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I have long wanted a cork pusher. Something to loosen a sticky cork, such that it would then release easily with a corkscrew or other device.

Latest proposal (subject to updates). Volume ≈ 5970 mm³. Aluminium density ≈ 2710 kg m⁻³ ⟹︎ weight ≈ 16.2 g.
Please comment.

Potential purchasers:

• JDAW, ≥5 TBD;
• DRT, 1;
• GEE, ≥1 TBD;
• NAC, “a few” TBD;
• PhilW, 1;
• SCD, 1.

As of 1915 on Sun 02 Jan 2022, the proposal is that this be made of steel. By whom, how, etc, I know not yet.

I like the idea.

Have you measured hundreds of bottles across many decades to identify 15mm as the optimum diameter of the pusher or is it a guess?

Is 1mm thick enough to be durable when used by clumsy middle-aged men?

Are the pistons also to be made of steel or perhaps something more forgiving and less likely to chip the edges of very old bottles?

DRT wrote: ↑20:59 Sun 02 Jan 2022I like the idea.

Good.

DRT wrote: ↑20:59 Sun 02 Jan 2022Have you measured hundreds of bottles across many decades to identify 15mm as the optimum diameter of the pusher or is it a guess?

Almost hundreds. Let me count. OK. Nearer, err, two. Please measure some bottles.

DRT wrote: ↑20:59 Sun 02 Jan 2022Is 1mm thick enough to be durable when used by clumsy middle-aged men?

Using the rigorous engineering of a wild speculative guess, err, I hope so. Seems about right. Would 2mm make you happier? Do you want that extra weight in your pocket?

DRT wrote: ↑20:59 Sun 02 Jan 2022Are the pistons also to be made of steel or perhaps something more forgiving and less likely to chip the edges of very old bottles?

Hard and unforgiving is the game here. User control requires no slack. If smaller than internal diameter, then that should be enough.


Different question. What piston heights are wanted?

I often choose to push a cork into a bottle, so I can later bag it out and have a good chance to retrieving it intact and whole. Less often I just ease the cork down a few millimetres to make it easier to extract.

I use a cork pusher to do this. My cork pusher is made of brushed stainless steel. It has slightly rounded edges on the pushing end of the cylinder and a handle / stop at the other end to prevent the cylinder dropping into the bottle. It is 155mm long and 16mm diameter.

Alex Bridgeman wrote: ↑22:07 Sun 02 Jan 2022I often choose to push a cork into a bottle, so I can later bag it out and have a good chance to retrieving it intact and whole. Less often I just ease the cork down a few millimetres to make it easier to extract.

I use a cork pusher to do this. My cork pusher is made of brushed stainless steel. It has slightly rounded edges on the pushing end of the cylinder and a handle / stop at the other end to prevent the cylinder dropping into the bottle. It is 155mm long and 16mm diameter.

Is 155mm longer than needed? How do you control it such that the cork never goes too far?

Is 16mm the optimal diameter?

As of 22:45 Sun 02 Jan 2022.

I would say there is no circumstance in which 2mm will make a difference. I would go 4mm and 8mm and 16mm.

In terms of width - 12mm. Do not risk not being able to get it into the necks of narrow bottle. Physicists can argue about optimal newtons per square millimetre and whether that makes a difference but I doubt it.

This is the next Durand. Patent.

winesecretary wrote: ↑23:56 Sun 02 Jan 2022I would say there is no circumstance in which 2mm

I would want to try 2mm before 4mm, particularly if the inner neck is not cylindrical. And 16mm would cause it to fall in. Note: we are not restricted to three pistons. I might impose an upper limit of five.

winesecretary wrote: ↑23:56 Sun 02 Jan 2022In terms of width - 12mm.

Strongly disagree. A corkscrew, because it applies its force to the centre, rips corks. On the edge, the force must be.

I presume the holes in the end are for a key ring? In which case would it not be possible to have a set machined with different diameters, if you are concerned to apply force to as close to the edge of the cork as is possible?

JacobH wrote: ↑00:04 Mon 03 Jan 2022I presume the holes in the end are for a key ring?

Or to hang on a nail.

JacobH wrote: ↑00:04 Mon 03 Jan 2022would it not be possible to have a set machined with different diameters, if you are concerned to apply force to as close to the edge of the cork as is possible?

One could have three heights of each of multiple diameters. Is that really necessary? Surely 16mm, or even 17mm, would fit 99% of use cases.

As of 23:25 Sun 02 Jan 2022.

Another way of doing this would be to add a drill depth collar to something like Alex's solution. That would allow you to set how much of the "piston" is exposed and therefore how deep into the bottle you are pushing the cork. 16mm ones seem readily available and I bet the tolerances would fit a 15mm piece of steel rod, too. They usually lock with a set screw which could easily be swapped out for a thumb screw.

Space efficiency could be improved by having the pistons alternate sides. Thoughts?

JacobH wrote: ↑00:32 Mon 03 Jan 2022Another way of doing this would be to add a drill depth collar to something like Alex's solution. That would allow you to set how much of the "piston" is exposed and therefore how deep into the bottle you are pushing the cork. 16mm ones seem readily available and I bet the tolerances would fit a 15mm piece of steel rod, too. They usually lock with a set screw which could easily be swapped out for a thumb screw.

Low and flat improves control, so it can’t be a long piston. Also, instead of a “drill depth collar”, there could be a series of holes through which a second rod goes, the rod acting as the depth limiter.

