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There's a cheap plastic handle design fairly common on old screwdrivers and i've seen it as a wooden handle on chisels too. I didn't know it's name until recent
by CraigJPerry 4y ago
There's a cheap plastic handle design fairly common on old screwdrivers and i've seen it as a wooden handle on chisels too. I didn't know it's name until recently - the "London Pattern Handle". These are peak handle design IMO.
It lets you hold it in a few different ways, with your fingertips for work where you need to accurately feel what the tip is doing. With the palm of your hand when you need to apply lots of torque. It doesn't roll when you set it down. You can smack the end of it when you need to shock a slightly rusty or reluctant screw.
It's ironic because i think these are the cheapest design and i suspect most companies invent their own design precisely because this design is fairly evocative of old cheap mass produced hard plastic handles.
They just feel so good in your hand though. It's the perfect handle design.
- bluesquared 4y agoThey also allow you to use a wrench/pliers to apply more torque/holding.
- denton-scratch 4y agoThat's what the hex section of the shaft, just south of the handle, is for.
- wlesieutre 4y agoFor the visual people, here's a london pattern handle: https://www.benchcrafted.com/londonpatternhandle https://www.benchcrafted.com/londonpatternhandle You can find the same shape in mass produced modern tools with plastic handles: https://www.sears.com/craftsman-5-pc-slotted-screwdriver-set/p-00947137000P https://www.sears.com/craftsman-5-pc-slotted-screwdriver-set...
- dkarl 4y agoIt's hard to image improving on that handle design. It's even good with the hard, slick plastic handles of my old cheap Craftsman screwdrivers. I hate handles where I have to figure out and copy how the designer expected me to grip it. I have no idea how my hand grips my Craftsman screwdrivers, and I don't care. The handle has a bunch of ridges, our hands have a bunch of bumps and ridges, just grab at any angle or grip you want, and the bumps and ridges find a way to catch on each other. The one aspect that could be improved is that the older ones I have are from the 1970s and probably wouldn't work well for people with larger hands.