What the heck is this?

[demondriven]

Got it in a bunch of stuff I recently got. No idea and before I junk it. Figured Id ask just in case

 

[mrholeshot]

Arbor press

 

[snpboy]

That is a bottle capper. I just got one from Grandma's estate, but mines red.

 

[demondriven]

Thanks Guys. Any useful purpose? I think the guy next door bottles his own wine maybe he could use it.

 

[mrholeshot]

Arbor presses can be real specialized from capping bottles to pressing projectiles in gun shells. That one has a long enough stroke I'd hang on to it. They can come on handy for delicate things where you dont want to use a hammer. This could be the first step to starting your own brewry

If you pull out on the handle you can set the height of the press

 

[Z48LT1]

I'm pretty sure it is for capping beer and/or soft drink bottles, not wine bottles. Vital to some, useless to everyone else. Although I guess you could adapt it for relatively light press work. Which sounds like a project for the Free Parking area. What else can we think of to do with it?

Cheers -- Gary

The day is committed to error and floundering; success and achievement are matters of long range. -- Goethe

 

[Cameronl]

Start homebrewing your own beer! That's what I do with my capper!

 

[demondriven]

It shall live in my garage lets see if I can put it to work. A brewery huh... not sure I could get that one past the old lady I pick my fights carefully and I cant see winning that one.
Thanks MrHoleShot.

 

[chopper1]

Unless the head is recessed it really isn't a capper. Before capping, bottle caps are flared out 90* on the edges [look like an old fashioned, early 1900's straw hat] so when they are pressed over the bottles they seal over the rounded lip. If the head isn't recessed it can be used as a corker or a light arbor press.

 

[Arne73]

Looks like a crowner (for bottle caps) to me. Added bonus that it's an Indestro!

 

[demondriven]

Thanks everybody for the feedback I Love this site.

 

[Lump]

Yep, definitely a bottle capper. I've got a couple of them. During prohibition many otherwise-law-abiding citizens made their own beer at home. My great-grandfather made it regularly in his bathtub, according to my gr-grandmother. She hated having the tub out of commission...(and having to clean one's self in some other fashion). Anyway, lots of folks made home brew, and bottle cappers were hot items at the hardware stores. Also, some folks made their own root beer or ginger beer.

These days many folks keep them around for use as nutcrackers...a job which they do REALLY well. You just place the nut on a brick or block of wood under the moving ram, pull down the handle, and voila'. The leverage you have this way gives you much better control, so you can break the shell without crushing the nutmeat inside...unlike a clumsy hammer or those useless V-shaped nutcrackers which come in holiday gift packs.

 

[1969]

Too good to junk, keep it.

 

[mrholeshot]

These days many folks keep them around for use as nutcrackers.

Do you have to stand on a stool for that?