Non Screw top bottle broke while corking

[beggarsu]

Non Screw top bottle broke while corking - not a screw top.

Corking with a two handled floor corker. I was unhurt as I always cork with my feet spread wide apart and the handles were of course also far apart.

The bottle was a "stray" - clear see through , used to have a fruit wine, someone gave it to me - shattered at the top.

I had corked a few bottles using my method of wetting the cork a bit with sulphide solution to help it go in. I know there is advice against this, though it is difficult to maintain consistency with a two handled floor corker ad I often get 'mushroom' corkings. But I tried a dry cork, I met resistance and I shattered the bottle.

From now on - I wet the corks so long as I don't have a floor corker.

---I made a nice save , I still had a full bottle of wine , I filtered it through a wire filter and a coffee filter . Waste not, want not - I would do that if I won the lottery, I just can't change my nature.

Don't worry, I 'll drink it myself , not give it to some poor soul.

 

[cimbaliw]

Bummer Beggarsu, what size corks were you using?

 

[Runningwolf]

You said..."Corking with a two handled floor corker." You later say you don't have a floor corker. Which is it?

Honestly it doesn't matter. Corking thousands of bottles at work, we will on occasion have a bottle break on us. As with anything, some things do get past quality control. Just ensure you are using the right cork for the right bottle. I am totally 100% against wetting corks, but I understand with hand corkers it is a necessity.

 

[dralarms]

Agree witn Dan, I used to wet mine too but was actually have had corks rise back up. I simply insert them with the floor corker and ifI have one tthatis stubborn I use the hammer corker.

 

[NoSnob]

You said..."Corking with a two handled floor corker." You later say you don't have a floor corker. Which is it?

Honestly it doesn't matter. Corking thousands of bottles at work, we will on occasion have a bottle break on us. As with anything, some things do get past quality control. Just ensure you are using the right cork for the right bottle. I am totally 100% against wetting corks, but I understand with hand corkers it is a necessity.

I could be wrong but I think he meant he was using a two handled corker held on the floor between his feet.

Using a floor corker lets you use longer and wider corks resulting in easier corking and better seals. I decided early on the floor corker was the best way to go. Even so, I have broken a bottle or two - it's to be expected as there is an occasional bottle with invisible hairline cracks that give way under pressure of corking.

NS

 

[JohnT]

That is what I think he meant as well. Perhaps one of these?

Dan, could you expand on why you do not like to wet corks? I know that there are several reasons, and that this is almost unheard of in professional operations, but I was wondering what your particular reasons might be.

I too have had bottles break. I remember in my early years, making the mistake of letting my father use a hammer corker. The man swung a hammer for a living and decided to really give the cork a good shot.... "mop up aisle 9".

A lever corker, although more gentle than a hammer corker, still exerts a whole bunch of force. Once I switched to a proper floor corker, I found that it is very rare to have a bottle break while corking. The floor corker squeezes the cork to the diameter of a thick pencil, then a pin inserts the cork into the bottle. by far the best option.

Breaks, although rare, do happen.

 

[wineforfun]

Using a floor corker lets you use longer and wider corks resulting in easier corking and better seals. NS

What do you mean by a "longer and wider" cork, ie: what size are you talking?
I currently use a #9 1 3/4" with a cheap, red hand corker. Are there longer, wider corks available? These are as long and as wide as my LHBS carries.
I, also, slightly wet my corks for easier installation.

 

[beggarsu]

I use # 9 corks.
Regular length - I am just making a casual hobby level. The longer length is supposed to be for a better seal for long term storage I think.

In the batch I had thrown in a screw top because it was clear and I wanted some to see the fluid clearly . So when it broke I thought - OK! no more screw tops! but hen I realized - Hey! that wasn't the screw top!!! Surprise surprise!
The screw top corked OK actually.

My bottles come from the bottle depot and lately I got lucky - right now I got a fine collection of a several beautiful standard types - non screw top - but I still got leftovers and occasionally a batch of my bottles will look like a pirate crew.


I use the two handled corker something like pictured above.


I believe the bottle was not regular - someone gave it to me and come to think of it,it looked different or maybe weaker. it was clear glass.

Whatever, I think it was just a one off and probably a floor corker would have had the same result.

I do not hold the bottle between my feet precisely if the bottle should break I do not want to slice an artery. I stand in martial arts horse stance (it's good MA practice) - my stance and the bottle is very firm - the bottle did not waver, it simply broke.

It is very much a hand art using a two handled corker - you really need experience and have to feel it because the corking can vary from going in too far to mushrooming out. It all depends on technique , consistency of technique and how to exert the pressure and vary the pressure from beginning to end of the corking action

Each bottle type is different , besides screw adjustment the pressure technique has to change according to bottle type/brand.

The rubber wore off my corker , so I use a small rubber length from an old bike inner tube , held in place by a pony tail band. Each time I have to make sure the rubber and bottle is dry but the cork is slightly wet. Making slightly wet gives much more control and makes sure they can get in levelly - I'd say it was a necessity for the two handled corker. I wasted many corks trying dry and not getting it right on it and this last one was another experiment with dry and my last experiment with that.



I know - it's supposed to be bad perhaps seal wise for extreme long term storage but I am just making at a hobby level and just making standard wines not keeping much for the long term. After a year I have had no cork seal problems of what is left of last years' two hundred.

I'm at the end of a second round - 200 winter hobby bottle run before summer. So if I start remaking in the fall and I'm still living in this place, I will boost my equipment, but for now , this will do and is good experience.