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#1
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Made my own levelawn and it works!
Having studied pictures of metal-framed levelawns (Google) I decided
to save myself around 80 quid by making one from 2" x 1". I assembled a rectangle (four pieces) 100cm x 40cm with a cross-bar in the middle to attach a broom handle to. Corner joints were glued and dowelled and flat triangular bracing plates fitted to each corner. The broom handle was attached via a door hinge. What you do is loosen and rake the surface of the soil to create a 'puddle' of loose soil, then sweep the levelawn over it to create a very even, flat surface. Because of the large area of the tool, hollows are filled nicely, whereas trying to do the same with a rake doesn't produce such an evenly flat surface. If only the ruddy weather would dry out enough! I've done three-quarters of the lawn bed, but yesterday we had snow briefly and today the weather/wind is absolutely freezing again. Will we ever get any spring this year? Anyway, if anyone's interested I'll make a photo and whack it up to a web page. MM |
#2
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MM wrote: Having studied pictures of metal-framed levelawns (Google) I decided to save myself around 80 quid by making one from 2" x 1". I assembled a rectangle (four pieces) 100cm x 40cm with a cross-bar in the middle to attach a broom handle to. Corner joints were glued and dowelled and flat triangular bracing plates fitted to each corner. The broom handle was attached via a door hinge. [...] Anyway, if anyone's interested I'll make a photo and whack it up to a web page. Good lad! You're my kind of gardener! You could have gone even simpler with a five- or six-foot length of 6ish x 1 (piece of old floorboard) with a suitable handle -- rake length, rather than broom length -- in the middle. This would break the craftsman's heart less when it needs to be made into something else or (perish the thought!)chucked away. I was reminded by an earlier message that this thing is rather improbably called a "lute": perhaps because it accompanies your singing while you work. (Actually, I've checked the Oxford Dictionary, and it seems to refer to "skimming", which makes sense: it says Cheshire and Staffs salt-workers skimmed the brine with a ladle they called a "loot"; our word appears in OED only as an American usage for a tool, like the one I describe, used to level the earth floor for making bricks.) I first saw one being used on the trial grounds at Aberystwyth. -- Mike. |
#3
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#4
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I first saw one being used on the trial grounds at Aberystwyth. Oh..do you know Pete Wilkins, then? Janet Name dropping by any chance? :-(( |
#5
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Janet Baraclough wrote: The message .com from contains these words: I first saw one being used on the trial grounds at Aberystwyth. Oh..do you know Pete Wilkins, then? I don't think so. __ Mike. |
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