Homeade Water Scoop

Jeremy S · Jul 14, 2014

I threw this together in a few afternoons for a total cost of roughly $18. It has a 40" handle and the holes are 5/8". The screen on the back is 1/2". The mouth of the scoop is 5 - 3/4" wide by 9" deep. I thought about putting a strong magnet somewhere to grab hair clips and iron junk. It seems very durable and has no flex at all.

I contemplated adding more 1/2 hardware cloth around the top, in between the handle and back. I will see how well it holds up this week before any more modifications. I was also going to get a short section of bright colored "fun noodle" to slip around part of the handle to help it float and make it easier to see.

topdogintampa · Jul 14, 2014

Looks pretty good! What gauge metal did you use? Is it galvanized or galvalume? I was thinking of making one myself.

I have access to all the metal and machines I think I would need also.

T

Terry Soloman · Jul 14, 2014

Let us know how long it lasts!

Jeremy S · Jul 14, 2014

topdogintampa said:
Looks pretty good! What gauge metal did you use? Is it galvanized or galvalume? I was thinking of making one myself.

I have access to all the metal and machines I think I would need also.

T

It started out as a grain scoop. It is galvanized, not sure what the gauge is.

I have been putting some force on it at various angles. So far I can't get it to break to bend. Going to take it on a trial run Wednesday.

rainyday101 · Jul 14, 2014

I did the same thing only mine was heavier duty than yours. Long story short, it didn't last. It will cave in and bend on the bottom of that grain scoop. My handle was much beefier than yours so I question how long that will last. I don't mean to rain on your parade, but you are better off to just buy a good quality scoop. On the other hand I gotta admire the true McGyver quality that you have. If you are anything like me, I spent hours walking around stores to find just the right thing to make my scoop out of. I probably got about 4-5 hunts out of mine before it was unusable.

OBN · Jul 14, 2014

Looks good, just needs one thing, gold in the scoop!! Keep us informed...

Boatlode · Jul 15, 2014

Nice job. Should work great in the dry sand. Too flimsy for wet sand.

Treasure_Hunter · Jul 15, 2014

Want last long in wet sand or in water but will be good for dry sand.

People who haven't hunted the wet sand don't realize the amount of stress you put on a scoop digging.

You want be able to stand or push long on back before wire cloth collapses, if handle is a broom handle and not a shovel handle it will need to be stronger to dig wet sand as well.....

Just FYI.......
you can buy a good water scoop for $150-$200 and still get over 75+% of your money back several years later if you wish to sell and you took care of it, I have twice....

Next to your detector a scoop is most valuable tool a water hunter owns.

TampaTroy · Jul 15, 2014

I did something similar with a stainless hand scoop. I get great use out of it in dry sand and mushy wet sand. When I used it recently in firmer wet sand it buckled on the bottom a little. Now I will just add something to strengthen it. I wasn't ready to spend the money on a better one until I knew that I would get the use out of it. So for the time being I have a long handled scoop to use and it will serve until I can justify spending the money for a better one. Good luck with yours. It looks good.

penzfan · Jul 15, 2014

Looks nice. GL and HH

S.S.Tupperware · Jul 15, 2014

Good luck, but you will be buying one if you hunt the wet...

Jeremy S · Jul 16, 2014

I very rarely hunt in wet sand so I can't quite justify the purchase of a good water scoop yet ($$$ being diverted to house projects right now). At the beach I'm hunting today most targets are shallow so it should be easy to scoop with this. No rocks, shells, or hard sand 8-)

Light duty use only.

For the cost it was fun to throw together for a few quick hunts.

And yes, the handle is a replacement broomstick handle, although beefier than most I have used. A shovel handle would have been nice, but I think the scoop itself would break before the handle.

Boatlode · Jul 16, 2014

Jeremy S said:
I very rarely hunt in wet sand so I can't quite justify the purchase of a good water scoop yet ($$$ being diverted to house projects right now). At the beach I'm hunting today most targets are shallow so it should be easy to scoop with this. No rocks, shells, or hard sand Light duty use only.

For the cost it was fun to throw together for a few quick hunts.

And yes, the handle is a replacement broomstick handle, although beefier than most I have used. A shovel handle would have been nice, but I think the scoop itself would break before the handle.

I think you did a great job with what you had. Hopefully it will hold up until you can afford an industrial strength scoop.

RustyGold · Jul 16, 2014

Usually when you see a homemade scoop you know right away that it's not going to last but I think you did a great job on your first scoop! Keep it in the light weight stuff and it may prove to be an awesome scoop!
Best of luck!

Jeremy S · Jul 16, 2014

Here are my finds after a couple of hours at the freshwater beach. The dry sand didn't have any targets as they had just trucked fresh sand in so all of my detecting was in the water.

The ring is marked .925. The big coin is a new $1 presidential coin with Abe Lincoln (my second found ever). Not much trash in the water other than a few tabs and foil. There were some iron signals that I believe were hair clips, which my scoop couldn't catch. There is a lot more area to cover so I will be returning in the upcoming weeks. The deeper water proved to be a challenge, I went to about chest depth and absolutely wore myself out. Most of the targets that I recovered were around 2 inches deep in the sand, a few of the quarters were 6 to 8 inches and required a few scoops to find.

As for the scoop, despite everyone's predictions it held up great! I pushed it full of sand with each scoop, no bending, breaking, or flexing. It did a great job of getting the sand out when I swished it around underwater. I intentionally scooped deep and put a lot of force on it trying to find a failure point.

I am going to improve on my deign in a couple of ways. I am going to build a rigid brace across the back to push on with my foot, I was pushing just above the hardware cloth at the top of the scoop which didn't provide a lot of area for my foot. I am also considering installing a piece of 1/2" hardware cloth on the top of the scoop, so when I swish the scoop around under water to wash sand out I lessen the chance of throwing out the target.

topdogintampa · Jul 16, 2014

Alrighty then! Looks like it's doing it's job....I'm a bit jealous now...lol! Great 1st run scoop you have there and like you said, design improvement's coming... :thumbsup:

Now I need to catch up! :notworthy:

T

RustyGold · Jul 16, 2014

Good job Jeremy! A lot of cool finds and shows off the scoop's abilities!

penzfan · Jul 16, 2014

Glad to see the scoop worked fine Jeremy. If you attach a small magnet in the scoop it will catch the hair pins etc that are falling thru the holes. HH

Boatlode · Jul 16, 2014

Jeremy S said:
I am going to build a rigid brace across the back to push on with my foot,

Yep. That would be a major improvement. Good job.

nscrcr8z · Jul 17, 2014

A friend of mine has a custom fabricating shop he is building me one I'm just paying for the material... He has all the plasma cutters presses everything needed... going to go off one of the (better) scoop designs
Probably use a 5 ft handle only question do I want to go with light metal or fiberglass
What's your handle made from
Thanks!