Ruth Niles Bottlestoppers

[Rob Holcomb]

I'm hoping someone here can help me. I purchased the 10 pack of #301 stoppers from Ruth Niles (Very nice woman by the way) but I'm not a wine drinker so I don't have any bottles to test the fit of the stoppers. Every other bottle I had, the stopper didn't fit. Either the mouth was too small or too large for the rubber O-Rings to seat properly. For those of you that have purchased these stoppers and also have tested the fit in wine bottles, do they create a good seal? Thanks

[Kenneth Hertzog]

Rob
Yes I've turned Ruth Niles stoppers and they do seal
but like the others I still would not lay the bottle down
and count on it not leaking.
but they do seal well
Ken

[Willie Wax]

Rob,

I also use the Ruth Niles stoppers and have found that they do a good job of sealing. I have noticed the same as you that there appears to be no standard size of the opening for wine bottles, but I have yet to come across one that the stopper just did not fit. I do agree though, you shouldn't count on the stopper if the bottle is laid down.

Cheers!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I could be wrong....some of you wine experts correct me if necessary. I thought I read somewhere the reason they lay the wine on the side is to keep the cork moist so that it doesn't dry out and deteriorate.

I use Ruth's winestoppers and have had no problems.

[Kenneth Hertzog]

Ken F is correct it is to keep the cork moist
however the people that I have sold them to
wanted to know who was putting it back in the frig.
it should be finished ( so I was told )
and it is the night before a holiday:p
Happy Thanksgiving everyone
ken

[Jim Burr]

Both Ken's are on the money. But you can also use the stoppers for beer (big bottles), vinegars, oils...olive and such. Oh yeah...works well in Champagne bottles too!

[Dan Hintz]

My SO and I go through enough bottles to give a thumbs up to both Kens... but I'll admit we do put bottles back in the fridge from time to time. I like my whites a lot colder than the wine fridge gets them.

[Alan Zenreich]

...and I advise that people use these lovely bottlestoppers tableside.

If anything needs to go back into the refrigerator, I suggest they replace the cork. I don't see any need to subject the wood to the low temps and humidity of a refrigerator.

[Greg Just]

I have been using Ruth's wine bottle stoppers and have not had any problems with bottles leaking while they are on their side. They are the best I have purchased.

[Jake Helmboldt]

Rob, unlike others I have encountered that problem with Ruth's design. The size differences of the o-rings are too great to seal many bottles. I'd say that about 1/4 to 1/3 of wind bottles don't get a good seal as a result (either too loose or too tight).

[Barbara Gill]

I have left a half full bottle on it's side overnight and Ruth's stopper did not leak a drop. I would still be reluctant to store a bottle this way since if the stopper is bumped it might loose the seal.
I too will not use any other stoppers. IMHO they are the best on the market.

[Rob Holcomb]

That's been my worry. These will be gifts for those in my family that are wine drinkers. Like I said in my post, every bottle I have at my home, the stopper won't seal. Either the stopper slides in past the first o-ring (too loose) to the 2nd o-ring where it's too big to slide into the mouth to create a seal. I wonder if the manufacturer of the stoppers could design an o-ring that was wider which would then seal pretty much any bottle. Like in the pic I drew

http://www.robholcomb.com/stopper.jpg

[Dan Hintz]

Rob,

Those do exist... I can't remember which company I saw that sold them, but it was most likely Penn State, Rockler, or Lee Valley...

[Greg Just]

http://www.woodnwhimsies.com/media/PennState/bs1wA.jpg

This is what PSI sells. Never tried one so I don't know if they work on all bottles.

[Dan Hintz]

That's what I saw, Greg... I would think those would work better, regardless of bottle size.

[Jake Helmboldt]

Arizona Sillouhettes makes stainless stoppers with that kind of continuous seal. Most of the others are a chrome finish which can flake off.

I have never used the Arizona stoppers, so I can't speak to their actual sealing capability, but if I do more stoppers I intend to give them a try next to see if I like them better.

Ruth is very nice and helpful, her product is well made, but I've not been fully satisfied with the inconsistent sealing capability.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I use the one from Arizona Silhouette. The chrome one's from PSI will corrode and peel if laid down.

[Rob Wachala Jr]

I've been using the stainless steel cone or droplet from http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Projects___Bottle_Stoppers___Stainless_Steel_Bottl e_Stopper___stainless_stoppers?Args=

for a couple years now. I only use stainless steel because they will not pit or flake off like chrome will. These sit up out of the top of the bottle like so :

http://tree-spun.com/rob/top.jpg

I have taken product photos before with a bottle on it's side with liquid in it. They held for about 20 minutes or so before they began to leak. So I think if your intent is to have people use them to store wine on it's side for any length of time you are probably taking a risk with either design.

My major gripe with this design is at the top there is a small raised platform :

http://tree-spun.com/rob/top2.jpg


This causes the top to sit slightly higher which gives you a little space between the steel and wood. This slightly annoys me. Other than that I've never had any complaints.

I was thinking of trying Ruth Niles stoppers as I've seen many on here and another forum speak highly of them. However, after your post regarding them not fitting in a lot of bottles I may have to stick to these.

[Rob Holcomb]

Rob, the bottles I couldn't get them to fit in, are similar size to wine bottle opening's but they aren't wine bottles so I have no direct knowledge if they fit a wine bottle. My wife and I don't drink wine so we have no bottles to test the stoppers on. I turned a couple stoppers on Wednesday of this week. If I can get my camera to take a decent picture, I'll post a new thread with them.

[Jake Helmboldt]

Rob, the bottles I couldn't get them to fit in, are similar size to wine bottle opening's but they aren't wine bottles so I have no direct knowledge if they fit a wine bottle. My wife and I don't drink wine so we have no bottles to test the stoppers on. I turned a couple stoppers on Wednesday of this week. If I can get my camera to take a decent picture, I'll post a new thread with them.

Rob, there is no standard wine bottle opening and they can vary considerably. Of the bottles that I noted that didn't fit, all of them were wine bottles, so it is a roll of the dice. That is why I'm inclined to give the Arizona Silhouettes a try.

[Steve Kubien]

At one gallery showing my work, I have a wine bottle filled with water lying on its side directly over top of my pens, using one of Ruth Niles stoppers. I have NEVER lost a drop and the bottles to get switched up from time to time. One of the selling features for me is that you can lay an open bottle down in the fridge, since a lot of fridges don't have enough room to stand them up.

[Patrick Doody]

I bought some like that at craft supplies USA, I liked the stainless steel ones that they sell, it seemed to seal the bottle pretty well. Good luck!