The wooden handle on my garden trowel has partially rotted away. Not having
a lathe or anything I have just bought a very cheap trowel which does though
have quite a nice wooden handle that I want to use .

The metal part of the new trowel will just not come out of the handle,
however hard I pull.

My idea now is to put the whole thing in the freezer and then lower the
handle *only* into some hot water to take advantage of the expansion
difference between the metal part being cold and the wooden handle being
hot.

But will freezing the wooden handle damage the wood please? Or grateful for
any other ideas, thanks.

"JWBH" wrote in message
...
The wooden handle on my garden trowel has partially rotted away. Not
having a lathe or anything I have just bought a very cheap trowel which
does though have quite a nice wooden handle that I want to use .

The metal part of the new trowel will just not come out of the handle,
however hard I pull.

My idea now is to put the whole thing in the freezer and then lower the
handle *only* into some hot water to take advantage of the expansion
difference between the metal part being cold and the wooden handle being
hot.

But will freezing the wooden handle damage the wood please? Or grateful
for any other ideas, thanks.
Freezing will not damage the wood unless it is wet through. I don't know if
wood will expand and contract with temperature though.

Tim w

The freezer won't help.

If the handle was installed with some glue/epoxy you might be able
to get it to release with heat. Immerse in boiling water for 5 or
10 minutes, catch the cheap trowel in a vise and pull hard.

Most good trowels have a shaped front end and a nut on the back
end. When they get a bit loose ( a real frustration when using
the trowel) I have found that filling up the hole with Durham's
and reinstalling the handle while it is wet gets the handle good
and tight again while still being able to remove if required.

______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"JWBH" wrote in message
...
The wooden handle on my garden trowel has partially rotted away.
Not having a lathe or anything I have just bought a very cheap
trowel which does though have quite a nice wooden handle that I
want to use .

The metal part of the new trowel will just not come out of the
handle, however hard I pull.

My idea now is to put the whole thing in the freezer and then
lower the handle *only* into some hot water to take advantage of
the expansion difference between the metal part being cold and
the wooden handle being hot.

But will freezing the wooden handle damage the wood please? Or
grateful for any other ideas, thanks.

Yes, it will.

"Tim W" wrote in message
...
I don't know if
wood will expand and contract with temperature though.

Tim w