Why Did I Patent a Screwdriver in 2025?

I just patented a screwdriver..

The Three Reasons I Did It

1. Showcase our SOMA Design Lab

Here in San Francisco at Nerdian, we’ve assembled an incredible toolkit: injection molding machines, filament extruders, CNCs, 3D printers—you name it. I wanted a product that highlights all of that. A gadget you can hold in your hand that says, “we built this”—no assembly line, just modern design paired with the quality of old-world craftsmanship.

2. Reinforce what we’re already doing

We’ve been building 3D-printed and CNC-machined injection molds, and doing overmolding of screwdriver handles (among other parts). With injection molding, though, we still had to manually load a metal blade into each mold — over and over again. That step isn't scalable or elegant, and it ties the process to repetitive human labor.

So I started thinking: what if the design itself could absorb that complexity?

With 3D printing, I could embed all the locking mechanics into a single part that prints fully assembled. Now, instead of carefully loading a blade into a mold every cycle, we just print the handle, drop in a bit, slide the lock — and it’s done. The product isn't just manufactured; it’s self-fixturing, self-aligning, and self-unloading.

We even have our 3D printers automatically unloading the beds once each print completes. Most mornings, we walk into the lab to find piles of finished parts in front of the printers — ready to ship.

If I’m showcasing automation and design for manufacturing, then the product itself should embody that ethos — and clearly demonstrate the symbiotic nature of thoughtful design and modern manufacturing.

3. Design a single-print mechanism that does a lot with a little

Designing mechanisms, flexures, and moving parts that print in-place is my jam. So I asked: could we print a handle that’s one part, yet locks a standard screwdriver bit securely—just by sliding a sleeve?

Turns out: yes. The result is a fully 3D-printed locking screwdriver — and I patented it.

The Final Design

• Entire handle printed in-place with no assembly.

• Insert any standard hex bit, slide the sleeve forward, and the embedded flexure fingers snap into the bit’s groove, locking it tight.

• Pull the sleeve back, and the bit drops free.

The only assembly step before shipping? Drop in the bit, slide the sleeve, and package it.

Why Patent It?

• It’s my name on the patent — not just a product, but a piece of documented innovation.

• It’s a marketing anchor — “invented, designed, and made in-house, in SF.”

• It shows our design depth — the kind of clever functional & manufacturable mechanisms we build every day, not just pretty renders.

Coming Soon…

We’re finalizing the production runs here in San Francisco. Soon these screwdrivers will be available online — and if you join my email list here, I’ll send you a 25% off discount code for your first order.