A New Life for Your Snow Shovel

Tools : Vice bench, saws, drill, file, screw driver, hammer.

Materials : 3 wood screws, 2 machine screws with nuts and washers.

Here, in Sherbrooke City, in the province of Quebec, Canada, we are again today, saturday,  april the 13th 2013 , in winter season. Season's greetings! So I prefer to not see outdoors, but may be it's a good idea to think about the next winter who is not so far! So I see my used snow shovel and say: "You gave me good services during all those last ten winters and with all the cares and face lift I gave you, by example a better fix for the handle and a metallic blade (scraper) fixed with pop rivets to protect your plastic flesh, it's not easy for me to divorce with you! But now, after two used metallic blades,your flesh is worn and it's time to go to the recycle bin". 
But I have a certain "retenue"  and I think that the best for the planet  is to reuse. Reuse is the best recycling process. I say " Now it's time to see what is your future my darling shovel." You can see the bad side of my shovel with the metallic used blade and the upper good side that I will use after the next steps..
So I observe that like many shovels in the market, my shovel have  some symmetry or near symmetry. Would it be possible to just reverse the handle and have a new shovel and many years of happiness together? Yes! See it how now. May be you can rejuvenate your shovel like me ( it can be also in aluminum or iron). May be it's possible for snowplow...We can shovel money or raking it in our wallet by recycling! May be you consider this instructable for rejuvenate shovels  a good candidate for the indestructible contest. But there is a problem, all those contests are closed to quebecquers. Why? Do you think you want to vote for me. Ask them to the guys at Instructables. I have a consolation price: may be in may we can have snow again and my indestructible shovel is ready!

Place the shovel without the handle in a bench vice and cut  with a saw of your choice ( I prefer a saw  for iron) on the left side transversally  through all the plastic support just near the surface of the shovel . Don't penetrate the vertical hole for the wood stick for the moment.

Now you saw with exactly the same manner but this time from the top of the right side of the support

Now it's time to cut the hole for the wood stick with this carpenter's saw. Now see the separated support. It's like a little plane (a shovel drone!).

Now put the wood stick in the vice and fix the plastic support in the stick. Begin just with your hands and finish the job with a hammer. You must have the stick flush with the plastic support.

Place the stick horizontaly in the vice and cut the wood obliquely  near flush to the plastic support and in the same plane than the two wings. Use a wood file (a rasp) to finish the job.

For this step, place the shovel in the vice  like the first photo and drill three aligned holes in the back of the shovel. The first hole is just in the center of the shovel ( in the middle of the height and the middle of the width). The two other holes are drilled one inch above and one inch under the central hole.The diameter of the holes must be compatible with the stick and the hardware you will use (I used wood screws #10 X 1 3/4 inches with washers). Now place the stick with his plastic support horizontally in the vice and align  the shovel with the "new" blade facing down. Put the wood screws loosely in the holes with the heads on the front of the blade, align and scew them in the stick wood.. 
You can now fix vertically the stick in the vice and drill two other  holes, one on  in each wing of the support penetrating through the other side of the blade. You put two steel machine screws , the heads on the front side of the blade, and you fix the nuts as you can see in the second photo.

I present you my rejuvenated shovel. I have the "chance" to try it today. It's strong and  it's working like a new one. It's indestructible!
This is my first instructable. What a pleasure for me to write this in french and translate it for you in english! I do this because now, since more than three years ago, it's always a pleasure for me to read at each week some projects. My preferences are on the side of the construction of instruments and projects using microcontrollers. Thanks to all the writers of instructables.Why not to try yourself to write some projects? If you think you are doing some project not just for yourself but also for the others you will take photos for each step and take more cares to do things correctly. Your project will be a work in progress. Good for you, good for the community.