The Design Evolution of Screwdriver Handles
Screwdriver handles are sneakily well-designed for a variety of different uses.
I mean, who thinks about a screwdriver? But if you look at the handles, well, that’s a complicated shape. And it lets you do a lot. It’s comfortable to hold, but it won’t roll off your bench. And you can turn it one-handed or use both hands. And you get a couple of different grips. That’s a good design.
In this video, woodworker & tool enthusiast Rex Krueger walks us through the design history of the screwdriver and how it came to have such a distinctive and useful handle.
I grew up helping my dad out in the garage with all sorts of projects, mostly cars, and until watching this video, I had no idea that you could slip a standard wrench over the handle of a screwdriver as a cheater bar. 🤯 (via unsung)
Comments 3
My dad was seriously handy in a lot of ways. When the head gasket on my first car failed, he walked me through removing the cylinder head, going to a u-pull-it yard, taking it to get ground down, then using a torque wrench to install it correctly. But he had mostly cheap tools because he was born during the tail end of the Depression and simply would not spend "good tool money" on himself. When I bought my first set of good screwdrivers, it was a revelation to both of us.
My dad had some cheap tools, but there were certain kinds where he bought the good stuff (Craftsman wrenches, ratchets, and sockets from Sears) because he knew that the cheap stuff would fail and he'd have to buy another one.
Re: head gaskets, we were on a family trip when I was a teenager when the valve cover gasket on the car blew in Virginia, halfway across the country from where we lived. None of the local auto parts stores had a replacement on hand and it was going to take several days to locate one. But my dad had his toolbox (he always carried one), so he took the engine apart enough to retrieve the busted gasket. Using it as a guide, he cut a replacement gasket from a cardboard cereal box, slapped it in there, and put the engine back together. It wasn't perfect, but it lasted us until we got home.
Jason I had a similar experience as a kid with (what I remember) a failed thermostat. Though we didn't have the right tools in the car and ended up at a local farm where they pulled the thermostat out and also made a new gasket out of a cereal box!
Also, when the kids in my extended family reached a certain age (maybe 10?) the family holiday gifts would turn to tools, starting with a toolbox from my uncle the woodworker, so I've collected some good tools over the years. Bringing the two stories together, I used to carry a craftsmen socket set in my car trunk in case of a breakdown. I still have the set and 35 years later still have the urge to load it in the trunk every time we head out on a long road trip!
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