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Corks and stopper restoration

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Mandarin
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« Reply #80 on: May 20, 2014, 06:33:52 am »

Thanks again fellas, glad to be of some use! I forgot to mention, when wrapping sellotape around the stopper, stick a shorter piece of sellotape (sticky side to sticky side) onto the middle of the main piece so that there are sticky areas only at each end. This stops the sellotape from sticking to the resin. Also smear a very thin layer of silicone oil over the shorter piece that will contact the resin. Apply the resin to the chip, line up the shorter piece of sellotape and place it over the resin area, which will be squeezed out as you stick each end of the sellotape to the stopper.

A better method is to use a thin piece of clear plastic like that found on toothbrush packaging. I cut a strip out, bend the strip to roughly match the curvature of the stopper, stick sellotape on one side, smear silicone oil on the other, apply to the stopper. This produces a better surface finish than 'just sellotape' and avoids 'flats' in the hardened resin where the chip was which sometimes happens with the 'just sellotape' method.

I have found that with strong sunlight the resin I use will harden over no more than two afternoons' exposure to sunlight. Overcast days can take much longer, better to use a good UV lamp in this instance.

And I'd like to add that nothing I do is in any way difficult or magical! Anyone can do it with a bit of practice, that's how I started. Just be careful with the products you use. Quality of the products (windscreen resin, polish) is important.

Tom, I have no experience with 'wrapped cork' unfortunately. I will do a google search and see what I can find, though. I suspect the search will throw up some weird results too!

Vaughan
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Wattana
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« Reply #81 on: May 20, 2014, 08:07:30 pm »


I have no experience with 'wrapped cork' unfortunately. I will do a google search and see what I can find, though. I suspect the search will throw up some weird results too!


Thanks Vaughan. The mind boggles....!!!

Tom
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« Reply #82 on: May 25, 2014, 03:14:58 am »


I’ve used Araldite Crystal Clear epoxy in the past to repair chips in glass and hardstone bottles, but have found a very good alternative in thick auto windscreen repair gel.


Vaughan,

I have a project bottle, and went to find some glass repair resin.  Found many different brands, but when looking for a bottle exactly like yours, not finding one. Would like to use the exact same type of resin you are having good luck with. Unless it makes no difference what brand of resin .

Can you point me to a link someplace ?
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« Reply #83 on: May 25, 2014, 06:46:50 am »

Hi George,

Sure, here's an ebay link to the exact resin I use (15ml size):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REJEL-WINDSCREEN-REPAIR-KIT-CRACK-CHIP-CLEAR-RESIN-15ml-TOP-QUALITY-/120920686678?pt=UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Other_Vehicle_Parts_Accessories_ET&hash=item1c276f4056

You could also try to order from www.rejel.com. They do a 5ml size which is cheaper. Its a top quality resin.

Note they sell to UK and Europe, not sure if they sell elsewhere, but no harm in asking.

Note that for small chips it is really not necessary to colour the resin!

Vaughan
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Peter Bentley 彭达理
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« Reply #84 on: May 25, 2014, 07:22:59 am »

Hi All

VERY  interesting  thread !  Many thanks to  Vaughan

I   recently    photographed   all my bottles  and  in the  process  of  moving them  to  the   studio  a  lot of the    stoppers   broke  off the  corks, and  - more  often -   the    actual    stopper  cap   broke  off the  black  "washer" 

I  just  use  super  glue  to   stick  them  back  together  again.

I  also  found that   several   stoppers  had  swelled  and   were therefore  a  tight  fit  in the  bottle  neck,  so I  shaved  off  the  cork  to make a  looser   fit.

If the  cork  is  a  too-loose   fit,  I  wind    Scotch   tape  (  aka  Sellotape)    round the   cork  stem , and  then   dust - wipe   the   Scotch  tape   with  baby  powder to  blank  off   any remaining    sticky   edges.

