Handy Home-made tools...

[JohnT]

Anybody got a neat home-made winemaking tool?

I was taking classes in blacksmithing and ended up making a number of forks (to use in stirring grape skins in between pressings). Suffices to say that I do not have a bladder press!



This leads to comments like "time to fork it" and "fork it sideways", etc. This has been a great source or entertainment over the years.

 

[olusteebus]

nice work. Looks like a tool of mass destruction.

 

[wildhair]

I mentioned in a different thread that I had made a jig for holding the bottles while I cork them. I have a double handle corker that does require some push to seat the cork and my wife is seldom around when I could use a bottle holder.

First I made a simple jig using some 4" plastic pipe and a 4"x3" insert. This holds most 1.5L and 750ml bottles very well. It clamps to the table and is very stable. There is a ridge inside the 4" piece that I ground down with a Dremel tool. I cut a 4" plug and screwed it inside the bottom end and then glued and screwed a piece of 1"X4" to eh bottom of that so the clamp had something to hold down.


I also have some Verdi bottles which are too fat for the 3" insert, but a little sloppy in the 4" pipe. So I slip the insert over the bottle - holds it nice & snug.

 

[wildhair]

But I also discovered that I have some "fat bottom" 1.5L that don't fit in the 4" pipe and I like to put up some wine in the small 375ml "gift" bottles. So I made a 2nd jig.
I used a cedar 2X6, cut the holes with a hole saw - 4 1/4 ", 4", 3 1/4" and 2 5/8". This will hold every different size bottle that I have.



NOte - the insert (4" X 3" ) I used in the plastic pipe also fits the 4 1/4" hole in this set-up.

 

[NorCal]

My favorite is my foot activated laser label alligner. Nothing say amateur like inconsistent or crooked labels.

 

[Jal5]

I mentioned in a different thread that I had made a jig for holding the bottles while I cork them. I have a double handle corker that does require some push to seat the cork and my wife is seldom around when I could use a bottle holder.

First I made a simple jig using some 4" plastic pipe and a 4"x3" insert. This holds most 1.5L and 750ml bottles very well. It clamps to the table and is very stable. There is a ridge inside the 4" piece that I ground down with a Dremel tool. I cut a 4" plug and screwed it inside the bottom end and then glued and screwed a piece of 1"X4" to eh bottom of that so the clamp had something to hold down.
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I also have some Verdi bottles which are too fat for the 3" insert, but a little sloppy in the 4" pipe. So I slip the insert over the bottle - holds it nice & snug.

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thanks I think I can make up something like this nd probably have the materials or almost all of it in the garage. Joe

 

[wildhair]

thanks I think I can make up something like this nd probably have the materials or almost all of it in the garage. Joe

Yep - the only thing I didn't have was the hole saws, but you could use a saber saw instead.

 

[Ajmassa]

I thought I could make a paper towel holder out of some extra galvanized steel fittings I had. Had to buy a bunch to finish tho. But at least it looks cool.
Instead of a milk crate or something I cut a bunch of 3” pvc glued together to use for bottling 12 at a time. This thing works great.
And my punchdown tool. Scrap oak from around the shop. I had some time to kill that day.

 

[Ajmassa]

But I also discovered that I have some "fat bottom" 1.5L that don't fit in the 4" pipe and I like to put up some wine in the small 375ml "gift" bottles. So I made a 2nd jig.
I used a cedar 2X6, cut the holes with a hole saw - 4 1/4 ", 4", 3 1/4" and 2 5/8". This will hold every different size bottle that I have.

So if someone gifted you w floor corker would you even use it? Or continue using the hand corker with your whole customized system? Because I could see not wanting to abandon your current setup that has adapted with your needs. But a floor corker? That is one fine piece of equipment.

 

[wildhair]

I've never been known to turn down a gift - that would be rude...........and against every fiber of my Scottish being. Do you have floor corker you are giving me? LOL
That "whole customized system" (a most generous description, I might add) took all of a few minutes and a few dollars to make. I'm sure I'd adapt, recycle, re-purpose and re-use my "system" for something else.....in a heartbeat.

 

[meadmaker1]

There's something to be said for how a table or floor corker looks sitting in you work area, next to your press and vacuum pump. Lol.

 

[NorCal]

Made 4 carriers out of some plywood, to keep bottles from falling in between stations when friends and family were bottling.