Skatewood is our material of choice at the moment. We started with upgrading the handles of Sneeboer's (already great) Transplanting trowel and then the handles on a heavy duty Hori Hori. This is the third of the three planned projects using this amazing material - an upgrade to the handle of the very popular Dutch Planting Trowel (as used by Monty Don.)
Skatewood is made by laminating recycled skateboard decks into more usable blocks. Not only are skateboards made from high quality laminated Maple sheets, they are also coloured. These coloured layers not only look amazing, it means that when applied to garden tool handles you are (hopefully) far more likely to be able to see them once you've put down in a border or on the veg patch. So yes - they look great (especially when given as a gift) but the way they look helps with how you use them!
Recycling this material isn't an easy process. Damaged skateboards have to be sourced, grip tape removed and then larger blocks glued up. Only then can you actually start the making process. For these Hori Hori handles we turned to a local maker called Ben Footitt (@afterlifebf) who specialises in using Skatewood. He's done a great job for us with these and his ability to visualise the layout of the coloured laminates is outstanding.
Although we sell three different handle versions of Sneeboers Dutch Trowel, the most popular is the longer Ash handle. This is why we decided to use those dimensions for the starting point of this project. To ensure strength during use Ben has laminated the Skatewood between two pieces of reclaimed hardwood. Brass ferule.
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Width of head 13 cm
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Length of head 14 cm
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Length of handle 27 cm
- Total length 43cm
Each one has a slightly different pattern of stripes, but all have the same overall effect.
