FoodBanter.com - Nomacorc and Floor Corkers with Brass Jaws

Success-

Recapping- I'd like to use Nomacorcs in my Brass-jawed floor corker.
They don't work by default due to the design of the brass jaws.

As a funny aside before I dig in, Nomacorcs retain their deformed shape
slightly longer than regular corks. Therefore, if you leave a Nomacorc
in the corker for 14 hours to test compression deformation and then try
to push it into the bottle for leak testing, it'll fall thru into the
bottle... in which case you have about 15 seconds to remove it before
it reforms :)

400 grit sand paper was used to grind the jaws on maximum compression
to a more approximate round shape. A highly compressible spindle from
painters tape was used to ensure deformation of the sanding media.
When the 400 grit was finished (~ 1 minute, cycled on and off and
wet/replaced as needed) a 600 grit wet-sand was performed to finish the
edges.
Finally an acetic acid (distilled white vinegar) 'wash' was soaked and
placed in contact with the brass jaws to remove any lead compounds that
might have been present on the surface.
(http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixB.html)

Corks were inserted and ejected multiple times while the surface was
examined for any rough edges consistent with slices or bumps consistent
with permanently deformed casing material.

In all cases the ridges felt with the fingers disappeared within 15
seconds using the modified corker.

Corking multiple test bottles show no leaks after 136 hours inverted,
whereas the original corking tests showed immediate leaks within 15
seconds.

The next batch of insertion testing showed one of the problems expected
of non-chamfered corks - edge rollup. I do not yet have a workaround
for this problem, although I expect a partial compression or wet
insertion may solve the issue.

Only time will tell the quality of the seal, but at least the
error/problem of leaks are solved with the grind and polish of the
jaws.

Jason

Joe Sallustio wrote:
> Hi Jason,
> I like your idea of polishing the jaws in place, it sounds like you
> have something there. They always rust internally, mine is a little
> ugly too.
>
> I wouldn't worry about the overnight grooving. That corc is in those
> jaws compressed for about 2 seconds, if it looks good then you have it.
> You could see the groove when inserted into a clear bottle on mine
> before I fixed it.
>
> Joe
>
>
>
> wrote:
> > Afternoon-
> >
> > Having been warned about possible incompatabilities with the Nomacorc
> > and floor corkers with brass I obtained some samples for insertion
> > testing.
> >
> > Two were 'live' tests with no modifications to the corker. Both of
> > these exhibited the 'leaky' edges around the sides of the enclosure and
> > corresponded with the four teeth visible in the die.
> >
> > At this point (And since somehow my corker was rusting internally) I
> > disassembled the head and began to remove the jaws.
> >
> > Note- there are strong springs in here- while not as dangerous as I was
> > led to believe, I would recommend heavy leather gloves and wood tools
> > for the extraction process- you do NOT want your fingers to get in
> > between moving pieces.
> >
> > I tried wet sanding down the jaws with 400 and 600 grit paper to a
> > reasonable level. After reassembling I inserted another Nomacorc and
> > ejected the cork- only to feel the tell-tale ridges spaced at 90 degree
> > intervals.
> >
> > Now, in and of itself a ridge doesn't mean a leak- it means a local
> > deformity that may or may not be conducive to air/water escaping.
> > Therefore I gave it the presurrized soda bottle test- and it leaked.
> >
> > Determined to beat this I found a length of soft copper pipe (3/8"
> > which is slighly smaller than the maximum compression of a cork in the
> > corker. To this I added several layers of blue painters tape (highly
> > compressible) and about 1 foot (wound) of 400 grit sand paper.
> >
> > This sanding spindle was then inserted into a drill and the jaw
> > mechanism was activated to the 'tightest' squeeze.
> >
> > Running the drill on low and operating the corker allowed me to polish
> > out the teeth in a more 'round' fashion. Note that the jaws themselves
> > squeeze the cork into a round-square approach and are not designed to
> > actually compress the cork like a Venturi tube would.
> >
> > After rinsing a Nomacorc was inserted and ejected with minimal ridge
> > disturbance.
> >
> > Another Nomacorc was inserted and left for 14 hours at the maximum
> > compression. This morning it was removed (not inserted) and
> > significant ridging was found, but the ridges were 'equal' in both
> > dimensions- it is my belief that they will reform to the correct round
> > surface. This cork is now sitting and reforming... I will report back
> > the success or failure of the reform.
> >
> > It is my hope that this will lead to an easy modification of the
> > corkers without the trial and error of disassembly to run the
> > synthetics thru. Grinding out the brass is a relatively painless
> > process with a high speed drill.
> >
> > And, of course, there's always buying a nylon jaw'd corker....
> >
> > I'll try and set up a page of photos of this.
> >
> > Jason