Manufactum Stainless Steel Digging Fork

Description from Manufactum

For digging, loosening and aerating. Better suited than a spade for working in hard, stony soil. Four prongs, length 22 cm. Total length 118 cm, width 18.5 cm. Weight 2.1 kg.

Non plus ultra: Manufactum garden tools. Hand-forged. 2 kinds of steel. Extra-long neck and comfortable handle.

There’s something about good tools – they work “˜with’ you, and somehow “˜repay’ in “˜feel’ the skill and hard work you, the user, invest in them. We’ve assembled our range of garden tools with just this in mind, and had them made for us by the old-established Dutch firm of Sneeboer.

The steel parts.

Unusually in tools of this sort, we’ve used two different types of steel: a more highly alloyed type, tougher, for the tongues and necks to the handles, and a lower alloyed type, easier to forge, for the working surfaces. We’ve given the tongues and necks extra length for greater stability and to reduce the risk of breaking. The neck is secured to the handle by brass rivets to prevent any feeling of looseness.

The handles.

Here too we’ve paid attention to every detail. They’re made of ash (of course!): all the wood we use has been checked to make sure the age-rings go down in a straight line – this is done to reduce breaking to a minimum, and also to give the proper feeling of stability that you need from a handle. The wooden surfaces have been cleanly planed and finished with linseed oil.