How to Use Files to Sharpen a Hoe

The quality of a garden is only as good as the quality of the soil you have to work with. Hard, packed soil does not provide an ideal climate for plants to flourish. Your gardening hoe is your primary tool to prepare the dirt in your garden for planting. Like all tools, it will provide the best service with proper care and maintenance. Periodically sharpening the blade with a metal file will help to keep your hoe in prime condition.

Vice
Metal file

Instructions

- 1
  Clamp the hoe tightly in a vice. It should be face-up, giving you easy access to the outer side of the blade.
- 2
  Clean the blade by brushing it vigorously with steel wool. This will remove any caked-on dirt and other debris.
- 3
  Hold the end of a flat, single-cut metal file against the outer cutting edge of the hoe at a 30- to 45-degree angle.
- 4
  File the cutting edge in long, even strokes. Only move the file away from you; do not rub it back and forth along the cutting edge.
- 5
  Continue filing the cutting edge until it is sharp. Work on the blade as a whole; sharpening small sections at a time will result in an uneven blade.
- 6
  File the inner edge of the cutting blade once to remove any metal burrs. Overfiling the inner edge can dull the hoe again.

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