Antigravity Gear Pot Feedback
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James, et al,
I'm going to try to insert a drawing I converted from autocad. I hope this works.
The First Photo is of the trowel I made. It's got a longer handle than the Mont-Bell, and weighs .46oz.. The second pic is a pattern based on the Mont-Bell. I used Eric's method with many hose clamps. If you bend the Titanium sheet around a piece of half inch PVC you get a shape that matches the Mont-Bell. Bill Fornshell was right about putting a "V" in the handle to make the tool stiffer, for hard digging. The photo shows where I used a center punch to mark the location of the lanyard hole. I used a Harbor Freight punch to make an eighth inch hole.
I also created this Ti Trowel, aka Bill Fornshell. I used a dry erase marker to mark on the sheet as that just rubbed off after I was finished. I used regular old tin snips to cut it out, and did't bother making a hole because all I do with the trowel is throw it in the ziplock with my TP. I still need to file down the edges and will do that shortly. I also didn't bother using a blowtorch to heat/pound/bend/however the heck BF did it–instead i just took two pairs of pliers and then bent it. It was pretty easy. It weighs .55 oz, which is what I had calculated before beginning the project, so I have no idea how some other people made a .3 oz model. Perhaps their handle is smaller or something.
It doesn't look great–but hey, I use it for digging holes in the ground to #2 in. Its not like I'll have to impress my buddies with it in camp or on the trail(clean tarp, backpack, etc). :D
I also didn't bother with a hole in the handle for a lanyard…because couldn't see any use of having a lanyard on a trowel…
Well folks, here is my finished trowel:
I had no problems making it.
I cut out the trowel from the sheet of Ti using my Demel tool. Safety glasses were key! I went through a few wheels…
I wrapped it around a 1/2 pipe with a lot of grief and the help of hose clamps. I had to use a vice for part of the operation.
I chose to add the cord so I can clip it outside my pack.
Final weight was about 1/3 oz.
I am really pleased with the end results. The orange plastic trowel is a piece of gear I have always wanted to get rid of. I want to thank all those that helped (set up the web site, posted the template, gave suggestions, etc). That was really great.
I'll post about how it works once I get a chance to field test it. :)
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