Wrench Corkscrew (First attempt at a corkscrew)

[HEAP of JEEP]

I was just goofing around last night because I only had an hour or so to forge before I had to shut down to keep the neighbors happy.  I've had this old wrench floating around for a while.  I grabbed it from the scrap yard a couple of months ago, and always thought it would become a bottle opener.  I decided to go a different route, though, and tried my first corkscrew.  Not perfect, but it does work... my wife and I tested it on a bottle of Chardonnay.  I've been wanting to make some corkscrews for my shows since we have a ton of wineries here in Northern Michigan.  Last Sunday, at the farmers market I set up at, I spoke with several people who were visiting the area to take different wine tasting tours, so decided it was time to try one out.

[JimsShip]

Wow, that's some serious tapering!   I Like it!

You could also make a bottle opener using the wrench end if you crush it down a bit, then it would be all purpose!   (There were some done like that in the bottle opener thread!)

 

[Daswulf]

Awesome job Heap.   I agree with Jim about making it a bottle opener as well. But this one looks fine as it. Only improvement I could think is maybe to wire wheel the heck out of the screw part to polish it up so it would screw in to the cork smoothly. 

[Dave51B]

 Nice job Heep. I have been meaning to make a couple of these for my son ,that helps manage a piano bar. But me not being a corkscrew user, has me wondering if I could use a lag bolt threads to get an even wrap and spacing for the screw. Maybe a 5/16" ? Might not be an open enough thread. How did you get the spacing for yours?           Thanks for the reminder             Dave 

[HEAP of JEEP]

13 minutes ago, Dave51B said:

 Nice job Heep. I have been meaning to make a couple of these for my son ,that helps manage a piano bar. But me not being a corkscrew user, has me wondering if I could use a lag bolt threads to get an even wrap and spacing for the screw. Maybe a 5/16" ? Might not be an open enough thread. How did you get the spacing for yours?           Thanks for the reminder             Dave 

I wrapped it around some 3/16 rod, then spaced it apart with a combination of a small chisel to wedge the open and my scrolling pliers to squeeze them closed, and just took it a little at a time.  It took me a few heats to each one spaced evenly... and they still aren't exactly perfect, but they are close enough that it works in cork... it might be an issue with the plastic corks though.

[Dave51B]

 Thanks for the quick reply Heep. I hope to give it go soon.        Dave

8 minutes ago, HEAP of JEEP said:

I wrapped it around some 3/16 rod, then spaced it apart with a combination of a small chisel to wedge the open and my scrolling pliers to squeeze them closed, and just took it a little at a time.  It took me a few heats to each one spaced evenly... and they still aren't exactly perfect, but they are close enough that it works in cork... it might be an issue with the plastic corks though.

 

[Frosty]

Nice job Heap, I'm seeing marketable product there. All my suggestions have been made already, bottle opener and a good brushing. Oh okay a little knife blade to cut the wrapper on the cork but that's a little silly.

Frosty The Lucky.