Rain Gutter Cleaner - Gardena & painter pole compatible

Cleaning your rain gutter can be difficult if your ladder is too short to reach the roof.
Therefore I created a little scoop (or shovel) that can be mounted on a (telescopic) Gardena stick.

The angle can be changed in two directions (fixed by thumb screws) and allows access to the rain gutter from below (ground or short ladder) or from above - e.g. from a roof window or dormer. (BTW from above is a lot easier because you can see what you are doing, but that's not always an option)

Besides the printed parts you need thee M5 hex head screws and two nuts to connect the hinges and enforce the Gardena compatible mandrel.

1x. M5x50 hex head screw (scoop to the horizontal arm)
1x M5x35 or more (hinge horizontal/vertical arm)
1x M5x50 (or less) to enforce Gardena stub
2x M5 hex nut

I actually used 3 M5x50 screws as you can see on the pictures (didn't have M5x35 and didn't want to cut (yet))

The shutter plate to close the scoop on one end can be inserted on either side and the hinge between vertical and horizontal arm can be turned 210 degrees, i.e. from above you can "overturn" by 30 degrees to (partly) compensate for the roof angle. (I didn't dare to allow more for stability of the hinge)

Talking about stability - I broke the very first print of the Gardena adapter exactly between the stick and the hinged arm where lateral force can pull at the printed layers. Therefore the only purpose of the third screw is to enforce the Gardena adapter which now has a hole with a tight thread to screw in an (up to) M5x50 hex head screw. The head is not important as long as it is not larger then a 8mm hex head (i.e. it fits in the corresponding hole of the vertical arm)

No glue is needed for assembly. The connection between the Gardena stub and the vertical arm is rather tight - you need some force to push it in.(I just "hammered" it on the floor once)

Minor update: I added a very thin TPU "slice" (only 0.8mm) which you can insert between horizontal arm and shovel to improve adhesion. Without that you need more force to keep the shovel in position as PLA against PLA doesn't stick very well

UPDATE 2024-04-19. Now variant available with a fitting for Paint Pole Thread instead of hexagon Gardena stub. Can't test it myself, so please give it a try.

UPDATE 2024-10-10: As requested by @MsSmarttech  I've added a interlocking version of the shovel connector. The riffle stops unwanted rotation. In the initial version I had used a thin TPU layer to improve adhesion, but with riffle that's no longer needed and everything can be printed with the same material. As requested, I also offer a larger version of the knurled nut holders

Updates 2025-08-22: As requested by @Vid  I've added the Gardena stub with a pait-pole thread on the top end to be screwed into the paint-pole vertical arm (i.e. replaced the hexagon by thread). I don't have a paint-pole myself, so I couldn't test the accuracy of the thread. If it doesn't fit, please let me know and I will try to fix it.

Printing tips

All parts can be printed in published orientation. Support is only required for the shovel (minimal, just in the middle), the Gardena mandrel (bottom and thinner hex part) and the hex connector hole of the vertical arm (if printed upright). Make sure to block support in all holes !!

Most of the parts can be printed with 20% infill only, but the "neck" of the shovel, and the hinge areas of the arms I printed with an extra shell (i.e. 3-4 shells) and 40% infill. With the enforcing screw the Gardena mandrel doesn't really need high infill and many perimeters, but I increased them anyway (just in case). And at the lower end of the Gardena stub (the thin area) I recommend 100% infill to improve layer adhesion.

I'd recommend to print the shovel with adaptive (Cura) or variable (PrusaSlicer) layer height for the first couple of layers or a layer height <<0.2mm (if printing in the published orientation lying on the round bottom). If orientation of the shovel is changed, print might be easier but requires a lot more support.