How to Make a Wooden Divot Repair Tool

by Wasagi in Circuits > Tools

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How to Make a Wooden Divot Repair Tool

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The Divot Repair tool, or Pitchfork, is used to help remove the indentation, divot, caused by a golfball landing on the putting green. While one is not required to fix these, it's common golf courtesy to do so. The Wikipedia article is here

I, being frugal, and wanting to make an Instructable, realized that this would be a par-fect opportunity for an Instructable. (Mediocre Pun intended...)

As I have no little metalworking skill, I went with wood.

Materials

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You will need:

  • Wood, preferably a wedge-shaped piece, they're called "shims". They're sold in packs of 10-20, at around $0.25 or less a piece. As long as it's pretty thin, and over 2 1/2 in long (3.85 Cm)
  • A Pencil/Pen/Marker

  • Scissors
  • Saw, or whittling expertise.
  • Sandpaper
  • A Vise
  • Optional: Wood Finish/Slant.

Basic Plan

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Most Divots are two-pronged, and about 2 1/2 in. (3.85 cm). And pointed at the ends to minimize impact to the green.

I drew up some plans on graph paper, for general size. The size doesn't matter too much, as long as it's in the reasonable range.

At the bottom of the image is a template that you may chose to use, just expand the picture to the size of a sheet of paper.

I decided to call it the Divot Repair Tool Mk. I. I know, not very imaginative....

Tracing Template

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Cut out the template, or draw your own, and put it on the piece of wood, with the prongs facing the thinner end. It should be about 1/3 of the way form the end, in the center. Trace the design on the wood, using the pencil/pen/marker.

Cut Out Template

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For this, I secured the piece of wood in a vise, and cut out the shape with a coping saw, and that worked pretty well. For the inside curve, I used a cutting bit for a drill, and sawed out the rest.

I was not amused when it broke though, but if that happens to you, just use some carpenters' glue and clamp the halves together.

Finishing Up

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Now, sand or file down the prongs until they're pretty sharp. They should end up being pretty sharp, so that they can go into the green without showing too much evidence that they were there.

If you want to, you can seal it, so that it will last longer. I used way too much sealant, but you can just scrape the excess off once it dries.

Now, toss your Divot Repair Tool into your golf bag, and show it off to your golf buddies.

Part II Golf Bag Repair

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This Mini-Instructable is to deal with a broken Golf bag. I got my golf bag for $5 at a yard sale. I realized that it was exactly that, a bag. It wouldn't stand up on it's own, and kept falling down on its self with golf clubs in it. I figured out the problem. There wasn't a center pole, it was missing. So, I unscrewed a plug at the bottom, and figured out what I could do to solve my problem.

The Solution

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I found a rod of metal that looked around the right length, and stuck it in the bag to see if it fit. It was a bit too long, so I put a mark where the bottom of the bag was on it. I pulled it out, and put another mark on how long the plug was from the first mark. I then hacksawed the rod at the second mark. The edges were a bit sharp, so I put duct tape on them, so that I wouldn't cut myself, as well as to keep the rod in the two holes.

I put the rod into the bag, and it worked! My bag stood up without collapsing on itself.

Fin

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And that's how to fix your golf bag and make a Divot Repair Tool. Now, with your newly functional golf equipment, go watch Happy Gilmore, and weird out the people working at the Minigolf Course by showing up with a golf bag and trying to fix the putting greens.

Thanks for reading.