[TheForge] Re: corkscrew

[Jerry Frost]

I've made a number of augers from brazing rod for fancy pipe cleaners and
twisting flat stock is exactly how I do it.

Draw a straight flat taper a bit longer than what you want for the auger,
draw or grind the point. I like a round shoulder in the transition from
round to flat cross section.

For twisting I use a pair of needle nose with the teeth and corners ground
off so they don't mar the work. I put the shank in the vise and twist it. I
twisted the brass cold but annealed. Steel thin enough for a nice corckscrew
would lose heat pretty fast so a torch might be the way to go.

The only tricky part is getting an even twist on the point and I do it by
letting the pliers slip up the point as I twist. I hold the pliers pointing
down the flat instead of across it.

I've never done this for a corkscrew, nor in steel but I don't think it'd be
a problem at all.

A good source of high carbon strip stock is automotive hood springs, they're
about 1/2" wide and 1/8" thick, give or take.

Frosty
------------------------
If it ain't forged
it ain't real.
Wrought iron is.
The FrostWorks