The Blunt-Toothed Cork Pliers: Cut the Wire, Then Grip the Cork Without Tearing It

"These levers are secured together by a pivot b near one end, and on one side of the pivot are shaped into blades c c, so as to form shears, that may be used to sever the wire, cord, or metal fastening which is used to hold corks in place in the mouth of a bottle." "It is preferred that these grooves should be circular and at sufficient distance apart to make wide blunt teeth, each tooth being a truncated pyramid rather than coming to a point, so that the teeth will compress the fiber of the cork and settle into its surface without cutting or tearing its fiber, as would be the case if the teeth were sharp."

**Levers.** Cut two 20 cm lengths of 20 × 5 mm mild steel flat bar and clamp them together. Drill both for an M6 pivot bolt 3 cm from one end. **Jaws.** Just behind the pivot, file two opposite curved recesses of different sizes across the pair, one for small corks and one for large. Along both edges of each recess, file transverse grooves a few millimetres apart so the teeth between them are wide and flat-topped, then file a groove lengthwise between the two rows. **Blades.** In front of the pivot, file the two ends into bevelled blades that pass each other closely, as shears. **Assemble.** Bolt the levers with a washer between them, tighten until they move without play, and lock the nut. **Test.** Cork a wine bottle of water with the corking kit and bind the cork with a loop of wire. Cut the wire with the blades. Grip the cork in the jaw that fits it, twist slightly and draw it out. Compare the cork's surface with one drawn by ordinary pliers with sharp teeth.

**Justus A. Traut** of New Britain, Hartford County, Connecticut, filed US 431,086 on 12 December 1889; it is dated 1 July 1890. His levers a a were cast or forged of any suitable metal, the handles d d beyond the jaws, and the jaws e f were curved to different radii for corks of various sizes. The two rows of teeth also give a wide grasping surface with a space between them, so the compressed cork swells into the groove and keeps the tool from slipping. His claim is the pivoted levers with jaws having a row of blunt teeth along each edge and a groove between the rows. **Honest limits.** Filed mild steel stands in for his cast or forged levers, so the blades dull on hard wire. The notebook's friction coefficient and the cork's hold are examples, not measurements; its forces and lengths are examples too. Your drawn cork is the result.