Question about bottle stoppers

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
P

Pentatonik

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2011
Messages
37
Location
Seattle, WA
How do you keep the threads from stripping while turning? I have had no problem when using hard materials such as tru stone, but when making wood stoppers the thread strips and has nothing to grab on to. I thought about filling the hole with a little CA before threading on to to the madrel to see if that helps. Any advice?
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
What size hole are you drilling? If your hole is too big, they might strip. They make a bottle stopper tap that works real well. You might want to give that a try.
 
I'm drilling a 6 mm hole. It seems to thread on to the blank nice and snug. I bought one of those bottle stopper starter kits from woodcraft. I'm using the drill bit and the madrel that came with it so I'm assuming the hole is the right size.
 
what kind of material are you turning?? If your turning acrylic or dymond wood you definitely need to tap the threads.. if its regular spindle stock then you can get away with just screwing the blank on the mandel
 
For wood I've been using Redheart because it's cheap. Didn't want to use expensive wood on my first go. It is pretty soft, maybe that is the problem?
 
Soft wood will strip ---

Get the treads in -- then use some thin CA to reinforce the threads -- allow it to set well then recut the threads.

Light cuts help -- Once it strips, you will need to glue in a plug and redrill and rethread. Pam cooking spray as a mould release on a bolt and a dollop of good quality epoxy (JBWeld is very good) can create new threads, but the threads may be offset a bit and the bottom need to be retrued.
 
My experience was that holes that I drilled with the 23/64" bit that came with the stopper mandrel always stripped. But when I started using a 5/16" bit instead, the problem went away.

It may help to put some thin CA on the threads, and then after it cures, run the tap in again. The CA reinforces the wood fibers.

The early portion of the turning imposes the most stress on the threads. Another trick is to use the tailstock to put axial pressure on the blank while you are turning down to a cylinder. I have a wooden cup that fits over my live center that has a small piece of HDPE embedded in the end; this prevents the live center from excavating a divot in the blank while still putting axial pressure to hold the workpiece in place.
 
With everyones help here I completed my first wooden bottle stopper. As soon as I find my data cable for my camara maybe I will upload a picture.
 
+1 on cutting the threads with a tap instead of the mandrel. I've had much better success that way (although it still occasionally strips).

-Barry
 
I now realize I did not sharpen my tools very well, so I encountered the same problem with stoppers. Finally, I made a simple quarter inch dowel and put a quarter inch hole in the stopper blank. After completely turning, I redrilled for the stopper threads (which, at that time, were NOT all the same).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom