What is a hand fork?
What is a Hand Fork?
A hand fork is a small, hand-held gardening tool designed to be used with small plants or seedlings. Because they are often used for digging up weeds, hand forks are sometimes referred to as ‘weeding forks’.
It is a scaled-down version of the digging fork and is around the same size as the garden trowel (usually around 300mm [12″] in length).
Hand forks typically have three sharp, sturdy tines (prongs) and a wooden, plastic or metal handle. Hand forks are used for a variety of gardening tasks, including aerating and cultivating the soil, light weeding and transplanting seedlings.
As a result of its small size, the tool is especially useful when working in confined spaces, such as containers, borders or closely-planted beds.
Tines
Most hand forks have three-pointed prongs, which is which are officially known as tines. These are used to break the ground. In most cases, the tings will be flat or round.
Hand forks with flat tings are great for weeding or transplanting plants and flowers. If you are looking to aerate the soil before planting, you will find it easier with the round tines.
The business end of the hand fork is typically made out of carbon or stainless steel. You’ll normally find the carbon steel forks are popular because they’re more affordable, however, the steel variations are more effective, durable and less likely to rust.
Tang
The tang is the official name for the part of the fork that extends from shaft to the tip of the handle.
The tang of a hand fork is a metal shaft that extends from the head of the tool and is inserted into the handle. The point of connection between the handle and the tang is often concealed (and reinforced) by a metal ferrule.
As the ferrule strengthens and supports this joint, forks constructed in this way will be more durable. Tools that have a weak connection between the head and handle will be less able to cope with extensive digging or weeding.
Handle
The handle of a fork is the part of the tool that is held by the user.
It is commonly made out of tough hardwood, such as ash or cherry.
Some forks have rubber-coated, contoured handles. These tend to be more comfortable to use and easier to grip than those with harder, wooden handles.
