
The finished “thistle grubber” is a heavyweight weeding fork designed to get the job done.

<b>STEP 1:</b> With a prick punch, mark both lengths of steel rod at 6 inches from one end.

<b>STEP 2:</b> Heat one of the steel rods to cherry red. Use heavy blows to taper the marked end, drawing it out approximately 2 inches. Maintain a square taper.

<b>STEP 3:</b> Quench the workpiece. With a ruler, measure from the 6-inch punch mark to the tip of the taper. Write it down. Later, you will draw out the second piece of steel to match the length of the first.

<b>STEP 4:</b> Measure inward 12 inches from the tapered end of the workpiece. With a prick punch, mark the workpiece. Then measure inward another 2 1/2 inches and make a second mark.

<b>STEP 5:</b> Take a yellow heat. Clamp the workpiece in a vise as shown, with the untapered end projecting upwards and the uppermost mark on the workpiece aligned with the top of the vise jaw. With a hammer, as shown, bend to nearly a right angle.

<b>STEP 6:</b> Reheat. On the corner of the anvil, as shown, finish bending and squaring up to a right angle.

<b>STEP 7/7a:</b> Reheat. Clamp the piece in the vise at the 12-inch mark, with the tapered end pointing upward. With a bending fork (shown) or hammer, make a second right-angle bend in the opposite direction, as shown.

<b>STEP 7/7a:</b> Reheat. Clamp the piece in the vise at the 12-inch mark, with the tapered end pointing upward. With a bending fork (shown) or hammer, make a second right-angle bend in the opposite direction, as shown.

<b>STEP 8:</b> Reheat, if necessary. Over the corner and face of the anvil (shown) square up the workpiece.

<b>STEP 9:</b> Reheat to red. Clamp the workpiece in the vise as shown. With a twisting wrench (shown) or other large adjustable wrench, rotate the tine 45 degrees.

<b>STEP 10:</b> Grind a 3/8-inch-wide chamfer on the inside edges of the top end of the workpiece, as shown.<br> <b>STEP 11:</b> (Not Shown) Repeat Steps 2 through 10 on the other 18-inch length of rod.

<b>STEP 12:</b> Align the two pieces as shown and clamp them together for welding. Make sure the two shoulders are in line. (You can always trim the tip of one tine or the top of the shank if either is a bit long.)

<b>STEP 13/13a:</b> Weld the two workpieces together. The deep channels on both front and back, formed by the chamfers, will enable a deep weld. Be sure to weld the underside as shown.

<b>STEP 13/13a:</b> Weld the two workpieces together. The deep channels on both front and back, formed by the chamfers, will enable a deep weld. Be sure to weld the underside as shown.

<b>STEP 14/14a:</b> Heat to bright yellow. Quench the tines as shown, leaving the shank hot for forging. Quickly move to the anvil and forge the welded shank to a taper. This will take several heats. The shank should end up about 7/8-inch square, just above the junction of the two tines, and taper to approximately 5/8-inch square in 6 inches.

<b>STEP 14/14a:</b> Heat to bright yellow. Quench the tines as shown, leaving the shank hot for forging. Quickly move to the anvil and forge the welded shank to a taper. This will take several heats. The shank should end up about 7/8-inch square, just above the junction of the two tines, and taper to approximately 5/8-inch square in 6 inches.

<b>STEP 15/15a:</b> While forging the shank, trim off excess length using a hardy tool (shown) or a hot cut chisel. You want to end up with about 6 inches of shank. Also, chamfer all four sides of the top of the shank as shown.

<b>STEP 15/15a:</b> While forging the shank, trim off excess length using a hardy tool (shown) or a hot cut chisel. You want to end up with about 6 inches of shank. Also, chamfer all four sides of the top of the shank as shown.

<b>STEP 16:</b> Heat the junction of the shank and tines to bright orange or yellow, and, over the horn, using a hammer, bend the shank forward about 20 degrees as shown.

<b>STEP 17:</b> While the workpiece is still hot, clamp the shank in a vise and, with a bending fork (shown) or a length of pipe sleeved over the tines, align the tines to slightly converge. The head is done. File or grind smooth any rough spots. Wire-wheel off any slag, give it a coat of paint and set it aside.

