My first bottle stoper

[Robert Culver]

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Well i finally finished up all my tool handles I had some small end cuts and thought it would be nice to make a couple of stoppers the first didnt turn out because the drill bit that came with the bottle stopper chuck I got from PSI was to big so it got scrapped but this one didnt turn out to bad I like the over all shape of it what do you think has anybody had eperiance with PSI stoppers they seem pretty good but I wonder how they hold up to use?

[John Keeton]

Great job, Rob!! I like the lamination on the stopper - excellent use of the cutoffs. The shape is very pleasant, too. As I said in my email to you, I have not done any bottlestoppers, but the "standard" on the creek, and elsewhere, seems to be Ruth Niles. They are stainless steel - a prerequisite as the wine will soon erode the chrome ones.

[Robert Culver]

John I was just checking out the Ruth Niles stoppers I think I will pick some of them up being that I live in wine country I wouldnt want people to have a eroded stopper I picked up 3 from Psi Just to play with them and see what i thought It was kinda fun to play with and is good tool contol practic!!! My handles turned out good you did a great job on the lamination : ) Now I just need to get to work on a bowl then a hollow form LOL look out!!! Fun stuff im really enjoying it wish I had more time for it.....

[Tim Thiebaut]

You did a good job on this Robert.

[Jim Burr]

God job on your stopper Robert. +1 on Ruths stuff. Wouldn't use anything else!

[Ian Parish]

Great job, Rob!! I like the lamination on the stopper - excellent use of the cutoffs. The shape is very pleasant, too. As I said in my email to you, I have not done any bottlestoppers, but the "standard" on the creek, and elsewhere, seems to be Ruth Niles. They are stainless steel - a prerequisite as the wine will soon erode the chrome ones.

Plus 1 on the Stainless Steel Toppers. I have made a ton of the regular PSI ones and they will get a white corrosion on them especially with Red Wine. I really like Ruth's stainless toppers the are small and nice. Other companies (Craft Supply and others) have stainless toppers in many new styles. One thing I love to do while turning these is make them too tall, Meaning the wood part around 3 inches tall, then when I am done the topper is "Way" to tall and top heavy. If the overall height of the topper gets to be more than 4 inches they won't fit in the fridge. Yours looks really good!

[Robert Culver]

Ian thanks for the point on the hieght ...the wood on mine is 1 1/2 inches tall i just started working the tool and thats what poped out of the wood to be totaly honest I had no set measurments that I was shooting for other than to have the base of the wood meeting the top of the stopper.I hope to sell some stoppers at a craft table this fall so i am going to look at Ruths stopper for that i wouldnt want people to have a bad experiace with the product.Thanks for that important piece of information guys!!!!

[David E Keller]

Looks good, Rob. I've done few stoppers, and they've sold surprisingly well for me. One thing to avoid are sharp points on the tops of them... Makes it harder to seat the stopper in the bottle if it's sharp.

[Robert Culver]

David Thats another great point thanks i was going to make a point on the stopper you see but thought a ball would look better its a good thing to keep in mind though thanks for the pointer!!!