{"id":1308,"date":"2015-08-02T16:30:27","date_gmt":"2015-08-02T21:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amymakesstuff.com\/?p=1308"},"modified":"2015-08-02T16:30:27","modified_gmt":"2015-08-02T21:30:27","slug":"backpacking-poop-shovel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amymakesstuff.com\/?p=1308","title":{"rendered":"backpacking poop shovel"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"shovel<\/a>
shovel head<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"bending<\/a>
bending the shovel head in a vise with the help of some clamps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"the<\/a>
the bend in the shovel head adds necessary stiffness<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.”<\/p>\n

\"bending<\/a>
forming the handle tube around a piece of plywood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"carefully<\/a>
carefully fold one side down<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"then<\/a>
then the other<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"with<\/a>
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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I thought it might be easier to get the handle to match the shape of the shovel head if it were squashed.<\/p>\n

\"unceremoniously<\/a>
unceremoniously squashed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"wow\u2026those<\/a>
wow\u2026those welds are so\u2026.structural? maybe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"some<\/a>
some much needed sanding to make it fit against the shovel head<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"moments<\/a>
moments before welding<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"yea\u2026in<\/a>
yea\u2026in this case success is defined by the low bar of Good Enough…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"finished<\/a>
finished product<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[23,71,145,151,201,208],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/amymakesstuff.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/img_6234.jpg?fit=800%2C381&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amymakesstuff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amymakesstuff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amymakesstuff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amymakesstuff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amymakesstuff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amymakesstuff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amymakesstuff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amymakesstuff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amymakesstuff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amymakesstuff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}