<b>STEP 1:</b> At the bench grinder, grind 1 1/4-inch curves into one end of the 6-inch length of 1 1/2-inch I.D. tubing as shown. Grind a chamfer around the outside of the curves. This will become the upright socket of the T-handle. The curves don’t have to be perfect, just close.

<b>STEP 2:</b> Position the curved end of the 6-inch socket at the center of the 16-inch length of 1 1/4-inch black pipe and weld along both curves.

<b>STEP 3:</b> While the workpiece is still hot from welding, step to the anvil and hammer the front and back of the socket snug against the pipe as shown. Then finish welding.

<b>STEP 4:</b> Sand one end of the wooden handle piece to fit snugly in the socket of the T-grip. Assemble the handle and grip, making sure that the grain of the handle is aligned in the direction of pull—transverse to the long axis of the crossbar. In a drill press, drill a 3/16-inch-diameter hole through both the socket and handle as shown.

<b>STEP 5:</b> Install the rivet. Cut it off so that only about 1/8 of an inch protrudes. Over the anvil, using a ball-peen hammer, mushroom the protruding end of the rivet.

<b>STEP 6:</b> Sand and fit the bottom of the handle into the 8-inch length of tubing. Be sure the fit is tight. Clamp the handle in a vise. Find and mark the bottom center with an awl as shown.

<b>STEP 7:</b> Using an 11/16-inch-diameter bit in a drill motor, drill a 6-inch-deep hole in the bottom center of the handle. Carefully withdraw the bit while simultaneously wobbling it in a circle to gradually widen the hole to 7/8-inch diameter at the exit point. This gives you a tapered, round hole that’s slightly smaller than the square-tapered shank of your fork head.

<b>STEP 8:</b> Hang the fork head astraddle a short length of heavy I-beam. Slip the handle onto the upward protruding shank, align carefully and lightly tap the top of the handle to wedge the fork head in place. Then, lift the fork head about 6 inches and slam it down hard to drive the head and handle together as shown. It will take a number of blows.<br> <b>STEP 9:</b> (Not Shown) At 2 inches above bottom center of the ferrule, mark, drill and install a rivet to secure the head in the handle. (See Steps 4 and 5.)

You’re done. Head outdoors and uproot those big weeds. To make the job easier, make sure the soil at the base of the weed is “wrung-out-sponge” moist. You should be able to raise the fork up and drive it into the ground using shoulder power. If necessary, step on the fork’s shoulders to drive it to full depth. Drive it in, as vertically as possible, about 2 or 3 inches away from the base of the plant. Pull back firmly and steadily to heave the weed from the ground.








































The gardener’s golden rule for weed management is to yank out the suckers while they’re still babies. But you were busy in early spring, when the teensy-weensy weeds were poking their little heads out of the soil. Now it’s late in the year and your fields and pastures are overrun with full-grown thistles, dock weed, ragwort, Himalayan blackberry and other spawn of the devil. And they’re all about to drop seed.
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You can go with the modern solution—break out the RoundUp and the Crossbow and kill everything in sight—or grab a stout tool and set about selective weed slaying.
Which brings us to the project for this issue. We’re talking a beast of a fork with two heavy tines and a chest-high handle equipped with a nearly shoulder-wide T-grip. Called “dockweed irons” or “thistle grubbers,” tools like this were the heavyweights of weeding from the days of ancient Rome to those of your grandpappy.
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As long as you have the good sense to make sure the ground around the monster-sized weed has some moisture in it, this big tool can reach a foot into the earth and heave up the tenacious, intertwined taproots of curly and broadleaf dock, thistle and their noxious fellow travelers. Let’s get to it.
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MATERIALS:
• Two 18-inch lengths of 7/8-inch square steel rod (cold rolled or mid-carbon is best)
• 16 inches of 1 1/4-inch-diameter tubing with 1/8-inch wall thickness
• 14 inches of 1 1/2-inch I.D. black pipe with 1/8-inch wall thickness, cut into 8-inch and 6-inch lengths
• One 40-inch-long, 1 1/2-inch-diameter piece of ash for the handle (Note: I used a cut-down heavy fork handle. A round post-hole digger handle will also work.)
• Two iron shovel rivets (20D nails will do)
This article was originally published in The NEW PIONEER™ Winter 2016 issue. Subscription is available in print and digital editions here.
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