A spade, is a spade, is a spade

Armandii

There are numerous grades of stainless steel, used for many different applications. For example 413L is used in sheet form to make catering equipment. 416l is used to make marine equipment. Anything labelled as stainless steel should NOT be magnetic. It should not rust either. I use stainless steel 416L tubing to make exhaust pipes for the bikes and 413L to make panels and brackets. Both are very hard but can be brittle if not treated properly. Stainless steel can be MIG or TIG welded, I do both. You can also mirror polish stainless steel. I use st/steel rod and hexagon bar to make nuts, bolts and shafts. You have to turn it slower than alloys as it generates terrific heat when cutting on the lathe.

If you bought a stainless steelspade for £27, I can almost guarantee it was not made in the UK and it was not made from a high grade stainless steel. Sounds to me like the metal has been overheated and not been allowed to cool properly. If you quench stainless from red hot to cold in a water bath, the steel becomes brittle and often blues.

I would take your spade back and demand a refund or replacement. If they refuse, hit them with the shovel. Good lcuk.

Chopper

 

Drop it in to me Ziggy. Worst comes to the worst I have a screw press that will get them out.

Chopper.

 

Sadly, our strange laws allow manufacturers to claim that something was made in Britain, when in fact it isn't really.

Made in Britain, British, or any other indication of Britishness on a product often simply means it went through the last stages of production in Britain.

That means that the components might have been mass produced on the cheap in china or india, partly assembled over there, and then ship here for final assembly, packing and shipping, and it can still be called British.

There are a few exceptions due to old laws pushed through by the old guilds of masons. For example, if something is makes any reference to Sheffield and steel, then it has to have been made in Sheffield using steel produced here in the Britain and finished in Sheffield. There are a few other exceptions too, but I can't remember them. I just remember reading some info I was given a few years ago when I set up my own business. The advice was largely about legal names for businesses but also listed the quirky little laws that didn't quite fit into the main legislation.

 

Armandii , I use a stainless steel spade and fork I bought from B n Q . They have a yellow plastic handle with a rubber shock absorber near the blade. I was lifting some shrubs this week and if you overload the spade the rubber just bends. They are really good quality tools.
The best garden tool I have is my yard brush . It is over 30 years old now , and it has only had 8 new heads and 5 new handles :D

 

Armandii, d'you mean to tell me that you actually bought something where they didn't try to persuade you to 'take advantage' of an extended warranty!

Mind you, I'm always slightly sceptical when they do that and am apt to reply, 'Why? Do you have so little faith in your product that you don't expect it to last?'

 

I would never buy a brand new spade. They don't make spades and forks as good as they use to, just like woodworking tools really.

I would recommend to anyone, buy a good vintage spade it will last a lot longer than a so called quality tool you can buy from spear and jacksons nowadays.

 

Armandii - great to hear you had success.

I bought a stainless steel spade (Wilkinson - I think) some time ago. And it was rubbish. It used to flex like a cheap tin tray. Then one day the steel part where the handle went in sheared away from the blade of the spade, effectively leaving a hole in the blade. I certainly wouldn't buy another stainless steel one. What's the point. Stainless steel doesn't rust - so what, its very hard - so what, but its brittle and that is a serious disadvantage.

As I was in the middle of of job of digging an area of clay that hadn't been dug for 30 years, I borrowed a post hole spade from my neighbour. Now that was brilliant. The blade was much narrower and was very curved, both of which made it infinetely stronger than a normal spade.

I have since bought a cheap steel spade and am very pleased with it.

 

Armandii, top result. You can't say fairer than that

My current spade is by Wilkson Sword. Stainless steel with wooden shaft. Its the only spade I've bought that cost more than a tenner (it was nearly 30 quid), and its the first spade I've owned that has lasted more than a year before bending or snapping, and is still as good as new despite enduring some repeated and serious back breaking effort. It's pleasant to use too. That's not just my opinion. When I take it up to work on my land, I often have my dad and a mate with me, both of whom are far more experienced at this gardening lark than me, and there is always a fight over my good spade. My mate, who has worked for years as a general labourer in a landscaping squad, tells me my spade is better than the rubbish he works with at work.

All that said, I have noticed recently that it doesn't feel quite as solid as it used to, even though it still looks mint. Its still a good spade though, it could just be getting tired, or it could be that the novelty of newness is wearing off for me so I'm starting to see it for what it is.