drill press capper?

I just bought this on eBay and still waiting for it to ship. You chuck it into your drill press, and it turns your press into a bench capper. I've never seen one like it before and Google turned up nothing else like it either. Anybody else ever used such a thing? The price was right; $2.50 plus s/h and it includes 50 caps.

If I had a drill press, I'd be all over it. Great idea, just don't turn it on ;-)

I usually get the countertop pretty wet when bottling, aren't the decks of drillpresses usually bare steel?

Bobby_M said:

If I had a drill press, I'd be all over it. Great idea, just don't turn it on ;-)

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You only turn it on with screw top bottles, just pick the right direction

The table on a drill press (and many other similar surfaces on shop tools) will have some form of corrosion protection like a varnish or wax of some kind or they would rust do to the humidity in the air. That said I would still cap in a rubber made tub or something. I really might get one of these I think it looks like it would be kind of handy. I like the idea of standing up instead of being hunched over a table. I still have the 2 handed batwing capper and have been wanting to step up to something better. Please let us know how well it works.

So give it up, where do I get one?
Oh never mind, Ebay.
Edit: Can't find it though.

Nice simple way to have a bench capper without having to store the giant thing!

thats awesome! I'd just put a piece of plywood on the table and call it a day ( i use mine exclusively for woodworking), but I suppose metalworkers' drillpress tables have plenty of oil and coolant on them to not cause a problem.

pickles said:

thats awesome! I'd just put a piece of plywood on the table and call it a day ( i use mine exclusively for woodworking), but I suppose metalworkers' drillpress tables have plenty of oil and coolant on them to not cause a problem.

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I used a massive drill press in college for coring rock with water as the coolant. The bench would be soaked the entire time.

Just rinse off the beer residue with water, blow off with an air hose, the coat with WD 40. The press we used looked great after many years of watery work.

But plywood, plastic, or a bucket lid might work just as well.

Mine is a woodworking drill press; it has a slab of butcher block as the table. But I will put a plastic pan on the table and cap inside it. Interesting idea, turning it on for screw-top bottles...I wonder how slow I can make it run? I just won the bid & paid for it last night so it'll be a few days, but I'll post the results. I bought a handful of 187ml wine bottles to give away for Christmas and then discovered the mouth is too small for even a #7 wine cork. But they have a nice rim for capping, so capping it is, as soon as this comes in.

COLObrewer said:

So give it up, where do I get one?
Oh never mind, Ebay.
Edit: Can't find it though.

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There were only two; one with & one without some caps thrown in. I bid on both but missed the other one.

use a vmc.. back gear is your friend until the cap is on.


no. you crimp on threads the same. with my red baron i capped a couple 6ers of twist offs. worked fine.

jcobbs said:

Mine is a woodworking drill press; it has a slab of butcher block as the table. But I will put a plastic pan on the table and cap inside it. Interesting idea, turning it on for screw-top bottles...I wonder how slow I can make it run? I just won the bid & paid for it last night so it'll be a few days, but I'll post the results. I bought a handful of 187ml wine bottles to give away for Christmas and then discovered the mouth is too small for even a #7 wine cork. But they have a nice rim for capping, so capping it is, as soon as this comes in.

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LOL! If you even think about attempting this, you are ordered to have a friend video this event for posting on here. I can only imagine the mess from a drill press stepped down in speed to twist on OR off the caps..... wait a new way to uncap your beers

Pictures or it didn't happen

Tempting idea, but I only do small batches right now (gallon wines, 2.5 gallon beers). Can't afford to risk a whole bottle for the sake of a bunch of YouTube hits! Just for funsies, I could see opening a bottle with a drill press--if you had some kind of rubber disk on a spindle. Chuck it in the press and run it slow. You could either touch the edge of the cap to the edge of the disk, or run the drill in reverse and jam the cap up against the bottom of the disk for about a half-second. It could work....

...but that doesn't mean I'm going to try it!

So give it up, where do I get one?
Oh never mind, Ebay.
Edit: Can't find it though.

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Go to your LHB store and buy a replacement hand capper die (bell) for $2.99.
Insert a metric screw in case you drill press chuck opening can handle the diameter.
I removed the forming die from my hand capper and made a pneumatic capper.




