How to change a shovel handle

A broken handle can make your shovel seem like it needs replacing but instead with these instructions you can opt for a cheaper option and with a little bit of hard work you can keep the expensive shovel head while replacing the much cheaper handle.

Removal

The first step is to remove the broken shovel handle which should be riveted on so you need to remove these rivets. You could drive through them with a punch or get out your grinder and grind off the heads.

New handle

Use the broken stub as a guide to shaping the new handle for the shovel. When you feel like the new handle is close insert it and twist back and forth. doing this will make any areas that need more work show up as scuff marks on the handle. You can use a file then sandpaper for the final fitting to make it fit nice yet still feel firm and tight. After this you simply have to rivet it back into the handle which is fairly easy with a ball peen hammer and some sort of anvil.

Orienting the handle

Make sure the long grain is on the top of the shovel to get the most strength and decrease the chance of it breaking.

Lots of tools can be easily fixed in a similar fashion to this which can save you money and waste. It can also make investing in some more expensive tools extremely worthwhile as you will be able to get substantially more use out of them with methods such as this.