Originally posted by endymion
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Broke another fork
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Stainless steel really is not suitable for garden digging, in my opinion. It is intrinsically less flexible than carbon steel or other alternative alloys, and its lifespan can be measured in how often it is flexed. Strong but brittle just about describes it. (Hence all the pipework going FUBAR on the Japanese reactors in their recent earthquake.) The amount of flexion may be microscopic, but every time you lever a chunk of soil out of the ground, the timer ticks down... Add the extra problems in casting stainless steel, which are a large part of the premium cost you pay (that's partly why nuclear reactors cost so much !) and I think that regardless of make, you are likely to have quality control problems.
I've had a Lidl stainless steel garden fork and spade for two years now, no signs of wear other than the handle of the spade snapping when I did something silly with it. (If I have the money, I might get the shovel for winter.)
Maybe I just struck lucky with the 1% that are really well made. But frankly, I bought them expecting them to have a short life, knowing they were cheap anyway, and purposely going easy on them because I think of them as inherently brittle.
So try treating them as if they are nuclear reactors...There's no point reading history if you don't use the lessons it teaches.
Head-hunted member of the Nutter's Club - can I get my cranium back please ?
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