Cheers,
Claudius

ClaudiusB said:

Go to your LHB store and buy a replacement hand capper die (bell) for $2.99.
Insert a metric screw in case you drill press chuck opening can handle the diameter.
I removed the forming die from my hand capper and made a pneumatic capper.

Cheers,
Claudius

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Thanx Claudius, I hadn't even thought of that, I have a couple extra barons, I'll just use one from there.

Very cool idea-- lots of ways you could do this now that I think about it... Bet I could chuck a piece of 1/2 or 3/4 inch dowel in a drill press and cork wine bottles too...use the little funnel/guide from my hand corker to compress them & get them started.

jcobbs said:

Very cool idea-- lots of ways you could do this now that I think about it... Bet I could chuck a piece of 1/2 or 3/4 inch dowel in a drill press and cork wine bottles too...use the little funnel/guide from my hand corker to compress them & get them started.

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YES DOOD!!!!!!!!!! that would be an easier one man job!!

So tonight I bottled up some wine and mead for holiday gifts. Chucked a flat-head bolt into the drill press, put a bottle under it, and pressed down. Corks went in smooth as silk! No problems whatsoever. Now as soon as my eBay capper attachment gets here I'm all set to cap and/or cork! (always wanted to use that little guy in a post...)

Cool idea! I would definitely put a piece of wood on the base, compressing the bottle on steel may break bottles.

CodeRage said:

Cool idea! I would definitely put a piece of wood on the base, compressing the bottle on steel may break bottles.

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Exactly what I did. My drill press has a butcherblock table, but I have to swing it out of the way to accomodate wine bottles. I still put down a piece of wood to set the bottles on--didn't want to place them directly on the steel base. For beer bottles and 187ml gift bottles I'll be able to set them on the butcherblock table.

jcobbs said:

I just bought this on eBay and still waiting for it to ship. You chuck it into your drill press, and it turns your press into a bench capper. I've never seen one like it before and Google turned up nothing else like it either. Anybody else ever used such a thing? The price was right; $2.50 plus s/h and it includes 50 caps.

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So this came in the mail today--it's basically a solid hunk of what looks to be stainless steel that has been milled to shape. Heavy-duty--it'll never need replacing, that's for sure. It has "Patent Pending" stamped on the side, so apparently it's someone's invention.

The instructions addressed both of the points brought up in this thread--(1) they recommend that you place bottles on a rubber pad, like one of those silicone hot pads, to avoid bottle damage and spillage; (2) In big bold letters it says "DO NOT TURN THE DRILL PRESS ON AT ANY TIME DURING THIS OPERATION" *sigh* Some people have no sense of adventure

I chucked it up and capped a couple right quick and it seems to work great. The instructions say it works just as well with twist-off bottles, but I haven't tried that yet. I'll give that a go sometime soon.

My recommendation--if the fellow continues to sell them anywhere near as cheap as I got mine I'd say get one if you can. You'll certainly never need another one as long as you don't lose it--it's not going to get damaged unless you accidentally manage to get it between your anvil and your sledgehammer while blacksmithing Otherwise using a spare capper bell is a good alternative.

So far I'm having fun finding alternative versions of homebrewing equipment. Now I just need to figure out a super-cheap alternative kegging system. Hmmm, I wonder if we ever got rid of that old aquarium....

what was the seller's name? Could you provide a link to their store?

here's what every brewer needs

jcobbs said:

it's not going to get damaged unless you accidentally manage to get it between your anvil and your sledgehammer while blacksmithing

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Oh well nuts, I guess I should keep it out of my forge then.

mitch171 said:

what was the seller's name? Could you provide a link to their store?

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There wasn't a store--just an individual listing on eBay IIRC. He only had two listed--one with a handful of caps and one without. I messed around and missed the first one, and so I just stuck a minimum bid on the second one. Came home the next night to find out I had won--nobody even bid against me. Might just search eBay for "drill press bottle capper" and see if he posts any more. Sounds like somebody had an idea for a product and is just testing the waters.

jcobbs said:

There wasn't a store--just an individual listing on eBay IIRC. He only had two listed--one with a handful of caps and one without. I messed around and missed the first one, and so I just stuck a minimum bid on the second one. Came home the next night to find out I had won--nobody even bid against me. Might just search eBay for "drill press bottle capper" and see if he posts any more. Sounds like somebody had an idea for a product and is just testing the waters.

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jcobbs,

this is just an idea, but you could message him through Ebay letting him know the response on HBT. In fact send him/her links to the main page and to this thread you started. He might be willing to become a vendor on here and sell to the masses of homebrewers instead of the masses of Ebay bidders.

Good idea--I need to leave him some positive feedback anyway; he shipped it right out when I bought it. You don't always get that from eBay...

Brew-Happy said:

jcobbs,

this is just an idea, but you could message him through Ebay letting him know the response on HBT. In fact send him/her links to the main page and to this thread you started. He might be willing to become a vendor on here and sell to the masses of homebrewers instead of the masses of Ebay bidders.

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Thanks-- I left him a message suggesting he read the discussion here--kept it very general--didn't want it construed as an offer to transact outside of eBay. But I think if he reads this thread he'll get the idea there's a market for his little gadget

jcobbs said:

Thanks-- I left him a message suggesting he read the discussion here--kept it very general--didn't want it construed as an offer to transact outside of eBay. But I think if he reads this thread he'll get the idea there's a market for his little gadget

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I think he would have more full priced sales here than hit-and-miss auctions on E-bay.

He might be able to design a tip for corking wine bottles and offer them as a set. It would be a ton of fun to have a metal lathe:rockin:

Hey, it would be quite easy make a jig to hold the bottle in the perfect place - just get a piece of plywood, drill the right diameter hole for the base of a bottle, clamp it to the bench, and voila!

I would definitely be in for one.

Hey, it would be quite easy make a jig to hold the bottle in the perfect place - just get a piece of plywood, drill the right diameter hole for the base of a bottle, clamp it to the bench, and voil

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I made a jig for my antique pneumatic capper.




Cheers,
ClaudiusB

I got an email from the gentleman with the cappers, so I passed along the suggestion that he offer them on here. Maybe he will consider it. In the meantime he listed another one on eBay. Not sure why he just puts them on one at a time, but anyway...

Hope it's OK to post the link here--if not let me know & I'll be good from now on I promise...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bottle-Capper-For-Use-With-Drill-Press_W0QQitemZ190356618419QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2c52237cb3#ht_566wt_958

ClaudiusB said:

I made a jig for my antique pneumatic capper.

Cheers,
ClaudiusB

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All right dude! Did you machine that thing? Looks good. Let's have some info..

delrin insert, aluminum base plate, mild steel stand?

I just ordered one... less than $11 including shipping. I plan on placing a piece of rubber (like the round piece you buy at Wal-Mart to help open jar lids) on the deck of the press and voila... instant bottle capper for very small price. Supposedly even caps twist off bottles...
I can't believe only 4 people have bought this item... stainless steel.

All right dude! Did you machine that thing? Looks good. Let's have some info..

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Sudbuster what info do like to know?


Cheers,
ClaudiusB

One of the greatest inventions ever.

Don't you see what this guy has done. Make something simple that works for a hobby, then market. People without drill presses will have an excuse to beg the SWMBO for a drill press. "Honey, if you don't want me capping on the counter, I really need to get a drill press and capper so I can go to the garage". "Wait, we don't have a garage, guess I need one of those too". "So that drill press comes in handy for things other than capping beer, bet it would be really useful if I had a bandsaw too...." And so on.

This guy is a genius.

McKBrew said:

One of the greatest inventions ever.

Don't you see what this guy has done. Make something simple that works for a hobby, then market. People without drill presses will have an excuse to beg the SWMBO for a drill press. "Honey, if you don't want me capping on the counter, I really need to get a drill press and capper so I can go to the garage". "Wait, we don't have a garage, guess I need one of those too". "So that drill press comes in handy for things other than capping beer, bet it would be really useful if I had a bandsaw too...." And so on.

This guy is a genius.

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Tell your wife to do like my wife is doing... the house is so crowded with brewing equipment that she is going to put a mobile home on the lower part of the hill (or on the higher part... undecided) and leave me the house for my brewing.