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digging tool...?
chchfossiker  
Posted : Monday, 27 February 2012 3:30:03 PM(UTC)
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hey all,what are the tools use for digging called .you see metal detectorist using then.spike at one end flat peice/hoe at other end. i no you can get the big garden ones every were but were do you find the smaller one handed ones and what are the called?

cheers chchfossiker
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Maverick  
Posted : Monday, 27 February 2012 3:58:07 PM(UTC)
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not sure if this is what you mean, but i'm thinking geologists hammer, or rock hammer
UserPostedImage

but having thought about it a bit more, and done a few web searches, maybe a
hand pick
UserPostedImage

Edited by user Monday, 27 February 2012 4:01:14 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified
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chchfossiker  
Posted : Monday, 27 February 2012 5:54:07 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Maverick Go to Quoted Post
not sure if this is what you mean, but i'm thinking geologists hammer, or rock hammer
UserPostedImage

but having thought about it a bit more, and done a few web searches, maybe a
hand pick
UserPostedImage


yea the bottom one thats it a hand pic thank you
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kiwijw  
Posted : Monday, 27 February 2012 6:04:46 PM(UTC)
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The ones you see the gold detectorists use are from Aussie. They are a Walco Pick. Made from hardened steel & come in three different sizes. You cant get them here. They are the two that are in the above post.

This is my one .

UserPostedImage

I have fitted a rear earth magnent into the end of the handle of mine for picking up ferrous rubbish.

UserPostedImage

This saves a lot of time digging & trying to locate & target that may just be a piece of iron crap. The magnet soon picks up any ferrious rubbish when you wave it over a potential taget.

JW :)
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chchfossiker  
Posted : Monday, 27 February 2012 6:17:03 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: kiwijw Go to Quoted Post
The ones you see the gold detectorists use are from Aussie. They are a Walco Pick. Made from hardened steel & come in three different sizes. You cant get them here. They are the two that are in the above post.

This is my one .

UserPostedImage

I have fitted a rear earth magnent into the end of the handle of mine for picking up ferrous rubbish.

UserPostedImage

This saves a lot of time digging & trying to locate & target that may just be a piece of iron crap. The magnet soon picks up any ferrious rubbish when you wave it over a potential taget.

JW :)



looks like a pretty simple thing to weld up. can you see any cons in my plan to get one welded up and add a hickory handle????

could be worth importing a few aswell. are they a dear peice to add to the tool kit?
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kiwijw  
Posted : Monday, 27 February 2012 6:44:53 PM(UTC)
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I made one once from an old car leaf spring. Has the natural curve & is tough spring steel. Just a matter of grinding one end to a pick point & putting a bit of an edge to the flat blade end. Weld on a socket that is made tight enough to fit a handle into & then attach with a couple of bolts or pins burred over. Damed if I can find it, so I bought the one above when over in Aussie a few years ago.

Happy hunting

JW :)

Edited by user Monday, 27 February 2012 6:53:04 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified
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nzpoohbear40  
Posted : Monday, 27 February 2012 10:28:11 PM(UTC)
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if this is the one you are talking about then it is called a lesche knife
nzpoohbear40 attached the following image(s):
untitled.bmp
Chris - Fisher Dealer http://www.puiakisupply.co.nz/
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gavin  
Posted : Tuesday, 28 February 2012 6:27:19 PM(UTC)
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Prefer something a bit more hardcore for loosening those nuggets stuck under rocks in crevices ;) Looks good for park detecting though.
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Guardian  
Posted : Tuesday, 28 February 2012 9:55:34 PM(UTC)
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Lesche digging tool, pretty sure they would happily take down a piggy... anyways.

http://forums.paydirt.co...-pick-for-detecting.aspx

there were a few good ideas here too.
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nzpoohbear40  
Posted : Tuesday, 28 February 2012 11:01:57 PM(UTC)
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gavin i am pretty sure the lesche knife would do it...they are very very strong..even when digging in gravel driveways.
Chris - Fisher Dealer http://www.puiakisupply.co.nz/
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kiwijw  
Posted : Wednesday, 29 February 2012 7:14:52 AM(UTC)
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If you are detecting for coins etc then that knife will do the job. But if you are out in the goldfields looking for gold it is next to useless because you have to SMASH into the schist & rock. Breaking open & into crevices. Peeling back layers of schist. You would be gobsmacked as to where gold ends up. Here is a picture of a hole I ended up smashing into the schist. I was going to give up thinking it was just maybe some iron sands or stone within the schist. But as I got deeper the signal was getting better & it was gold. I at first thought the signal was in that crevice on the left but it wasnt. It was above it where I ended up smashing the hole into the schist.

