Shop vac shovel

[Frank S]

Yesterday I had one of my discovery days, a full day in which I had decided not to do any one particular thing as far as projects go that is.
I opened up one of my storage trailers and started rummaging through some of the accumulated junk things that may possibly have a use one day or be turned into salvage recyclables. I found an old fireplace shovel that had the handle broken out of it Now why would I keep a piece of scrap like this OH well I tossed it aside.
Today I needed to start digging up some of my old water lines and get ready to repair or replace. At one juncture where I dug down not only did I find the water line but an electric cable and the propane line none of these need to be attacked with a machine or even a shovel for that matter so while digging some of the soil from around these lines using a garden trowel I thought why not use my shop vac to lift out the dirt. I grabbed my 20 gallon shop vac troweled some soil loose then vacuumed it out of the hole. About that time I thought of the broken fireplace shovel wouldn't it be great to dig and lift at the same time so I reformed it around a cylinder thencut a couple of slots in it and located a hose clamp clamping it to the hose of the shop vac. wala instant vacuum shovel

ANother great thing about it is it will aid in cleaning out the swarf from my lathe and mill