TYPES OF CORKSCREWS


As previously mentioned, corkscrews have two distinct types of worm - the helix screw and the Archimedian screw.

The Helix Screw
This is a smooth metal screw and can have a groove running along its length to provide extra purchase on the cork when it is known as a "grooved helix". A "double helix" has a second worm part of the way down the screw that turns the cork in the bottle thus breaking the bond between the cork and the glass.

The Archimedian Screw
These are found to be common in German and American corkscrews. Some wine buffs dislike these screws as they have the tendency to chew into the cork and thus leave particles of cork in the wine.

Antique corkscrew collectors collect all types of corkscrews but some refine their collections. These might be a collection of mechanical screws, ones with only mother of pearl handles, miniature corkscrews or silver ones. Some people only collect ones which contain some advertising material and some collect examples of only one kind of patent. The choice is legion.