The recent thread on hollow ground screwdrivers caused me to reflect on my fondness for making turnscrews and screws. Nearly all my screwmaking in the last several years has been tiny screws for jewelry and various things I've made—eyeglass hinges for temples in wood and otherwise, pince nez and other earlier spectacles styles, pens, cases and faces for watches and clocks, various small engraved items and so on.
Turnscrews, especially flat blade turnscrews, I made years before I took up the above proclivities. When perusing the repair department and performance center at Smith & Wesson—I lived near and had friends there—I occasionally saw and was drawn to the vintage styles some of the gunsmiths kept at their benches at work and home. Later, when I saw a boxed set of very old English shotgun turnscrews with sterling silver ferrules and flattened oval ivory handles they became the sine qua non of what I desired to make.
Having just bought a Taig lathe from Lee Valley, handles and other elements were easily doable. I'd make a turnscrew for just about anything; fly reels, cabinet hardware, guns, tools and so on. They were fun, reasonably quick and easy to make, cheap, useful and surprisingly appreciated as gifts.
You don't need a lathe, though—just a few handtools. Brownell's offers two YouTube videos from Trinidad State Junior College's gunsmithing program to show how.
Jack Rowe, Master Gunsmith, Turn Screw, Part 1
Jack Rowe, Master Gunsmith, Turn Screw, Part 2
I did use the lathe for handles, ferrules and to accurately mill the hollows/parallels but you can taper the blades with files or abrasive burrs on a drill or flexshaft.
Anyway, it occurred to me that others might want to try it or just watch it being done. Check out Derek's Modifying Screwdrivers and Turnscrews, as well.
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