Shovels boy have we talked about shovels.

Shovels
Shovels boy have we talked about shovels over the years. WHY you may ask well after your gold extraction plant in my case the Banjo/Highbanker the shovel is the most important piece of equipment I have, been a wet water prospector. I can’t stress enough just how important the shovel is. It can make easy work or it can make hard work for you it all depends on how much gold you want to get at day’s end. The reason I use a long handle round end shovel and not the square blade is this, the round end shovel will offer less resistance when driven into a mound of wash set in among rocks, compared to the square or flat blade shovel which due to the flat length of the blade will offer greater resistance. With less resistance you are able to extend your work period hence the more gold you get. Also on the new shovel sand the handle {if it is made of wood} before use, this will take any splinters away and use a good wood oil on the handle. I sand and re-oil my shovel after ever trip.

Also check out https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/t3886-successful-prospectors-tools#35524

Cheers James 101

© J.B 2013

Good topic whiskers, everyone has to learn along the way, but anytime I see a person trying to dig a hole or break ground with a square mouth shifting shovel rather than a nice rounded nose or spade I cringe a little, I reckon they are still at the far end of the digging learning curve, there's no easy way to do it, but through shear neccessity and practice you will learn to dig a hole or move some stuff reasonably efficiently and tool selection is a big part of that game, shovels are just like any hand tool I guess, they don't mean much to you unless you have to use them every day, a good shovel or pick, a sharp knife or axe or whatever gear you use is the difference between a good day and shitty day, you get to love em , hence a spade is a spade and not a shovel

Wayne.

Spot on the money DU, no matter what type of gear you use it always pays to look after it. I treat my shovel with the greatest respect after all it is the shovel and pick that gets me my gold. And as you say there is no easy way of doing it and the new comer will soon learn, between a round nose shovel and a square mouth shovel .... cheers
James

You know you are workin hard when you wear one out !!!

Ark i have a 4 year turn around on a shovel. The new ones don't seem to last as long as the older ones {1910 1930} i keep an eye out for a shovel head from that period they last.

cheers James 101

Well I have settled on an Aussie cyclo plumbers shovel -----2 mm tempered steel ---10 yr prorata warranty and only about $10 dearer than the chit from China!!! Lol but my best shovel is a rigid tool shovel from America !!! I do keep an eye on it as it seems to like taking walks !!!

The Aussie cyclone plumbers shovel yep that's the go. I find them the best at this point in time as you say a little dearer but there worth the extra i think. cheers James 101

I was buying Trojan shovels from Bunnings but I was breaking the shovel heads !!, yes cracking them and even snapped a piece out of one ! Ill dig out pics tomorrow and post !!! Do not buy Trojan !!!
as promised!!










I took this one back to Bunnings and they replaced it no problems ! but I gave it away to a newbie a little later !

Wait a minute!!! are you saying you can buy shovels?? really ?? I thought everyone got em from mates who work in the council or somewhere like that!!!

Wayne.

Digginerup wrote:Wait a minute!!! are you saying you can buy shovels?? really ?? I thought everyone got em from mates who work in the council or somewhere like that!!!

Wayne.

Good one Wane A lot of the above information i posted on the old MSN forum around 2004 under the name BANJO, they have now closed all their forum's down. But the information still holds good today and has not changed. Ark please post a photo of the Trojan shovels.
Cheers James 101

Some years back I brought a Trogan shovel I rounded the nose off but the shovel did not last a month before the center of the blade snapped. Below is the photos of how I rounded it off. Grrrrrrr never again will I buy Trojan .








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Ark wrote:I was buying Trojan shovels from Bunnings but I was breaking the shovel heads !!, yes cracking them and even snapped a piece out of one ! Ill dig out pics tomorrow and post !!! Do not buy Trojan !!!
as promised!!










I took this one back to Bunnings and they replaced it no problems ! but I gave it away to a newbie a little later !

Bump ! Sorry for not using a separate post for the pics ! As a member pm,ed me " where are the pics lol"

Ark now that is very close to what happened to the one i had ..... a brand name shovel one would expect better from them buggered if i know. cheers mate

Trojan are part of Cyclone but they were made in china and I believe they now don't market them any more .the cracking in my opinion is caused by to many recycled cars in the steel ! Makes the steel to brittle but is way cheaper for the steel .

http://www.cyclone.com.au/products/cyclone-3/plumbers-shovel-long-timber-handle

This is the best all round shovel for a reasonable price and a 10 yr warranty

A point over looked by many about a shovel is you must Round the Corners off the foot platform with a file as shown in the photo. I have found that if this is not done you will hole your gumboot, wader boot or thigh wader boot real quick. Take the time and have a look at them they don’t look sharp but they are, it dose not take much to round them off and it will save a lot of grief down the track.
Cheers James 101



© J.B 2013

Thanks Whiskers ! I had forgotten that one !! Yep wet gumboot indeed Lol!

