel with a brush tip. Worked pretty well if I do say so myself.

Now you’ll want to grab your file and start sharpening the edge. The sharper angle you can achieve, the better, but any filing on a dull shovels is going to cause improvement, so don’t stress about it too much. I spent about twenty minutes filing this shovel, and I think it really improved the piercing capability, even though I wasn’t able to achieve a really steep angle. Just do your best, and I’m sure it will pay off.

Congrats on finishing your shovel! You should find that it’s easier to cut through roots and generally drive the spade into the ground. If you enjoyed this project, please consider liking it as it helps me out as a creator. Happy shoveling!