Corkscrews

[smiling-knife]

Along with knives, I am an avid corkscrew collector. Does anyone else here collect corkscrews? Is anyone interested in seeing some of my collection?

 

[houdini28]

I do not collect corkscrews but I am interested in seeing your collection. I do not collect corkscrews but I often use the one on my Victorinox or Juice CS4. I do love corkscrews just because I am a huge fan of simple machines. I like to use a waiter style corkscrew.

 

[shaldag]

Along with knives, I am an avid corkscrew collector. Does anyone else here collect corkscrews? Is anyone interested in seeing some of my collection?

Considering the interesting knives that you show in the "folksy" forum, I would be very interested to see your collection of corkscrews.

 

[symphonyincminor]

I'd love to see your collection, and I'll probably have a couple of questions for you...!

 

[1bluedog]

Don't collect them, don't drink wine. but, for some reason or another I have a dozen around the house. Seems like every time I need one, I do not have one. Last weekend, I was away and ended up using a leatherman to open a bottle for a friend.

MD

 

[smiling-knife]

Thanks very much for the positive responses. Here is the first installment. It is a little display that I recently put together. These are mostly Victorian in age. The small folding ones are called bow or harp corkscrews. Like knives, many of these have other attachments e.g., foil cutter, button hook, carriage key. The two horizontal ones in the middle are Georgian era pocket models. The sheaths unscrew and fit through the ring at the top to form the handle. The bottom row are some simple steel cellearman types. More pics when I return later today.

 

[smiling-knife]

Here are some simple wooden-handled direct-pull types. Some have added features such as ridges on the underside of the 'button' or teeth at the bottom of the shank. The Reverend Samuel Henshall first patent the ridged button in the 1790s. Original marked Henshalls fetch a very pretty penny. The ridges or teeth are designed to grip the cork thus breaking the seal with the glass and making it much easier to extract. Please feel free to add to the thread or ask any questions.

 

[smiling-knife]

A few more straight-pulls. Two with stag handles, one with a turned bone handle and one with a tusk handle. It might be boar or walrus? In the middle is a American Made William Bennit's marked Pat. May 15th 1883. The 'bell' grips the top of the bottle and continual turning of the screw raises the cork with out the need to apply upward force. There is not room for the entire cork inside the bell so does require a little effort to finish the job.

 

[Bob W]

That is a ~bunch~ of corkscrews!

Here is a small set of corkscrew knives from my Bruckmann collection:

For actually using to open wine bottles, I prefer this style of corkscrew:

So far, 100% success rate. Hundreds of bottles opened with no broken corks or cork fragments in the wine.

Anyone ever use one of these?

 

[proud2deviate]

Quite an impressive collection. The craftsmanship on those is amazing.

A couple of questions (I hope the answers aren't too obvious)

First, which part is the "button"?

Second, what are the bristles for? De-dusting bottles? Sweeping off cork fragments?

 

[bernard_levine]

Have you seen Don Bull's Virtual Corkscrew Museum?

http://www.bullworks.net/virtual.htm

Do you know about the ICCA = International Correspondence of Corkscrew Addicts?

Christian Bros Winery in Calif has (or had) a fabulous corkscrew collection, put together by winemaster Brother Timothy. I doubt he is still around, as he was very old when I knew him, 25+ years ago.

BRL...

 

[James Polk]

Anyone ever use one of these?

Yes, that's my favorite type. No broken corks, and the flat shape is nice for picnicking.

 

[smiling-knife]

Thank-you all for your responses and comments.

Bob that is a great collection of Bruckmann knives. The double lever is one of the most efficient types and thus still very popular today. I have a few of those two-prong openers. They are a life-saver when an old cork breaks off in the neck.

Proud2deviate. Thanks-you for your compliment. The button is the disc at the bottom of the shank see 3:00 and 9:00 in the post with the 8 wood handled corkscrews. The pic after that shows the underside of the button on the 9:00 corkscrew. You are correct. The brushes are for dusting the bottles from the cellar.

Thanks for the response BRL. I am very familiar with Don Bull's virtual museum. Whilst there are many online discussion forums for knives, I have not yet found something similar for corkscrews. Perhaps the ICCA is the answer. I will look-in to it. Thanks.

 

[smiling-knife]

One more small set of straight-pulls (three pewter and one bronze). The two birds and sea searpent are made by Danish designer Just Andersen c 1930s.

A collection of pixies and imps with brass handles form the 1920s-30s.

More to post tomorrow. Many mechanical varieties. Thank-you for your interest.

 

[smiling-knife]

Todays installment includes a variety of mechanical types. These with frames are quite simple. The collar at the bottom of the frame grips on to the bottle. Once worm is fully inserted, further turning draws the cork up into the frame. The ones on the right are German and have small bearings at the top to facilitate a smooth turning action. The two on the left are English. The second one from the left is The Surprise a registered design by George Willetts of Birmingham in 1884.

Some Italian open frame and the inside left is a Farrow & Jackson type made in England.

 

[smiling-knife]

Here is the next installment just in case anyone is still interested. The first set is a rack and pinion style. They are English, French and German from left to right. Turn the top handle to insert the worm and the side handle to extract the corrk.

The next set are German made corkscrews with springs. Inserting the worm compresses the spring, the tension in which aids with the extraction. The beehive one on the left still works a treat. The Columbus in the middle is a little unusual in that sliding the ring up allows the frame to open and greatly ease removal of the cork from the worm after opening.

 

[beebee58]

I was at the ABS school last month and Joe Kessler had one that he had just finished for a guy. It was fantastic..................


I didn't ask "how much" or if he was taking orders, but it had silver wire inlay, maple handle, forged screw.


BB

 

[mete]

The two bladed type ?? I've been using them for all my life !! You don't damage the cork so it can be reused ! Many people never heard of it !!

 

[smiling-knife]

Thanks for your responses beebee58 and mete. A custom made corkscrew would be sweet indeed. The two bladed corkscrews are great once one gets the hang of them. I only use mine in emergencies though.

Here is today's installment from my collection. These are 'lazy tongs' The series of levers multiply the pulling power and greatly reduce the effort needed. These are the basis for a modern version called the Lazy Fish that you may have seen. The top right Weir's 1884patent made by James Healey & Sons of Birmingham. Healeys was one of the famous Victorian corkscrew manufacturers. The top left is an example of H. D. Armstrongs 1902 patent. The bottom three are French. From left to right; the Perfect (c1920s), the ZigZag (c1950s) and the Debouchtout (c1930s). The latter two both have crown cap openers also.

 

[smiling-knife]

quote navihawk "Outstanding collecton. What was the brush used for on the side of some?"

Thank-you for your compliment and question navihawk. The brush was for cleaning off the dust and cobwebs when the bottles were fetched from the cellar. I have more different types of you would like to see them. Cheers!