I Need A Good Screw...

And I have just the solution:
One of the problems I have w/ corkscrews is getting them started evenly/straight into the cork. The tip comes in at an angle of the screw, so you have to start it w/ a small offset towards the side to drive it into the cork straight.
The original plastic ScrewPull seems to be the best corkscrew for driving the corkscrew in straight. You just hold the two prongs tight against the lip & start twisting. My new ChefMan electric corkscrew has enough play (so it can deal w/ wide-lipped btls like Turley) that it often starts into to cork at a cockeyed angle & makes the corkscrew struggle as the cork rubs against the side of the barrel.

So my solution: Instead of the corkscrew tip coming in at an angle, why can't you modify the tip w/ a slight offset and a short (maybe 1/4th ") straight/vertical segment that aligns perfectly w/ the axis of the center of the screw?? Does that make sense, if you understand what I'm getting at? A drawing would probably help to explain.
I've never seen a corkscrew screw that looks like that. And it would probably increase the production cost to add that little fillip to the end of the screw.
Whose with me on leaning on the corkscrew manufacturers?? I'll be glad to lead the charge.
Tom

[Robin Garr]

I'd support that, TomHill! Especially for lots of small-producer Italian wines that use extra low caliber corks to fit narrow bottle necks. Where do I sign up?

The problem might be that the initial hole made by the straight bit in the centre will not be where the rest of the screw goes through the cork. So you might finish up mangling up the central part of the cork if you see what I mean.

When starting with a cork screw, I just focus on centering the whole screw rather than the first point of entry. It seems to work.

(Plenty of scope for double-entendre here - I'm trying to keep it as clean as I can, honest, but it's a hard ask)

The problem might be that the initial hole made by the straight bit in the centre will not be where the rest of the screw goes through the cork. So you might finish up mangling up the central part of the cork if you see what I mean.

When starting with a cork screw, I just focus on centering the whole screw rather than the first point of entry. It seems to work.

(Plenty of scope for double-entendre here - I'm trying to keep it as clean as I can, honest, but it's a hard ask)

Yup... you're right, Steve. It won't work as I conceived it.
Tom

Tom wrote:
So my solution: Instead of the corkscrew tip coming in at an angle, why can't you modify the tip w/ a slight offset and a short (maybe 1/4th ") straight/vertical segment that aligns perfectly w/ the axis of the center of the screw??

Instead of having the sharp tip of the lead in helix at the "center" of the corkscrew helix worm gear wouldn't you have 'better" control if the sharp tip of the lead in helix was on or near the radius of the outside diameter of the helix worm gear?

Salute
.

The Screwpull works very wel on most stubborn corks. The one place I've found where it doesn't work well is with old bottles of vintage Port. There the Screwpull has a tendency to simply drill a hole in the center of the cork rather than pull it out of the bottle. The ah-so would be appropriate here, but I've never mastered it--I always end up pushing the cork into the bottle.

-Paul W.

The Screwpull works very wel on most stubborn corks. The one place I've found where it doesn't work well is with old bottles of vintage Port. There the Screwpull has a tendency to simply drill a hole in the center of the cork rather than pull it out of the bottle. The ah-so would be appropriate here, but I've never mastered it--I always end up pushing the cork into the bottle.

-Paul W.

I think that's the main problem with the ah-so - they are great for crumbly corks, but not loose ones. A good cork screw should be able to handle loose corks if you insert it carefully, and maybe at a slight angle, but not crumbly ones.

For corks that are both crumbly and loose, that seems to be where the Durand comes into its own - insert the screw carefully, then the screw holds the cork in place while you insert the ah-so prongs

Alernatively: Port tongs

I own port tongs but I don't use them much. I don't have a fireplace so I can't use them during the winter, and vintage Port isn't my idea of a summer tipple. Port tongs do work very well. I also have a swan's feather for applying the ice water after using the port tongs. I was visiting my parents at their cottage on the Connecticut shore. A pair of mute swans would stop by every day for handouts. One day the female plucked out and discarded one of her flight feathers. I was lucky enough to recover it.

-Paul W.

I own port tongs but I don't use them much. I don't have a fireplace so I can't use them during the winter, and vintage Port isn't my idea of a summer tipple. Port tongs do work very well. I also have a swan's feather for applying the ice water after using the port tongs. I was visiting my parents at their cottage on the Connecticut shore. A pair of mute swans would stop by every day for handouts. One day the female plucked out and discarded one of her flight feathers. I was lucky enough to recover it.

-Paul W.

Never used them myself, but I've seen it done and it looks like a neat solution. But I think a wet cloth was used, perhaps for "health and safety", and a swan's feather seems so much more authentic.

Vintage Port bottles often have a bulge in the neck. This makes it easier to use Port tongs. I've noticed fewer and fewer vintage Port bottles with the neck bulge over the years. Probably because hardly anyone uses Port tongs these days.

The tongs themselves look like some sort of Medieval torture device.

-Paul W.

P.S. - At one point I thought I'd lost my swan's feather. I devised a plan for the involuntary harvest of a replacement. This consisted of a full ice hockey goalie's uniform, including helmet, gloves, and full padding, and one of those nooses on the end of a pole that are used for capturing poisonous snakes. I never dared to carry it out. It's almost certainly illegal to molest a wild swan in that way. I've also heard that a whack from a full-grown swan's wing can break a human thighbone. Not an inviting prospect, and the lost swan's feather turned up anyway.