Bottle Stoppers

Jeff Bower

Member
Messages
5,762
Location
DSM, IA
I was told that Ruth Niles had the best stainless steel bottle stoppers available by all of you, so my dad and I ordered some from her. (you can too, click here) Once they arrived I had to agree with everyone, the stoppers are machined perfectly, and they look great! I had prepared about 20 stoppers before they arrived and last night I assembled 10 of them with Ruth's stoppers. The 2 stoppers on the right of the photo were purchased from Woodsmith. I'm pretty sure they are from Penn State, but not sure. They are good stoppers, but Ruth's are far superior as they are solid stainless and not plated like the others. Below is a pic of them all and some close ups. Woods used are: spalted hackberry, mullberry, spalted maple, cherry and peach.
 

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ok we know ruth makes some real good stoppers, but help out a flat guy here and tell me why yu need a stopper ..in my parts you open a bottle of wine and you dont need to stop it. its gonna be empty before yu get the next round poured, they only hold maybe 5 glasses.. unless yu use them for the hard stuff then that a hole nuther picture:)
 
ok we know ruth makes some real good stoppers, but help out a flat guy here and tell me why yu need a stopper ..in my parts you open a bottle of wine and you dont need to stop it. its gonna be empty before yu get the next round poured, they only hold maybe 5 glasses.. unless yu use them for the hard stuff then that a hole nuther picture:)

Larry, they should work on the hard stuff too...not that you need one for that either. :rolleyes::D

Some people only have a glass at a time I guess, I don't get it either, but some do. :huh:
 
I also like your stoppers very much.

I also like the quality of Ruth's product.

BUT my wife and I consume different wines and I have not found a bottle that Ruth's stoppers fit. Most act like bobble heads and simply do not fit the neck. IF this was just one type of bottle I could understand but it is many and varied.

This is just my opinion -- I am not trying to blast anyone or anything. Just wanting to share my experience.

paul ---- not the big one in London ----
 
ok we know ruth makes some real good stoppers, but help out a flat guy here and tell me why yu need a stopper ..in my parts you open a bottle of wine and you dont need to stop it. its gonna be empty before yu get the next round poured, they only hold maybe 5 glasses.. unless yu use them for the hard stuff then that a hole nuther picture:)

Larry,
I've always touted my bottle stoppers as the most useless thing I make.. for the very reason you mentioned :thumb::rofl::rofl: once a bottle of wine is opened it will only go bad if you don't drink it. I did seem to sell a lot of bottle stoppers though.




Jeff,
That is a very nice set of stoppers... and I like how they look on the Niles stoppers... I haven't tried Ruth's SS stoppers yet. I've looked at them and probably will get some for next season.... this season is about shot for me.
 
First those are great stoppers Jeff and Kudos to you for making them and selling them.

Yup I agree with Larry that wine dont stay open too long justifying the need for a fancy stopper.

But here is my but, if you entertaining and want to dress up your bottle for the table, the stopper will top it off. Of course if you are me you spill the wine in the process :rofl:

But on a serious note this is a significant point to discuss. Not every purchase people make is utilitarian. Some of us buy food for example because we are hungry and need to eat. Others buy food at a whole different level by choice of source or for health reasons, others will by food that is high end and talk about it to friends just to impress that they can afford to do so. The reasons are varied.
So there are a variety of motives to why people will buy our crafts. Some to give a person a present that was not made in China that has a personal thoughtful side to it. They have a need to be seen to have considered the recipient carefully and positioned themselves by buying a handmade item as a person with appreciation for items of value. Its all about the buyers needs. The needs can be many and varied and not related to the use of the product. Items like this could be bought by collectors, just like we have a member that collects hose nozzles. This to me is one of the many considerations guys who sell their output need to consider about the buyers that they target. :)
 
Good stuff, Jeff. The spalted hackberry ones in the second pic are my favorites. I particularly like the simple form of the one on the far right.

Did you get Ruth's mandrel, too? If I do another run of bottle stoppers, I'm considering getting her starter set with the mandrel. Just want to know I can sell 'em before I invest in the materials. ;)
 
Vaughn, I did not get the mandrel....I just cut off a 3/8 bolt and stuck it in a jacobs chuck and twist the blanks onto it...threads the holes for the stoppers too...works great and cost nothing.

Rob, interesting thoughts and I agree with you. :thumb:
 
Nice stoppers, Jeff. Did you have examples to follow or did you just turn the lathe on and let the sawdust fly? I’ve only done a few but I cut and paste whenever people post their stoppers because there are so many different Variations (by the way, I copied yours to my file).

Vaughn, I got the mandrel, works great.

I don’t drink alcohol anymore (25 years, 1 month and 16 days) but The Bride likes a glass of wine when she comes home after work, and not always the same kind night after night, so we usually have several bottles open at a time, with stoppers in them.. So it does happen.
 
Nice stoppers, Jeff. Did you have examples to follow or did you just turn the lathe on and let the sawdust fly? I’ve only done a few but I cut and paste whenever people post their stoppers because there are so many different Variations (by the way, I copied yours to my file).

Chuck I have a similar file with bottle stopper pics, bowls, hollow forms, vases, boxes, etc....I looked at it many times a week. I just went out and started these, and I don't think I copied anything exactly the same but who knows. Just started cutting and let the curlies fall on the floor. :wave:
 
Chuck I have a similar file with bottle stopper pics, bowls, hollow forms, vases, boxes, etc....I looked at it many times a week. I just went out and started these, and I don't think I copied anything exactly the same but who knows. Just started cutting and let the curlies fall on the floor. :wave:

Jeff,
I also keep a "go-by" file of just about everything turnable... even print some of the pictures a take to the shop in a notebook, but I doubt other than a general form that I get very close to any of them. It's far more fun to design on the fly so to speak.... start the spin and see where we wind up.
Great job on your stoppers..

I went to the hidden cork style last fall and made up about 30 or 40 of them... I stopped doing the cone's because I thought they were too high and made the bottles look top heavy (Before I heard of Ruth's low profile and PSI does some also now).. the hidden cork profiles sold well. Using scraps, and with the low cost of the dowel and silicone stopper I could make them for under $3...
 
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