bottle stoppers

[Wally Wenzel]

Making my first stoppers and wondering what kind of glue you use on the stainless stopper to attach the wood handle.
Thanks, Wally

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Wally,

Generally, I turn the mating surface slightly concave and then I use 5 minute epoxy to glue the stopper to the wooden handle. Also, I place a little 5 minute epoxy around the mating surfaces to seal the joint so nothing can get in there to contaminate the wine. If a little of the epoxy seeps out when I screw them together, I used a rag dipped in DNA (denatured alcohol) to wipe off the squeeze out. DNA can be used to thin epoxy BTW.

[Matt Mackinnon]

I us a 3/8-16 bottoming tap. has worked great so far.

313672

[Doug W Swanson]

Once I pull the blank off the mandrel, I will seal the end of it. Then I use a little CA to glue the blank to the stopper. Works well for me...

[John K Jordan]

I use epoxy. I usually use the straight-shaft Ruth Niles stainless stoppers. She also carries a threaded version. I like to turn a lip that just fits over the top of the stopper.

JKJ

[Steve Schlumpf]

Wally, I have used CA and also yellow wood glue - both work well.

[Geoff Whaling]

Slow setting epoxy for metal / wood and Titebond II for dowels used in Silicone stoppers. Usually use aquarium grade silicone sealant to glue silicone stoppers to the dowel.

I like JKJ's setup but I turn slightly differently. I turn the base surface & drill (or tap) the hole in one operation. Then I reverse the blank onto a tight fit dowel for a straight dowel or a threaded mandrel ( a bolt shaft ) held into an ER 25 or ER32 collet chuck. http://vermec.tripod.com/PDFs/ER32_Page.pdf No doubt there are similar in the USA like the http://www.bealltool.com/products/turning/colletchuck.php

[John King]

Never use epoxy, CA or any other hard/brittle adhesive to bond metal (does not move) with wood (that may move). Use some sort of flexible adhesive - E-6000, Goop, silicone, etc. - John

[Steve Mellott]

I use threaded stoppers, but I also use epoxy as insurance. Have never had a problem.

[Geoff Whaling]

Never use epoxy, CA or any other hard/brittle adhesive to bond metal (does not move) with wood (that may move). Use some sort of flexible adhesive - E-6000, Goop, silicone, etc. - John

This site is very handy to make glue selection choices, http://www.adhesive.com/types

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Actually at least two different adhesive sites recommend using epoxy for joining metal to wood when small surfaces are involved. Considering bottle stoppers are generally sealed with a finish, I don't think there is enough movement in the wood for it to matter what kind of adhesive one might use. Use that with which you are comfortable.

[Doug W Swanson]

Actually at least two different adhesive sites recommend using epoxy for joining metal to wood when small surfaces are involved. Considering bottle stoppers are generally sealed with a finish, I don't think there is enough movement in the wood for it to matter what kind of adhesive one might use. Use that with which you are comfortable.

I also look at the sizes of the stoppers. Sure you'll have movement on a large table but I'd be very surprised if there was any noticeable movement on a bottle stopper....

[Thom Sturgill]

I also look at the sizes of the stoppers. Sure you'll have movement on a large table but I'd be very surprised if there was any noticeable movement on a bottle stopper....

Actually I would think the metal would move more than the wood. Wood expands and contracts primarily with humidity changes, metal with temperature. So putting a relatively warm stopper in a cold bottle might cause metal contraction that would be uniform in all directions. Both CA and epoxy have formulas that remain flexible for long times.

[John K Jordan]

Four things make me not worry about joining stainless steel and wood with epoxy on my bottle stoppers. One, as mentioned, is the scale - I join dimensions of 3/8" dia by 1/2" length. The absolute dimensional difference between metal and wood for both temperature and humidity is small at this scale. Second, the longest dimension is along the end grain of the wood which has the least amount of movement due to humidity. Third, as mentioned, the wood is sealed, often very well sealed in bottle stoppers. Lastly, I personally use exotics such as cocobolo and other rosewoods which move very little once dry, even when unsealed, due to pores packed with resins which limit air exchange.

I have never experienced a failure on a bottle stopper using epoxy. Now if I wanted to join a long metal rod or plate tangential to the rings in poorly sealed oak (or insufficiently dry dogwood!), yes, I might reconsider using a rigid or brittle glue. Threaded shafts are pretty stable in most anything.

JKJ

[Guy Belleman]

Metal expansion is very small, on the order of 10^-6 units per degree. For stainless steel, it is about 10x10^-6 in/in-F. So, if a stopper was taken from room temperature and put in the refrigerator, the change in the 3/8" threaded part of the stopper would be about 0.0004 inches, which is unlikely to be much of a factor. One site states that seasonal wood changes due to humidity vary from .7 to 1.2%, so the 3/8" hole in the wood would change about 0.00375", or about 10 times that of the metal. These rates are fairly small, and as John K Jordan states above, if the stopper is sealed well, then there should be little expansion due to humidity.

I found that the size of the hole drilled and threading of the stopper to be the key steps to making a solid fit. I drill the hole a little small and thread with a bottoming tap. I used to use epoxy, but then had to change out a few stoppers and found that two drops on the end of the threads of just about any glue holds the metal and wood together well. I have used the Ruth Niles stainless stoppers and liked them, but like the mini-cone stoppers from Woodcraft as much. My wife was my tester, and she much preferred the rubber sleeve type to the O-ring types. My family purchased a stopper at Disney Tokyo that was plated chrome, and after six months the finish had flaked, confirming to me to always use the solid stainless steel versions.

[Thom Sturgill]

I'm not disagreeing - my point was that the metal expansion contraction is fast compared with seasonal wood movement and in wood/metal connection should be considered. Especially with an item that is subject to rapid temperature changes. The size of the object makes the total movement negligible in any case.

[Peter Fabricius]

I cannot help be fascinated by Bottle Stopper discussions. I use threaded stoppers (3/8 x 16tpi) and pre tap the wood / square up the bottom in step one. Then reverse onto a 3/8" cut off bolt used as a mandrel. Turn a pleasing shape and apply finish.
Thread the finished wood or composite stopper onto the metal threaded post and it is all done....
Decorative stoppers are primarily for red wine that sit on the counter overnight. The people that try to place wine in the refrigerator laid down are just asking for leaking problems.
I suggest to my customers that the "decorative" stopper is for use sitting upright on the counter!!!
If they want to seal bottles in the fridge then buy an expanding stopper from Walmart.
Just my thoughts.
Peter F.

[Michael Armstrong]

I have no problem telling people that they can lay the bottles on the side in the fridge with the silicone stoppers. We do it all the time at home. I have only ever had one leak and trust me that is with a lot of testing:). I wouldn't probably recommend that practice with Ruth's style of stainless stopper but then again I've never tried it.

Michael

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Michael,

At one time there was a statement on Ruth's website saying they had been tested in a horizontal position. I haven't looked for the statement recently.