Pics of a bottle capper im working on

Just thought id post this (I hope the image shows up) to see what people think. I've seen a lot of other neat ideas for diy cappers, this one is complete overkill but it was fun to build. It weighs about 15 pounds and is made mostly of 6061 aluminum with a steel base and 4130 CroMo tube for the height adjustment. the thing slides on a steel dovetail and has interchangeable capping bells.

The machining puts my DIY bench capper to shame, but its weight and expense are ridiculous! Assuming you used scrap and cutoffs for the pieces, NICE JOB!

yea, all scrap i've got tons of scrap 6061 laying around after my brother made a fixture for building bicycle frames there was a lot of left over. I still have a little more work to do on it, but i thought the overkill of it would be good for a laugh.

LOL.. I hope you were just looking for a project to practice machining. Talk about over engineered!! Awesome. You're gonna polish it up right?

Im also looking for more project ideas since I have plenty of metal scrap and fortunately / unfortunately a lot of free time right now. So whatever crazy projects you can think of, let me know. I would like to build a pump for moving hot water and wort around, im not really sure what I would have to do to keep it food grade & temp resistant also if a centrifugal pump would be enough or if I need a positive displacement pump. I've seen some cool peristaltic pumps http://users.adelphia.net/~markvalk/pump.htm
but I dont really need to move the grain around, just hot liquids so that seems unnecessary .

I think a malt mill is an obvious choice.

Definitely a peristaltic pump would be awesome! Talk about über DIY homebrew porn!

Sounds like the perfect opportunity to build your own plate chiller.

I think you'd need to build a press to make an efficient plate chiller as everyone I've ever seen has that distinct chevron pattern.

Anodize that thing!

Id love to build a plate chiller but im not even sure how they work, I dont have one to dissect and I havent been able to find any diagrams.

The grain mill is on my list but based on the tools (knurling tool for lathe) and the materials (stainless for the rollers and probably gears or pulleys to link the 2 rollers) it would be cheaper to buy one. I also dont think I can do anything better than the store bought ones so I really dont have a good reason to spend so much time and money on that.

If any one can provide a diagram or even good description of the inner workings of a plate chiller I'd be very great full.

home made mill is not that hard nor expensive and stainless rollers not necessary
Truley love the capper

are those cement rollers?

If you have the materials, I'd second the peristaltic pump motion. I've wanted to build one myself as for the reasons cited in the link, they do tend to be overpriced. And they are more fun to watch operate than a March pump.

no...not cement, they are stainless but hardened steel is just as good (see pretty much any mill on the market) I'd go as far to say hardened steel is better than stainless rollers. Mine are just covered with grain dust. A good buddy of mine made that mill for me with just a picture from I think the Crankandstein site, he was in need of a project for a machinest course and I was in need of a mill

That capper needs some gold leaf, maybe some spinnas.... oooh and hydraulics! It HAS to have hydraulics.

Im having trouble getting the crimping piece the right shape so that it puts the caps on tight without getting stuck in the capper. I though about getting a replacement bell for a store bought capper there only like 3 bucks but i can only find the European kind. and suggestion on how to machine one of these or places i can get one cheap?

That's great. But it needs racing stripes.

I would definitely like to build a grain mill next or maybe the project after that, this one looks nice https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=12858
but im a little concerned about just using plain steel. I've read that iron can denature the amylase enzymes needed for brewing, I dont know how much iron might get into the grain but I imagine if the rollers rusted it would flake off and quite a bit could end up in my mash. unfortunately i can afford stainless steel and i dont think aluminum would hold up, does anyone know what the commercial mills use for rollers? there are a lot of plastics out there does anyone know of a plastic that might hold up as mill rollers?