HISTORY OF THE ARCHIMEDEAN SCREW DESIGN

It was an instrument, said to have been invented by Archimedes for raising water. He achieved this by winding a flexible tube around a shaft creating wide spaced spiral thread and then putting it into a cylinder. When this assembly was placed in an inclined position with the lower end immersed in water and the shaft rotated, water could be raised to the upper end. This was used for water distribution in ancient Greece.

His pump thread design was the basis of these three drills which are operated by reciprocating movement of the lower wood grip which spins the spiral.