G'Day all!

Well, there is always an exception to any rule - and here is one for Flat Nosed Shovels.

Usually used for clearing dirt from a flat, hard surface like concrete, it is, as had been mentioned, a poor choice for general digging -- but -- does have a use in one case for mining.

2005, Nome Alaska, beach mining.

The flat nosed shovels were preferred by some of the beach miners for the shoveling of the heavy storm concentrations of black sands & Garnet sands. Called "Ruby Sand", due to the red caste from the red Garnet, it offers less resistance to the flat leading edge than general digging.

On a different subject - underwater digging.

Many miners shy away from underwater shoveling due to the loss of Gold from the sides of the shovelful coming out of the water. I saw a unique modification made by a miner which helped with that perceived problem.

Take a normal long handled round nosed shovel and use a torch to heat a line parallel to the straight side about 4cm in. When hot, bend the edge of the shovel up nearly 90 degrees. Do the same to the other side. While this makes a fairly good shovel for that specialized use - the heating does (I would believe) weaken the temper in the steel, making it not-so-good for general shoveling.

In my youth I earned my way working with a "True Temper #2 Hand Held Steam Shovel" for a few construction seasons. You quickly learn how to use every angle and every bit of that shovel.

Thanks for that insight to beach mining Joe I have never done that. A Question how dose the salt water go in the pump in regards to corrosion to the pump housing?
cheers mate

Thanks KAEOJ for that insight into such mining . A question does using salt water differ to using fresh water?

Well, Whiskers,

The salt water has so much dissolved Gold in it that the metal housing is completely plated in Gold - no corrosion.



Sorry to have pulled your leg like that - actually corrosion, if not kept after, will become a major problem. Aluminum and iron / steel suffer if left for extended periods - with only some preventative maintenance some of the effects can be mitigated.

I have seen EVERY external bolt removed from a brand new pump / engine and the threads coated with automotive anti-seize compound. Every bolt and every thread possible. Spraying with penetrating oil on some surfaces helps - although great care has to be used not to contaminate the pumped water.

The water source for the mining operation was the ocean - and salty. The pump, itself, sat on the shore - higher up in the dry sandy area - so as to not subject it to salt spray. I was told that many of the pumps were torn down at the end of the season and gone over thoroughly (by some, careful miners).

The Nome Beach Boxes were usually made from pressure treated plywood and lumber and as such fared pretty well. I applied 2 coats of enamel paint to every portion of mine to help stop the salt water from getting into the wood.

After I returned (escaped!) from Nome I made it a point to run my pump, hoses and box in fresh water to help remove all the salt that i could. I didn't have any problems with the salt after that.

.....................

As to how the salt water differs from fresh water - negligible difference. We always preferred to pan-out in fresh water to help with corrosion and luckily there was a small fresh water stream nearby.

Joe

I have always said if I win the lotto I wil go to Nome !!! It would be an experience indeed !

Your a funny bugger Joe just send me ya old pumps Mate it is so interesting to hear how beach mining is done it is so different to fresh water. By what you say it is something you must be trained in by one who knows. Thanks for the info mate good post. cheers mate

Ark wrote:Trojan are part of Cyclone but they were made in china and I believe they now don't market them any more .the cracking in my opinion is caused by to many recycled cars in the steel ! Makes the steel to brittle but is way cheaper for the steel .

Trojan are pretty well Bunnings 'Home' brand. Cheap rubbish made to a price. Parfix is also Bunnings own 'Home' Brand

Ark wrote:Thanks Whiskers ! I had forgotten that one !! Yep wet gumboot indeed Lol!

yep I almost forgot to add from time to time it is a good idea to take a file to the leading edge on the rounded part of the shovel blade it helps a lot. Cheers

My favourite shovels.

B/S i like the mod's mate they would be great for digging in the water. cheers

i would think the best way to buy a good shovel would be to look for older better made ones at garage sales , farm clearing sales , maybe even second hand shops that estate lots after grandad dies .ex council ones i would stay away from , they wont work weekends at all and through the week they want to stop every hour for a cuppa , and the hadles have a big bow in them .

johno