I  also  sometimes   smear  a   very  tiny  bit of  Vaseline  in the   cork  if  it  is  tight  so that  it  does  not  stick  in the  bottle  neck.    Most  modern  bottles  use  oil-based   paints  so    little  bit  of    hydrocarbon   vapor surely   cannot  do  any  harm  ( though  some  collectors   disagree with  me ,  just  as  they  disagree  with me that   exhibiting bottles  in a   glass-fronted   case   away  from direct  sunlight  may eventually   fade the  paint   due  to   trace   amounts  of   sunlight  )

If  ever the   cork  breaks  off  and  falls  inside the  bottle,  I  found  a   simple  way to  get the   cork  out: Use a  long, thick   needle  or very   stiff  wire  (the   more rusty and   corroded   the better)  Dab a  tiny  bit  of   super  glue  onto  the  needle  tip and then   spear  the   cork.  Let the   super glue   dry ,  and  then  pull  out the   cork  on the  end of the  needle.  It  works  !

Cheers
Peter
« Last Edit: May 25, 2014, 07:24:31 am by Peter Bentley 彭达理 » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #85 on: May 25, 2014, 01:25:00 pm »

Thank you Vaughan  Smiley
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« Reply #86 on: April 28, 2016, 10:15:01 am »

I have a question /need advice about where to buy supplies for repairs. For the first time, I just bought a bottle that cost more than $35. I still am NOT a snuff bottle collector. I just fell in love with the stone (the dendrites look like birds to me). However, it arrived with the top damaged.

The seller is sending me a new top, but that got me to thinking that I actually would prefer a different top on another stone bottle I have and that maybe I could make a better top for this one than what he is sending anyway. However, I don't really have any idea or inclination to carve a wood or bone spoon and am not fond of the metal ones. Anyone know a good place to get carved bone or wood spoons or other supplies in general? I could make one out of fine or sterling silver more easily than carving one out of bone, and even make the top bezel collar that way, but I never seem to see any tops made of silver. I'm not sure if that is because of tarnish?

For future reference, do you think there would be any market for stone stoppers if I make them or do you think people want to know they were made in China or at least by someone Chinese? I am crafty and I suspect it might not be too hard to make something with much nicer lapidary material than the run of the mill stoppers I see frequently. I am horribly behind on other metalwork and lapidary projects right now, so this is more of a theoretical question for right now, but I am just thinking ahead to much later in the year. Thank you in advance for any advice or thoughts about this.
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« Reply #87 on: April 28, 2016, 10:26:45 am »

Hi

I know  a  specialist   shop  in  Beijing  that   sells   custom-made   stoppers

Send me  an email (my  address  is  on the  Forum registry)  and I will send  you   the  contact  email 

Cheers

Peter  @  Hong Kong
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Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司
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« Reply #88 on: April 28, 2016, 05:53:24 pm »

Dear All,
 
    Giovanni generously gave me a sheet of paper-thin cork a year or more ago, and I'd not used it till a week or so ago. I cut a strip 0.5mm
high and 30mm long off of the 150mm x 100mm sheet, coated it on one side with UHU paper glue, and it was quite easy to roll and form the cork.

    But I wonder if the Mongols and Manchus did not use thinly shaved leather in this way. Could the thin strips of 'wrapped cork' actually have been in reality layers of leather? After all, dried out paper thin leather should resemble dried out paper thin cork, since they are both organic; and nomads in the steppes should have had a lot more access to leather than to cork.

   Just a thought.
Joey
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« Reply #89 on: April 28, 2016, 08:39:54 pm »


For future reference, do you think there would be any market for stone stoppers if I make them or do you think people want to know they were made in China or at least by someone Chinese? I am crafty and I suspect it might not be too hard to make something with much nicer lapidary material than the run of the mill stoppers I see frequently. I am horribly behind on other metalwork and lapidary projects right now, so this is more of a theoretical question for right now, but I am just thinking ahead to much later in the year. Thank you in advance for any advice or thoughts about this.
Dear Ileney,

I presume you will have some carvings or odd-shaped stone stoppers then I think there will be a market.
There are simply too many plain ones or ones made from buttons.

Cheers,
YT

PS: Organic Spoons are not that important nowadays. I have more than forty spoons taken away due to Cites by auction houses. Some of them are taken even though they are suspected to be.
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« Reply #90 on: April 28, 2016, 08:43:08 pm »

It has been in the back of my mind for some time now to try and find a specialized older piece of lapidary equipment similar to a rare one I once had, and getting a few more pieces of equipment so can make custom stoppers..

