rodo
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2009
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Recently I have seen several posts from people having problems with stoppers in carboys. While I have never pushed a stopper all the way into a carboy I have had a few close calls after which I decided to do something about it.
The problem as I see it is twofold
1 the taper of the stopper is too much
2 there is no ring at the top to prevent over insertion
My solution was to get some #7 stoppers and cut a new taper with less angle and leave a lip at the top using a metal lathe.
When I saw others having the same problems I thought about a way to do this with stuff that a lot of people have access to.
Here are the things you’ll need
#7 drilled stoppers
A way to spin the stopper, a drill press would be great but I’ll demonstrate with a hand drill.
If a hand drill is used you’ll need a way to hold it as you can see I used a bench vise, however I have seen people use long hose clamps and boards or angle iron to do similar things.
A shaft or “mandrel” to hold the stopper, the hole in the stopper is 3/8” so the mandrel needs to be 7/16” about 6” long. If you have trouble finding this use a 7/16’ bolt and cut the head off, be sure to smooth the end that will be exposed as your hand will probably be resting on it.
Sandpaper, a sheet of # 60 grit, a sheet of #220 grit and something flat to wrap the sandpaper around, a block of wood or a file will do nicely.
Once you have the drill secured put the mandrel in the chuck, if you’re using a bolt put the threaded end in chuck. Push the stopper onto the mandrel small end first 2” to 3”. Turn the drill on and lock the trigger, wrap the 60 grit paper around the block of wood and begin sanding the stopper pressing slightly harder on the side of the sanding block that is toward the large end of the stopper, leave about 3/16” of the large end unsanded.
The problem as I see it is twofold
1 the taper of the stopper is too much
2 there is no ring at the top to prevent over insertion
My solution was to get some #7 stoppers and cut a new taper with less angle and leave a lip at the top using a metal lathe.
When I saw others having the same problems I thought about a way to do this with stuff that a lot of people have access to.
Here are the things you’ll need
#7 drilled stoppers
A way to spin the stopper, a drill press would be great but I’ll demonstrate with a hand drill.
If a hand drill is used you’ll need a way to hold it as you can see I used a bench vise, however I have seen people use long hose clamps and boards or angle iron to do similar things.
A shaft or “mandrel” to hold the stopper, the hole in the stopper is 3/8” so the mandrel needs to be 7/16” about 6” long. If you have trouble finding this use a 7/16’ bolt and cut the head off, be sure to smooth the end that will be exposed as your hand will probably be resting on it.
Sandpaper, a sheet of # 60 grit, a sheet of #220 grit and something flat to wrap the sandpaper around, a block of wood or a file will do nicely.
Once you have the drill secured put the mandrel in the chuck, if you’re using a bolt put the threaded end in chuck. Push the stopper onto the mandrel small end first 2” to 3”. Turn the drill on and lock the trigger, wrap the 60 grit paper around the block of wood and begin sanding the stopper pressing slightly harder on the side of the sanding block that is toward the large end of the stopper, leave about 3/16” of the large end unsanded.
