crown cappers

[brewjohn]

For quite a while I have used the black 2 handled youngs capper. After a while it used to slip off the bottle and the problem was the 2 x "U" shaped metal pieces had worn on the edges and did not grip. I removed the rivets and took them out and filed them flat again. After a short while the problem came back.I acquired a black and decker drill stand from a friend and using the bit of the youngs capper with the cup piece on I screwed this to a small piece of wood which was in turn screwed to the drill stand. I now had a simple bench capper. it does the job ok but I am surprised as to how much pressure it takes to pull the handle down and secure the cap ? I think the problem might be the design or shape of the cup as it did need a fair bit of muscle when in the youngs capper. if any one uses a Youngs capper does it need quite an effort to cap and if any one uses a bought bench capper is it quite an easy job to pull down the handle and cap ? Videos on u-tube seem to show that it is.

[6470zzy]

This is the one that I have used for several years now, although I bottle less and less theses days. It takes more effort to release the bottle from the capper than it does to cap the bottle
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/colo ... apper.html

Cheers

[oldbloke]

I have a bench capper (Colt I think) and it does take a good bit of force - my 10yr old can't do it! Mostly knack rather than being puny I think, but still.
I think I remember being a bit nervous the first time I used it but now I just give it some welly and it's easy enough.

[brewjohn]

thanks for that. perhaps I should eat plenty of spinach before I bottle !!!

[lord.president]

I got a Ferrari bench capper off fleabay. One of the best items I have. Takes much less pressure than the winged capper I had.

[lord groan]

i built my own bench capper the same way as you - I used the bell from an old hammer capper screwed to a block of wood which I mounted in the neck of the drill stand, and yes it takes quite a bit of force to cap a bottle, I did find there was a sweet spot though, when the handle of the dril stand is close to horizontal just as it starts to press on the cap worked best for me. Maximum leverage when the handle is horizontal I guess. A bit of tweaking to the height was need when I had bottles of different heights.

[brewjohn]

I don't bother to reset the height for different bottles even 330ml ones. I measured the height diference than what it was set for and use different pieces of wood under the bottle for shims ! I mainly use 1 pint magners and the 500 ml ones I have are all the same height so its quite simple to cap them in batches starting with the magners first. Once I have saved enough magners I could disperse with the rest.i have a few friends saving them for me !

[Fil]

stick a handle extension onto the drill stand lever, a 4ft bit of steel pipe will make it easy