One Handle for Many Garden Tools: A Square Tenon and a Thumb Nut

"My invention is an improvement in hand garden implements, by means of which a number of different tools may be readily and securely attached to a single handle, making a convenient combination for gardeners' uses." "The tool is secured firmly in its position upon the square tenon by means of the nut or thumb-screw f. By this arrangement a single handle may serve for any number of tools desired, as they can be attached or detached in a moment, and without trouble." He shows "a double hoe with broad and narrow blades, a rake and cultivator, a hoe and plow, and a digging or manure fork; but the handle may be also applied to a spade, a shovel, and many other tools used in the garden."

Take the heads off a garden hoe and a garden rake. On the end of a hardwood handle, fit a steel plate cut and filed to a square tenon with a hole through it. Pass a carriage bolt through the handle end and the plate so its thread stands out beyond the tenon. Cut a square hole in a small steel plate for each head, fitting closely over the tenon, and fix the plate to the head. Slide a head on, spin the wing nut down and hoe. Swap to the rake. Then try the same head with a round hole instead. Strike the ground off-centre and see whether it turns. Compare with the notebook.

**James D. Royse** of Cane Valley, Adair County, Kentucky, filed US 208,854 on 5 August 1878; it is dated 8 October 1878. He braces the hoe shanks with a riveted piece so the blades keep their angle. **Honest limits.** The notebook gives rough face forces for an ideal square in a square hole, and treats friction as simple. Real tenons have clearance and wear. The blows, offset, clamp and sizes are examples. Whether your head turns is the measurement.