Hand Forged Cultivating Fork:

Complete your hand tool collection from FD Ryan with this garden cultivator and digging fork in one. Its compact size and durable construction of this hand cultivator make it lightweight and well-balanced, while the heat-treated shaft ensures it can withstand even the toughest gardening tasks. The sharp tynes minimise any soil disturbance. The ergonomic Spotted Gum wood handle of this garden tool, complete with a brass ferrule, fits comfortably in all hand sizes.

Australian Made Garden Tools:

F.D. RYAN artisan toolmakers carries on the legacy of his great grandfather, Fredrick Daniel Ryan, a pioneer in blacksmithing and toolmaking. Their tools are skilfully crafted, combining the strength, function, and beauty of traditional techniques. Each piece is truly one-of-a-kind and designed for the discerning gardener who values excellence   and are equally at home in a rural or urban gardening setting.   These gardening tools are a delight to use and beautiful to behold. With care, they will last a lifetime. 

Why are Hand Forged Tools Superior?

The art of forging involves heating steel on a coking coal forge and shaping it with a hammer and anvil under compressive force. Despite being a slow and labor-intensive process, it is still preferred for making quality garden tools due to the improved strength and flexibility of the steel's grain structure when hammered under heat. However, in the modern world, blacksmithing is becoming less common with most steel work being done by mechanical presses and laser cutting.

Garden Tool Materials:

Steel -  Garden tools need to be both strong and sharp to handle the tough tasks of cutting through soil, roots, and even rocks. FD Ryan Garden Tools are made with .55% Carbon Spring steel and Boron, allowing us to heat-treat it to 65 C Rockwell for extreme hardness, and then temper it back to 50 C for toughness. This unique combination of hardness and toughness enables the steel to cut through roots and heavy soil without chipping or breaking, while also withstanding impacts from rocks. Unlike Stainless steel, which may quickly lose its edge and bend easily,  spring steel is ideal for this purpose. Tools are then either powder coated or finished with burnished oil to resist rust and sticking. Just remember to care for them to prevent rust over time.

Wood - The Tool handles are crafted from responsibly-sourced Spotted Gum - a native Eucalypt timber from the coastal forests of Northern NSW. It is a dense, tight grained timber with excellent bending and shock resisting properties and is used on all the tools that need the extra bending strength - it takes a lot of force to snap a Spotted Gum handle! The handles are finished with a decking stain to give a slightly reddish tinge to the timber and help seal the grain. To preserve your handles, we recommend you store the tools out of the weather and occasionally (once or twice per year) wipe down with a linseed or another natural timber oil.

Other Tools by FD Ryan:

Hand Fork and Cultivator
Wide Garden Trowel
Aussie Ho-Mi Hoe
Heavy Duty Broadfork - 7 Tyne

The Story of FD Ryan Handmade Garden Tools:

Born in Wonthaggi in 1909, Frederick Daniel Ryan, son of Irish immigrants, faced an unfortunate orphanhood at age 11. However, his luck turned when he was apprenticed as a wheelwright and blacksmith at age 14. After moving to Melbourne in his twenties, Ryan established a business forging knives and tools for the footwear and horticulture industries. In 2014, his great-grandson James revived the family tradition of tool making in Victoria. These handcrafted artisan gardening tools are crafted with high carbon steel, strengthened with heat treatment, and sharpened to a razor edge. Using traditional designs with a modern twist, James proudly carries on the legacy of his great-grandfather, using inherited tools, materials, and techniques. In honour of his great-grandfather, James has named his garden tool business F.D. RYAN.