Bottle Cappers?

Can't take the bottle capper I have anymore..

I want a counter top or wall mount unit that doesn't rely on grabbing the bottle neck to force (pull down) the cap on... Instead I want the kind that 'presses' down with a single lever..

However I have read some reviews on line of this model or that that are cheaply made with plastic pegs and pins that shear off..

I want something that works on all bottles, is sturdy/reliable, and doesn't break the bank...

Been looking at some used antique ones on ebay made from cast iron, that look sturdy, but I honestly don't know anything about them.. plus shipping tends to ruin the deal on these...

I am not averse to making my own if it'll save me some money... I have all the tools one could possibly need, (welder, chop saw, drill press, woodworking shop, etc...).. and I would just go that route anyways except for the actual cup that presses the cap.. not sure where to buy one or what to make on out of..

Anyways.. looking for some advice, experiences, pointers, caveats, etc.

Thanks,
Mark

I bought this one and have been happy with it so far. I'll be able to use it for corking and capping. Nice and sturdy too.

You can buy a cheap POS...or you can spend the money and get a decent bench capper that is of a quality build. I have a bench capper and it makes capping a lot better for all the reasons you mentioned.

Go try a bench capper out at your LHBS and see what the difference is.
Spend only what you think is fair for the quality and convenience...it's probably more than you think.

Quality and convenience come at a price.....that's a fact of life.

I've used the Sumer Agata for almost a year. So far so good. Love the thing, but I mostly keg. So, it gets used sparingly. I love the fact it doesn't care how tall the bottle are. It self adjusts and crimps.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Q638P2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

static said:

I bought this one and have been happy with it so far. I'll be able to use it for corking and capping. Nice and sturdy too.

Click to expand...

I also have this one.

Hammy71 said:

I've used the Sumer Agata for almost a year. So far so good. Love the thing, but I mostly keg. So, it gets used sparingly. I love the fact it doesn't care how tall the bottle are. It self adjusts and crimps.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Q638P2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Click to expand...

+1 for me.. i'm same situation.. i usually bottle about 25% of my brews, though this thing does make it easy..

you could just unscrew the bell off the capper you already have and reuse that, or most shops sell both the us and european ones online or your lhbs can order you one. i have the champagne corker with capping attachment and it's very sturdy, not cheap though.

I would seriously suggest getting one of those cast iron antiquey ones off Ebay.
Clean it up, paint it, mount it on a base of pine board and go to town.
It makes all the difference in bottling. These things were made here in the US to get the job done - not some fiddly, aluminum/plastic POS.
Weren't these made in Prohibition days? You'll be carrying on a good tradition and get some good Kharma in the bargain.
Cheers!

I've been using a flimsy plastic bench cappers for 15 years.
One is a Ferrari (5 years), one is the old manual adjust Agata(15 years).
both work as good as they did new.

static said:

I bought this one and have been happy with it so far. I'll be able to use it for corking and capping. Nice and sturdy too.

Click to expand...

+1 Love mine, saves lots of time. :rockin:

pohldogg said:

you could just unscrew the bell off the capper you already have and reuse that, or most shops sell both the us and european ones online or your lhbs can order you one. i have the champagne corker with capping attachment and it's very sturdy, not cheap though.

Click to expand...

DAMN!

That's so freakin' obvious! I usually don't miss solutions like that....

Anyways, I bought one of the Colona cappers at the LHBS... at $50 for some plastic, it's way expensive for what it is...

Oktavius.. I was really wanting to go that way, but I would have had to wait a week for auctions to end, and then the shipping was making it so those things were more expensive than the new... But they just looked so much more substantial... I was really tempted to just bite the bullet and pay the $20-40 shipping on one...

But if this one fails on me, I'm gonna take the bell off of it and build a freakin' monster!

how much of a monster do you need to crimp 30ga sheet metal onto glass?

amandabab said:

how much of a monster do you need to crimp 30ga sheet metal onto glass?

Click to expand...

One that doesn't cause me to give bad reviews on Amazon because the adjustment pin shears off because it's made of plastic...

I Like my Colona capper. For the price and what it does I am happy.

So I have been reading up on the cappers. Lots of differing opinions out there about the best one to buy, counter vs everything. Amazon, Ebay, Google, Brew sites. The ones that look good are expensive. The affordable ones look like crap. Then I was reading the forums here and someone was talking about an old capper they found on ebay and I realized that old POS press I got out of my grandfathers estate was not a POS press at all but a quality crafted counter/benchtop capper!!! I seriously thought is was a specialty press for valves or some such thing. There was a cap stuck in it even that I had not noticed. The handle pulls out for bottle height adjustments. Is there supposed to be a cork ring inside the head?

Vintage Countertop Capper