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(Alright all you smarty-pantses and dirty minds, I mean the garden variety hoe, not the other kind!) 

So, at a community yard sale last Saturday I bought this really cool-lookin' hoe ($1, bargained down from $2).  I figured I'd either use the handle for a diddley bow or the whole thing for a guit of some kind.  I need some help with just what to do with it:

1.)  I think I'll make a diddley bow or guit using the rusty hoe blade.  I figured I'd make a hole(s) in the blade and run the string(s) through that, and put the nut and tuning machine up the neck/handle.

2.)  How many strings should I plan on?  1 = diddley bow?  2-3 = slide guit?  Justin Johnson plays a really cool 3-string shovel guit.  Would that work?

3.)  What should I do with the surface of the handle/neck?  Leave it as is (I don't think splinters are a danger) which would look cool and aged and distressed but be a bit rough?  Sand it down like some do with barn wood?  And the finish--should I coat it with poly?  Linseed oil?  Tung oil?  Leave it bare?

4.)  If I run the string(s) through holes in the hoe blade, how would I anchor them on the wood? 

5.)  Should I cut the handle/neck down to size, say, 25"-32", or leave it the way it is and put the nut and tuner(s) where I want for scale?  (I kinda already know what I want to do there.  It would look MUCH cooler if I don't cut the handle.)

5.)  Where would I put the pickup?

Thanks!