DurandCorkscrew: What Am I Doing Wrong??

I was recently given a Durand corkscrew for my BD by wine friends. I have been led to believe that the Durand is the bee’s-knees for removing old corks. Used it tonight on 4 old Siduri Pinots. Worked correctly on only one.
I pull the corkscrew off the AhSo remover.
I then drive the corkscrew all the way down to the hilt. I then take the AhSo part & insert it into its two slots of the corkscrew handle. Only once did it correctly insert between the cork & the btl neck. The other three times, the prongs of the AhSo part hit the cork or the btl lip & I could not get it to slide in between the cork & the lip of the btl. Obviously because the corkscrew was not exactly centered in the cork.
Help… what am I doing wrong??
Tom

The Ah-So goes perpendicular to the screw. The holes are only there for storage.

Geez Tom. Didn’t ya read the instructions?

Ah-So… that’s what I’m doing wrong. I’m a PhD Engineer. We don’t need to waste our time reading the directions!!
Tom

I’m genuinely impressed you were able to get it to work that way even one time.

Hot damn, Adam… you’re a genius. Worked like a charm on the two remaining btls.
Sometimes these PhD types are too smart for their own good!!
Tom

Tom, PhD Civil Engineer, obviously!…just kidding
Hilarious story!

Ok, this is a little awkward!
I’ve been using Tom’s described method successfully since I received my Durand a year+ ago; 6-8 bottles uncorked!
I thought it was a little finicky and required a bit more precision than a wine drinker can usually display. I’ve been carefully centering the corkscrew, driving it in until 1/2” from hilt, then inserting the Ah-So while it has wiggle room, then loosen the cork and pull both out. Like I said, a little finicky but I’ve removed the cork intact 100% of the time!

Great Tom’s think alike?
I don’t even remember instructions being a part of the package….
I’ll try the “new” way next time.

Yup, Tom… that’s what I did the one time I got it to work… didn’t drive the corkscrew all the way in to give the AhSo part a little wiggle room.
Mine came w/ an instruction brochure… but PhDs don’t need no friggin’ instructions!!
Man… the things you can learn on WB!!
Tom

Wiggle? Just turn and pull. Wiggling breaks corks.

To be fair, the first time I ever saw one 10 years ago I started to do the same thing but was corrected by the owner of said Durand. Finally got one myself last year as a gift and I love it.

I think it’s a Tom thing. I tried the same technique until I saw William’s video. Devices come with instructions?

Also, while not a PhD, I do have a BS in Engineering, so suffer from the same no instructions needed complex.

I did assume initially that is how it should work, but fortunately read the instructions when it did not.

I think enough time passed before the second use that I had to relearn it from the instructions then too.

Seems simple to follow

I admit the first time I used it I did what the Toms did. Didn’t work so well so I read the instructions. Worked much better

Hahaha…I remember Antonio Galloni recommending the Durand as a xmas gift when it first came out, and he demonstrated the use the same way on video! I posted a note about it on Vinous, and he quickly acknowledged the mistake and re made the video!

Someone brought one to a Berserker offline, and let me try it out on a bottle. I tried to do what Tom did. Luckily he saw what I was doing wrong and corrected me.

I think most of us could agree that at first look and without having read the instructions, it appears that is going to be the way it works. The mind doesn’t assume those slots are there just for putting the device away.

Paging Mark Thompson.