A Database of US Patents for Spiral Screwdrivers: 1868

Zachry T. Furbish and The Forest City Screwdriver Co. - The Roots of "Yankee" Screwdrivers
(Originally published in The CHRONICLE of Early American Industries Association, December 2003, Vol. 56, No. 4)

Spiral Screwdrivers of Decatur, Illinois

(Originally published in The CHRONICLE of Early American Industries Association, March 1996, Vol. 49, No. 1)

A Spiral Screwdriver Update: The Decatur Coffin Company

(Originally published in The CHRONICLE of Early American Industries Association, September 2001, Vol. 54, No. 3)

Spiral Screwdrivers of Isaac Allard, F. A. Howard and J. W. Jones

(Originally published in The GRISTMILL of Mid-West Tool Collectors Association, June 1992, No. 67)

The Forest City Screwdriver Co. and Zachary T. Furbish
(A display originally presented at M-WTCA meeting, Omaha, NE, June 22-24, 2000 in Omaha, Nebraska. Hosted courtesy of The Davistown Museum)

Spiral Screwdrivers of the S. F. Bowser Company

(Originally published in The GRISTMILL of Mid-West Tool Collectors Association, March 1999, No. 94)

A Geared-Up Screwdriver (PDF format)

(A PDF file of a recently published article from The GRISTMILL of Mid-West Tool Collectors Association, March 2024, No. 194)

Do you have an interesting spiral screwdriverr?

Spiral Screwdrivers which I would like to purchase or borrow for study.

Generally, the patents included here are those which are commonly associated with spiral screwdrivers. There is a great deal of cross-over among patents for spiral screwdrivers, ratchet screwdrivers and push (Archimedian) drills. A number of patents for ratchet screwdrivers and other screwdriver mechanisms are included because they are used in combination with the basic spiral funtion in many spiral screwdrivers. The patents included in this database will however, by way of the illustration or text, generally relate in some way to spiral screwdrivers. A few included patents are for accessories or ancillary devices.

The patent titles included in the database are taken from the patent illustration page; for some patents, the title on the text page is different from the title on the illustration page, e.g. IMPROVEMENT IN SCREWDRIVERS vs SCREWDRIVER.

Patent titles can be misleading; a number of patents relating to spiral screwdrivers are not titled: "Spiral Screwdriver." They may be titled something like: "Means for Converting Motion, Bit Stock, Rotary Tool Driver or even Ratchet Screwdriver or Ratchet Mechanism."

Some of the patents included are not within the normal classifications for spiral screwdrivers. They are included because because they are used in conjunction with a specific spiral screwdriver patent, i.e. a ratchet may be incorporated into a spiral screwdriver. Accessories, add-on and retro-fit devices for spiral screwdrivers are also included.

This file has only basic information from the source patents supplemented by limited comments; it may be expanded in the future.