UserPostedImage

I got two pieces of gold when down detecting in central in january in exactly the same situation as above. The knife just wouldnt cut the mustard. It is a coin & relic tool. Not for gold.

Here is a hole smashed into a schist crevice to open it up. Got 5 pieces of gold out of it. You will notice the broken out schist rock around the hole.

UserPostedImage

Good luck out there

JW :)
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Metal Kiwi  
Posted : Wednesday, 29 February 2012 8:16:19 AM(UTC)
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Thanks for sharing that info kiwijw.
Looks to me like a crow bar might be useful there too if you had a mate to carry it in. :-)
MK
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gavin  
Posted : Wednesday, 29 February 2012 8:54:35 AM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Metal Kiwi Go to Quoted Post
Thanks for sharing that info kiwijw.
Looks to me like a crow bar might be useful there too if you had a mate to carry it in. :-)
MK


I've got a baby crowbar I sometimes take I found up a remote creek that was inside a home made sluicebox that had been there so long it had moss growing in it!
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simon  
Posted : Wednesday, 29 February 2012 9:29:08 AM(UTC)
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something i thought i'd add for the newbies.

not all hand tools are created equal. it's a bit of the you get what you pay for thing.

most guys i come across or know actually usually have their own home made tools.

the reason for this is it may be cheaper than buying a specific tool. most often though it is the fact the tools you buy are not so strong.

they have to be made tough to cope with the constant rock prising and smashing.

a 20 dollar pick from mitre 10 or the warehouse doesn't cut it. i have seen these time and time again break at the weld at the junction of the pick and handle. same with some of the short handled spades. i actually shattered a mates one the first rock i used it on, and i was being careful.

there are some good tools, eg. geologist's rock hammers, the pick that JW mentioned above. these are made of very tough metal and should last forever, well, a long time. they will prob wear out before breaking.

that said there is always a cheap tool of some sort for sale that you can buy and adapt. i just bought a 3 pronged garden weed scraper thing. i angle grinded off the 2 side prongs and sharpened the point on the remaining prong, thus making a cheap crevice scraper that is strong enough to last a season or 2 at least.

i saw a guy with a great little rake, hand made with solid metal, not quite as wide as a standard rake, and it had a pick point on the end of the handle. meant the guy had 2 tools in one, thus less to carry upriver.

another guy i know made a saw like thing, shaped a bit like a pruning saw but smaller. he welded on a solid spanner handle and he had himself a crevice scraper strong enough to break open crevices.

it's all what you make of it.

maybe we need a page devoted to home made tools. i'm sure there's some stunners out there. and maybe some new unpatented ideas!
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kiwijw  
Posted : Thursday, 1 March 2012 5:56:46 PM(UTC)
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Hi guys, Check out this tool. Notice too the type of pick he is using.
http://www.youtube.com/w...Llw&feature=related.

JW :)
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Maverick  
Posted : Friday, 30 March 2012 9:15:55 PM(UTC)
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right!
mini mattock.
found one, well actually just saw it. A chap i was doing some work for today
had just bought one this week, he's pretty sure it was at Bunnings (maybe perhaps Mitre10mega)
The brand was Hart, it was a red label and it's about 14" long.
Nice solid bit of kit too.

i might call past Bunnings tomorrow and have a look.
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chchfossiker  
Posted : Friday, 30 March 2012 9:30:34 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Maverick Go to Quoted Post
right!
mini mattock.
found one, well actually just saw it. A chap i was doing some work for today
had just bought one this week, he's pretty sure it was at Bunnings (maybe perhaps Mitre10mega)
The brand was Hart, it was a red label and it's about 14" long.
Nice solid bit of kit too.

i might call past Bunnings tomorrow and have a look.


let me know what you find
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