Everyday Systems

Hey all,

I love this system, I actually heard about it from a friend years ago, but recently rediscovered it while looking for a "practical exercise". The 14-minute, every weekday routine is perfect for me. I find it very easy to stick to that schedule (waking up 15 minutes earlier is so trivial I can't make excuses about it).

I've started keeping track of my habit on a printed out calendar, and I've added some incentives for myself for maintaining "streaks" in the form of "ShovelGlove Upgrades".

I've just completed the first of these, which was to customize the handle of my ShovelGlove. I named my hammer "Theseus", and wanted to add that name to the handle. And while I was at it, I also thought adding a stylish "ShovelGlove" logo would be fun, I'm pretty pleased with the result:





I used a wood burning kit and followed this method of transfering a laser printed design from paper to wood. It's important to get a wood burning kit with a "transfer tip" (the flat round tip), I had originally tried with a normal clothing iron, but that didn't get hot enough, and I tried with a wood burning kit that had a different tip, but that was too difficult to cover the whole area and not rip the paper. I wound up getting this wood burning kit, which I found at Lowe's for the same $12.99 price.

(Note that you also need to use a laser printer, not an ink jet printer in order for this heat transfer method to work correctly)

I practiced my transfer several times on scrap wood until I was comfortable with how the process worked, then I sanded the stock finish off my handle (along with some labels that didn't peel off cleanly) and sanded from 220 down to 1200 grit so it was super smooth. Then I did the transfer as shown in that video (except that transferring to a round surface is slightly more difficult), and got the results shown.

I followed this up by applying some boiled linseed oil (and carefully dealt with the rags appropriately afterwards, no spontaneous combustion for me thanks!), which is supposed to be much better for tool handles than varnish, which apparently can increase the chance of blisters.

If anyone wants to use my unofficial ShovelGlove logo for something similar, the font I used is "Harlow Solid Italic" and I've also created a standalone logo with transparent background (high res version here):


As well as a printable set of the logo already mirrored for transferring, in 4 different sizes so you can pick the size you like best, two of each size so you can transfer it to both sides of your handle (remember to use a laser printer!).

Nice job! Do you slip the sledge head into those old slippers instead of using a sweater?

Nope, I use an old long sleeve shirt, the slippers were just there for the glamour shot

Wow, that's beautiful. I may have to ask you for more details.

Sure thing, let me know if you have any questions. In the video the guy recommends frequently lifting the paper to avoid it sticking, but I found that difficult to do, so I wind up just ironing on the whole thing, then peeling it up. Then I put it back down to hit any spots I missed previously. The paper does get stuck on in a few spots, but just using a wet paper towel is enough to dissolve and scrub the paper away, the ink stays stuck on the wood.

Another tip I have is to use the cheapest thinnest paper you can find (Walmart is great for this), I originally used a nicer thicker paper, and it still mostly worked, but it seemed to get stuck to the wood more, I'm guessing it has extra "wax" or something equivalent to help keep it "smooth". The thinner paper also has the advantage of letting you see the print through the back for aligning it.