Could I ask you folks to indulge me a little. I would like to put my first post into some form of perspective. In the photograph is a screwdriver made some sixty plus years ago now from a file, it was a sort of prize possession of my late farther in law. Over the years I would give it to my apprentices and ask them what they thought of it. Back would come the usual answers very crude and poorly put together in fact not a good example at all. Then I would tell its story over a couple of days while they tried to fathom its how and why.
The ferrule has a stop filed in to it, first question why would this be needed?
Question two why such a thin flat handle?
Question three why is the blade made comfortable to hold this way?
Finally what is the string for?
The answers will I hope put my efforts into some proportion, I made the Turnscrews using a modern Lathe tools metal and wood working. All told things did not take much effort on my part to come up with what I wanted.
My late farther in law was a pilot during WW2 and this screwdriver was made from a broken file and a piece of packing case wood by his plane Armorer, using just an Engineers file for the shaping. And now the answers the stop on the ferrule was to stop the piece of string that he used as a lanyard slipping down the blade. The handle was large to have enough leverage to undo the turn buckles of the wing blister covers of the Hispano Cannons. The reason for the comfortable blade shape in your hand this is not so obvious but so very sensible when a plane returned out of ammunition for the Browning machine guns, after re-loading each gun had to have the cocking leaver pulled back to re-cock the gun it just saves the ware and tear on the hands. Finally why such a flat profile? So it wont roll off the wings it is a long way to the floor it if it falls.
This I think puts my efforts in proportion I had every modern aid to make my turnscrews and he had to use a saying from the time "spit chewing gum and wire" and a lot of effort. All the apprentices came to the same conclusion "you should not judge a book by its cover.
