I ran across a handful of screwdrivers like this one I pulled off of a google image search. Does anyone know what they were used for? Just wondering if they are for a specific purpose or just an odd manufacture for larger bladed drivers.
Flat shanked screwdrivers?
- Thread starter tlowery04
- Start date
kwoswalt99
Well-known member
Gunsmiths use them, they call them turnscrews. Or they could just be very old, before mass production they were made that way.
ssdave
Banned
Traditional english turnscrews. They were made that way in the early days.
dadsEH
Well-known member
What is the name on the bottom one????
Toolmaker65
Well-known member
Turnscrew is the name from long ago across the pond in England. Screwdriver is also correct...depends on your preference and how much you would like to mess with the head of someone who has no idea about tools 
They are cabinet maker's screwdrivers as well as anyone else who needed one, just more often used in wood working. The flat blade and flat sides on the handle was the way that they were made through the late 1800's. Why, I do not know and have not found any firm information on this practice. Most that I have seen are made from cast steel. Stanley Rule and Level Company offered this style up through the mid 1910's as they were still popular. Around this time the round shank as we now know was starting to become more popular. They are still used, particularly in the smaller sizes, by gunsmiths since it is easier to hollow grind them for the particular screw size you are using. They can still be found today, although they are not quite in the abundance that they were years ago. Blade lengths usually ranged from 3 to 10 inches. Some of the Stanley's I own have a patent date of June 6, 1871. I also have a long Bates that has a 7-1/2" blade and an overall length of 14-1/2". The true difference : screwdriver cost = $5.00, turnscrew cost = $50.00 (a joke I once read on a gunsmithing web page)
Just my $.25 (formerly $.02, but inflation got it)
They are cabinet maker's screwdrivers as well as anyone else who needed one, just more often used in wood working. The flat blade and flat sides on the handle was the way that they were made through the late 1800's. Why, I do not know and have not found any firm information on this practice. Most that I have seen are made from cast steel. Stanley Rule and Level Company offered this style up through the mid 1910's as they were still popular. Around this time the round shank as we now know was starting to become more popular. They are still used, particularly in the smaller sizes, by gunsmiths since it is easier to hollow grind them for the particular screw size you are using. They can still be found today, although they are not quite in the abundance that they were years ago. Blade lengths usually ranged from 3 to 10 inches. Some of the Stanley's I own have a patent date of June 6, 1871. I also have a long Bates that has a 7-1/2" blade and an overall length of 14-1/2". The true difference : screwdriver cost = $5.00, turnscrew cost = $50.00 (a joke I once read on a gunsmithing web page)Just my $.25 (formerly $.02, but inflation got it)
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Toolmaker65
Well-known member
the turnscrews i found were about 5$ a piece, ranging up to 30.00 for one that was about 18 inches long. I bought two with makers marks, most of the others are either unmarked or have been re-handled.
are they worth going back for?
are they worth going back for?
unknown, picture is from google search
Rileysan
Well-known member
Just my .02 -
If they do not have a maker's mark, they are either heavily worn or were hand-made by a blacksmith. My opinion is that they are not worth the asking prices.
Brian
Toolmaker65
Well-known member
I would have to agree that they probably are not worth getting unless you can get all of them for about $5.00 If any are made and marked by a local blacksmith who figures in the area history and whose work is sought out by collectors of such, it may be worth it. $5.00 is ok imo for something you are going to just hang on a wall and has no serious user or collector interet or something you are going to really modify for your own use.
nope, real interest in them other than the - hrm i dont have one of those- value
I might pick up one of the larger ones if it has a maker on it if i go back. I'll have to check in next saturday to see if they get anymore plomb screwdrivers in anyway
I might pick up one of the larger ones if it has a maker on it if i go back. I'll have to check in next saturday to see if they get anymore plomb screwdrivers in anyway