In my last post I made a case for upgrading your garden tools. A tool, after all, is the means by which you convert your energy into tasks completed. A poorly designed, poorly made spade or rake or pruning shears is like a gas-guzzling automobile: You don’t get much in the way of results for the energy you invest. Fortunately, if you know what to look for when you shop for gardening tools, you’ll find that high quality doesn’t necessarily mean high price. There are lots of moderate-priced tools that offer perfectly adequate quality. Identifying such bargains isn’t difficult, either, if you learn to recognize a few basic clues to quality.

When I’m tool shopping, I start by examining a tool’s handle. If it’s made of wood, it should be of ash (preferably white ash) or hickory. Typically, you’ll find this information specified on the tool’s label. In addition, the wood should be knot-free and straight-grained. For the greatest strength, the handle should be set so that the long, elliptical “flowers” of the wood grain face to the sides when you use the tool and not to the front and back. Fiberglass and steel handles are stronger than wood, but generally heavier and less resilient; tools equipped with these handles tend to be more tiring to use. A plastic handle is generally the mark of an economical tool, but that’s not necessarily bad. Scrutinize the rest of the tool, and if it seems of good quality, enjoy the savings that an inexpensive but durable plastic handle can bring.

Besides inspecting the handle itself, check, too, how it attaches to the blade of the tool. In less expensive tools, these two parts are commonly joined with a tang and ferrule—a metal spike (a tang) at the blade’s top is driven up into the handle, which has been wrapped with a metal band (the ferrule) to keep it from splitting. A tang and ferrule joint can be quite strong, but if the wooden handle shrinks—and with time that’s likely—then the joint loosens. A far stronger and more durable joint is one in which the top of the blade has been forged into a socket and fitted around the handle’s base. A solid socket joint, as this is called, is usually a clue to a high-quality tool.

Another indicator of quality is the type of steel of which a tool’s metal parts are made. High-carbon steel is the traditional material for fine tools. Stainless steel tools are more expensive, but if you are the type of gardener who leaves spades and forks out in the garden, then the rust-proof stainless is a good investment.

Examine the welds where one piece of a tool joins another: On a good quality tool, these will be smooth and neat. Examine also any cutting edges—these should be sharp but also smooth, free of any imperfections or “burrs.” Moving parts, such as the cutting blade of a pruning shear or lopper, should move smoothly and easily, and there should be no “play,” no wobble, in the pivot around which the blade turns.

Keep these basic hints in mind and you’ll find it easy to separate the good quality tools from the labor-wasting junk. In my next post, I’ll discuss how you determine if a tool is of a size that fits you.

How to Read a Tool:
You can tell a lot about a tool just from a quick read of the label—manufacturers often reveal as much by what they don’t say here as what they do.

high carbon steel: an alloy of iron and carbon. Tough and hard, takes a sharp edge, the best all-round tool steel.

stainless steel: carbon steel alloyed with chromium and nickel. Expensive but extremely rust-resistant, makes a maintenance-free tool.

tempered: indicates that, after the steel was shaped into the tool it was reheated to change its chemistry and make it tougher and less brittle. Besides being less prone to breakage, a well-tempered tool is easier to sharpen and stays sharp longer.

gauge (as in “16 gauge”): A measure of the thickness of the metal used in forming tools such as shovels. The higher the gauge number, the thinner the steel. A shovel destined for extra-hard use should be 14 or 15 gauge; 16 gauge steel is fine for average usage. Avoid any lighter shovel, such as an 18-gauge one.

heat-treated: see tempered

forged, drop-forged: A tool whose blade or metal head has been formed by mechanically hammering or pressing a piece of heated bar steel. Forging allows precise shaping, producing a stronger, better-balanced tool

stamped: A tool whose metal parts were formed by cutting and bending a piece of sheet steel. This produces a lighter, cheaper tool, but also one that is typically weaker and less durable than a forged one.

solid hardwood handle: A red flag! A host of inferior, brittle woods qualify as “hardwood.” A wooden handle should ideally be made of ash or hickory, and if this is the case, the label will surely say so.