I am planning a backpacking trip and did not have a poop shovel. This is one of the cheapest pieces of gear that backpackers carry, but of course, where would the fun be in that.
It had been a while since I welded any aluminum, and this was the first times setting up for welding where I live now. I started by cutting a shovel head from some scrap sheet metal from my friend’s old 2.007 robot.
![shovel head](https://amymakesstuffdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_6131.jpg?resize=637%2C478)
![bending the shovel head in a vise with the help of some clamps](https://amymakesstuffdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_6132.jpg?resize=500%2C800)
![the bend in the shovel head adds necessary stiffness](https://amymakesstuffdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_6133.jpg?resize=568%2C800)
For the handle I would have loved to have some thin wall round tubing, but sometimes you have to improvise instead. I cut a little more sheet metal and proceeded to form a “tube” by hammering it around a plywood “mandrel.”
![bending the handle](https://amymakesstuffdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_6127.jpg?resize=637%2C797)
![carefully fold one side down](https://amymakesstuffdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_6227.jpg?resize=637%2C274)
![then the other](https://amymakesstuffdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_6228.jpg?resize=508%2C800)
![with the vise jaws set to wider than the wood, but narrower than the metal, the wood mandrel can be knocked out of the center with a mallet and screwdriver](https://amymakesstuffdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_6229.jpg?resize=356%2C800)
I thought it might be easier to get the handle to match the shape of the shovel head if it were squashed.
![unceremoniously squashed](https://amymakesstuffdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_6230.jpg?resize=460%2C800)
So, the first bead of welds definitely weren’t anything to brag about. I think there was too much of a draft coming through the garage that was blowing away the shielding gas. With another project I was able to get better results by closing the side door. Oh well, good thing the consequences for weld failure here are pretty insignificant.
![wow…those welds are so….structural? maybe.](https://amymakesstuffdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_6231.jpg?resize=600%2C800)
![some much needed sanding to make it fit against the shovel head](https://amymakesstuffdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_6233.jpg?resize=601%2C800)
![moments before welding](https://amymakesstuffdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_6234.jpg?resize=637%2C303)
![yea…in this case success is defined by the low bar of Good Enough...](https://amymakesstuffdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_6238.jpg?resize=254%2C800)
![finished product](https://amymakesstuffdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/img_6239.jpg?resize=488%2C800)
The end product weighs in at 58.5 g (2.06 oz). That’s on par with those orange plastic ones. Hopefully this one works just as well and lasts just as long.
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