But I like the pocketability of my design.

jdaw1 wrote: ↑21:25 Sun 02 Jan 2022

DRT wrote: ↑20:59 Sun 02 Jan 2022Is 1mm thick enough to be durable when used by clumsy middle-aged men?

Using the rigorous engineering of a wild speculative guess, err, I hope so. Seems about right. Would 2mm make you happier? Do you want that extra weight in your pocket?

I have a bottle opener which is a flat piece of metal with appropriate holes. It feels absolutely rigid, and is 2mm thick. Upgrading.

As of 23:45 Sun 02 Jan 2022.

jdaw1 wrote: ↑23:11 Sun 02 Jan 2022

Alex Bridgeman wrote: ↑22:07 Sun 02 Jan 2022I often choose to push a cork into a bottle, so I can later bag it out and have a good chance to retrieving it intact and whole. Less often I just ease the cork down a few millimetres to make it easier to extract.

I use a cork pusher to do this. My cork pusher is made of brushed stainless steel. It has slightly rounded edges on the pushing end of the cylinder and a handle / stop at the other end to prevent the cylinder dropping into the bottle. It is 155mm long and 16mm diameter.

Is 155mm longer than needed? How do you control it such that the cork never goes too far?

Is 16mm the optimal diameter?

Remember I will frequently push a cork fully into a bottle. Often this requires quite a length of push since some old bottles have a double constriction around the cork. 155mm is a convenient length for my purposes.

Is 7mm between pistons truly sufficient? That does seem plenty for a normal bottle, but might required a full cleaning of the top of a bottle before use if the bottle has a thick rubber/wax capsule.

At roughly 3 a.m. this morning I awoke with an idea about this.

Is the device to be made from a single piece of milled stainless steel? If so, perhaps a combination of AHB's "rod" and JDAW's "bar" could be devised to save some space in the pocket. I am picturing a rod of stainless steel of 100/155mm in length and 15/16mm in diameter with one half of the length milled into a 2mm thick bar with two pistons opposite one another on each side of the bar, perhaps 4mm and 8mm in height, with a rounded end with a hole for a keyring or nail. The device could be used flat as intended by JDAW or as a plunger as currently used by AHB.

I will very occasionally push a cork perhaps 3-4mm into the bottle to free a stuck cork, but I only ever do it using a screwpull corkscrew, so that the worm is in the cork (preventing the cork from falling into the bottle were it minded to do so); winding the handle/worm until ~3mm short of fully wound then allows you to pressure on the worm, and the cork will only move the max of 3mm, enough to release a stuck cork (I've only ever had one stuck-yet-spongy cork which would flex but not push when trying this).

I only do the above if it the cork feels stuck to the side and that the centre would otherwise pull out. I (almost) never push the cork all the way in since the top of the cork can often be grubby and I would be concerned about potentially contaminating the wine, and would use tongs if possible instead in that scenario.

DRT wrote: ↑10:48 Mon 03 Jan 2022 At roughly 3 a.m. this morning I awoke with an idea about this.

Is the device to be made from a single piece of milled stainless steel? If so, perhaps a combination of AHB's "rod" and JDAW's "bar" could be devised to save some space in the pocket. I am picturing a rod of stainless steel of 100/155mm in length and 15/16mm in diameter with one half of the length milled into a 2mm thick bar with two pistons opposite one another on each side of the bar, perhaps 4mm and 8mm in height, with a rounded end with a hole for a keyring or nail. The device could be used flat as intended by JDAW or as a plunger as currently used by AHB.

A possible improvement:

The pistons could be separate coin-shaped components, the larger of which would have a threaded hole going part way through the centre and the smaller with a countersunk hole through the centre into which a flat-headed screw could be used to screw two pistons together on opposite sides of the bar. The device could be supplied with multiple pistons of differing heights that were interchangeable by the user.

jdaw1 wrote: ↑00:33 Mon 03 Jan 2022Space efficiency could be improved by having the pistons alternate sides. Thoughts?

Silly idea. That would interfere with the pushing side. Control maximised by having that flat, and as close as possible to the business end of the operation.

Alex Bridgeman wrote: ↑01:14 Mon 03 Jan 2022Remember I will frequently push a cork fully into a bottle.

PhilW wrote: ↑11:00 Mon 03 Jan 2022I will very occasionally push a cork perhaps 3-4mm into the bottle to free a stuck cork, but I only ever do it using a screwpull corkscrew, so that the worm is in the cork (preventing the cork from falling into the bottle were it minded to do so); winding the handle/worm until ~3mm short of fully wound then allows you to pressure on the worm, and the cork will only move the max of 3mm, enough to release a stuck cork (I've only ever had one stuck-yet-spongy cork which would flex but not push when trying this).

I only do the above if it the cork feels stuck to the side and that the centre would otherwise pull out. I (almost) never push the cork all the way in since the top of the cork can often be grubby and I would be concerned about potentially contaminating the wine, and would use tongs if possible instead in that scenario.

I want to loosen a sticky cork, which can then be extracted with a corkscrew. Hence the varying depths. Push in 2mm. If it pings back, if the 2mm has been absorbed by the cork’s elasticity, then I’ll push 4mm. If the cork is very elastic, 8mm.

Custom engineering is £$€-tastic. A simple piece of rigid hard metal, no threads, no screws, no moving parts, might well be more economical. This leans against DRT’s more complicated arrangements.