Long time lurker. I searched a bunch without finding an answer and rather than starting my own thread, I figured it best to jump in on a current capping thread with numerous contributors rather than resuscitating an older thread. Apologies to OP if needed.
I just got done capping over 400 bottles in 2 days w my wing capper. It works. There must be better products though, and today I bought an interesting bench style capper off Craigslist similar to the Super Agata, it's an "antique" Supreme C embossed in the cast iron. There are several of these on ebay currently. It does work, but it seems to me that the style caps used when this capper was in vogue were smaller diameter than modern caps(?). This capper does work, though it dimples the center of the cap, and the cap gets stuck fairly tightly in the bell and needs to be wrestled free.
I'm looking for input here, and for anyone who has used/is familiar with this old school upright cast-iron capper. I am considering machining out the inside of the bell to a larger dimension on a lathe, or just going with it as is, or merely putting it on a shelf as a tchotke in the man cave.
I don't have photos yet, but FWIW, here's one on ebay for likely a limited time, just so you can see what it looks like.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/391618502089?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true
I have discovered that if I put the gasket from a Grolsch style flip top bottle inside the top of the bell, it doesn't dimple the cap center, and it doesn't jam as deeply onto the cap and trap my bottle. But still, if I am going to use this for future volume bottling, I will need to open up the diameter of the bell for modern cap sizes. Generally I'm bottling about 30 gallons at a go.
I'm wondering if someone could spoon feed me a tutorial on modern standard cap sizes used in most popular brands, like Kona and Sam Adams 12 ounce bottles, comparisons with older caps/bottles like 40's-50's era, and if my proposed remedy seems to have much merit.
Cheers, all.
