Mattock hoes (aka Azadas) - tight blade fit

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salixer

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Mattock hoes (aka Azadas) - tight blade fit
« on: December 11, 2021, 15:53 »
Thanks to the AG website, I shall be exploring the merits of my mattock hoe more seriously come a bit better weather. 
Several years ago I bought a medium weight one (not sure of it's blade width/weight right now) and never got on with it.  Despite trying to get blade to bite rigidly on the handle, the blade frequently ended up swivelling around the handle.  BUT now I know to soak the handle/blade end in water to make it swell, which I never thought of.  However, thinking aloud, would soaking in some sort of oil be better (?):  I always have a bit of old/used mineral oil hanging about, but it could be veg' oil alternatively.

Any thoughts please re water versus oil to make my mattock hoe's handle swell for a firm fix of the blade ?

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Kleftiwallah

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Re: Mattock hoes (aka Azadas) - tight blade fit
« Reply #1 on: December 12, 2021, 19:54 »
Good evening salixer, if you soak the handle to swell it and get a good fit the adze will have to live in a bucket of water in the shed to keep the shaft swollen.  Surely a better bet was to have a close tolerance fit while dry with the aid of a wedge?

Cheers,  Tony.
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Blewit

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Re: Mattock hoes (aka Azadas) - tight blade fit
« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2021, 13:15 »
I messed about for ages with mine, filing and using emery to obtain a good fit. In the end I drilled three holes in the head and secured it with screws. It's fine now and is my go-to tool for heavy work.

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grinling

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Re: Mattock hoes (aka Azadas) - tight blade fit
« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2021, 15:10 »
mine has a nail through it

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jezza

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Re: Mattock hoes (aka Azadas) - tight blade fit
« Reply #4 on: December 13, 2021, 15:39 »
Hello I've just had a log splitting maul handle tightened up  I lost the head off , we used a piece of old spade shaft cut to a wedge shape then  cut a slot  in the end of the shaft and knocked the wedge in  it doesnt move now   jezza

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salixer

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Re: Mattock hoes (aka Azadas) - tight blade fit
« Reply #5 on: December 13, 2021, 19:24 »
Good evening salixer, if you soak the handle to swell it and get a good fit the adze will have to live in a bucket of water in the shed to keep the shaft swollen.  Surely a better bet was to have a close tolerance fit while dry with the aid of a wedge?

Cheers,  Tony.

This is exactly why (using water to swell) I wondered about using oil instead.
 
As to wedges;  this is not like splitting/wedging an axe handle, say, to hold the head on:  the mattock hoe handle's taper goes the other way so not sure how wedging a hoe handle will keep it fixed.  I have, however read jezza's recent post.  [Edit] but not sure I can "see" exactly what the jezza method entailed I get it, but still not convinced.
 
I'm increasingly inclined to get out the drill for modifications (ref grinling & Blewit posts).  While I would like to find a nerdy solution without nails or screws, at the end of the day, I should like to bring my mattock hoe back into the fray !
« Last Edit: December 14, 2021, 17:06 by salixer »

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Lardman

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Re: Mattock hoes (aka Azadas) - tight blade fit
« Reply #6 on: December 13, 2021, 20:24 »
Dry the handle out fully, stuff in on a radiator for a week or so then get as good fit as possible. After that soak it in antifreeze.  If it's living in the shed it shouldn't need to be kept wet if it's dry to start with.  I replaced the handle on mine nearly 15 years ago it's held fast with just a friction fit.

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snowdrops

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Re: Mattock hoes (aka Azadas) - tight blade fit
« Reply #7 on: December 13, 2021, 21:43 »
I think mine has a hefty nail through the ‘collar’ part of the mattock. My daughter has it at the moment so I can’t check, but the d have bought a wedge through the middle of the shaft should work.
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salixer

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Re: Mattock hoes (aka Azadas) - tight blade fit
« Reply #8 on: December 14, 2021, 17:18 »
Dry the handle out fully, stuff in on a radiator for a week or so then get as good fit as possible. After that soak it in antifreeze.  If it's living in the shed it shouldn't need to be kept wet if it's dry to start with.  I replaced the handle on mine nearly 15 years ago it's held fast with just a friction fit.

@Lardman - Antifreeze huh? - Interesting!  Is it hygroscopic or something ?  (I imagine that would be undiluted antifreeze ?)

Also, I don't heat my house so really drying out the hoe's handle will be a challenge during winter - I'll have to "borrow" someone else's radiator!  LOL
« Last Edit: December 14, 2021, 19:17 by salixer »

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salixer

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Re: Mattock hoes (aka Azadas) - tight blade fit
« Reply #9 on: January 15, 2022, 17:50 »
Further to:  I haven't actually got around to trying to swell the end of my existing medium-weight/width mattock hoe, but I was in the farm-store and they had a wider/heavier one (£20) and, after close inspection and a few serious bashes of the handle-end on the floor, I could not resist purchase of the one with the head that I could not budge.  (I was surprised a store assistant didn't come check out where the thumping noise was coming from !)

Unfortunately I cannot report yet on whether the head remains firm after use "in the field" as I did my back in shortly after and cannot presently wield a feather duster much-less a m/hoe !  I'm optimistic though and will obviously still sort the medium-weight hoe idc for light work and/or for use by any helper that I might have inveigled into a bit of "light hoeing" !  ;)

« Last Edit: January 15, 2022, 20:41 by salixer »

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salixer

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Re: Mattock hoes (aka Azadas) - tight blade fit
« Reply #10 on: February 08, 2022, 17:53 »
At grave risk of becoming a mattock hoe bore:  cause of back-ache still not sorted, but I have managed to swing the new m/hoe (6.5" blade). 
The blade stays tight "out of the box":  no loosening and no twisting around the handle. 
Eye-balled the older one (5" blade") and now realise that taper on handle much shallower and does not fill-out the blade's collar as well as on the new hoe. 
Conclusion:  handle on the 5" hoe was not suitably matched to the blade and, with apologies for doubting jezza's proposal, am coming around to the idea of slotting and wedging its handle to increase the taper angle & handle/collar contact area or finding a new, better matched, handle. 
(Am keeping Lardman's option of soaking in anti-freeze as a back-up if a better taper-fit is not the answer.)


 



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