One of these days...  Wink
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« Reply #91 on: April 28, 2016, 08:48:33 pm »

Welcome back Peter.  Can you send me the email address and website (if any) for the stopper supplier?  Thanks!
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« Reply #92 on: April 29, 2016, 05:44:51 am »

Hi Ileney,

I'm sure there would be a market for custom-made stone stoppers. There are occasionally 'loose' ones on ebay but they are mass produced and often not of the best quality. Carved bone spoons are also occasionally found on ebay, but again are often not top quality and maybe only one in five will be acceptable with a little work.

Vaughan
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« Reply #93 on: April 29, 2016, 05:56:41 am »

Guys,
 
     Jill Guo Jie and  her husband Li Hui are now selling BAMBOO spoons, and they are brilliant, since there is no question that they are not CITES material. The bone ones were occasionally targeted as 'possibly ivory' by the 'endangered species' fascists.

    The bamboo spoons are US$5 each I believe. Not cheap, but I feel that all snuff bottles, with the exception of IPSBs should have a spoon.
Inside Painted Snuff Bottles should NEVER have spoons if the painting is any good. If the painting is scratched by the spoon, the value is hurt both esthetically and monetarily. If there is no spoon, it is that much safer. As well, it defeats the purpose of  'losing oneself' by imagining one is walking in the landscape portrayed inside the bottle, if there is a huge (in terms of the picture) object visually cutting the view in half - the spoon's shaft.
Best,
Joey
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« Reply #94 on: April 30, 2016, 11:00:58 am »

Many thanks to all of you for the invaluable advice. Peter, I am surprised by the affordability of those custom stoppers and very much appreciate the contact information. I will probably try my hand at making some myself at some point, but first I think I will order a few from people who already seem to do it, and do it well, for a very reasonable price.
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« Reply #95 on: May 17, 2016, 05:51:34 am »


.....But I wonder if the Mongols and Manchus did not use thinly shaved leather in this way. Could the thin strips of 'wrapped cork' actually have been in reality layers of leather? After all, dried out paper thin leather should resemble dried out paper thin cork, since they are both organic; and nomads in the steppes should have had a lot more access to leather than to cork.

   Just a thought.
Joey

Dear Joey,

I am just beginning to catch up after nearly a month offline. You have hit the nail on the head about cork! Coincidentally, I drafted an article for the JICSBS a couple of years ago on this topic, but never finished it.

I suspect that cork was NOT traditionally used in Northern China until relatively recently. The main sources of cork in China are in the warmer southern coastal regions, and the quality is not as good as that found in Portugal. A few old Mongolian snuff bottles I have (as well as some modern ones I bought in Ulaanbaatar) all use wound thread, not cork or leather, although I must admit that thin leather makes good sense.

Interestingly the solid cork 'bung' seen on almost all snuff bottle stoppers today was purportedly 'invented' by Sir Kenelm Digby in 17th century England for stoppering wine and spirit bottles, which had previously relied on wood and leather. Until then cork was principally used to make floats for fishing nets, not for sealing bottles. (By the way, the familiar dimple on the underside of wine bottles is also attributed to Digby.)

Best,
Tom
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« Reply #96 on: May 17, 2016, 08:04:10 am »

Dear Tom,

    A warm Welcome back!  You were missed.
I must admit that I did not know about Digby and his contributions to the alcoholism industry! 
I meant the alcohol industry!   Grin   Roll Eyes

    That almost makes up for the dastardly theft of the invention of the 'hillel', falsely called the 'sandwich'!  2000 years ago,  Rabbi Hillel the Elder invented the hillel for the Passover Seder, and to this day, we take two pieces of matza (unleavened bread), and put a slice of lettuce in between and eat it; and then do the same with horseradish. It actually works better with the machine made matza, but I persevere and do it with the handmade
    Best,
Joey
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« Reply #97 on: May 17, 2016, 08:51:51 am »

Dear Joey,

Thanks for your welcome. And now that you have apprised me of the true originator of the 'sandwich' I will make a conscious effort to order a hillel next time I go to the hillel bar for lunch!  Grin

As for Sir Kenelm Digby, he was a prodigious inventor of all things related to wine. The French in particular owe a lot to him. It was his experimentations with glass-making that led to its becoming strong enough to withstand the pressure of fermentation inside the bottle. This enabled the French to advance the development of champagne. Prior to that the glass would simply explode before the cork popped.  Shocked

Best,
Tom 
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« Reply #98 on: May 17, 2016, 09:10:39 am »

Dear Tom,

      Good luck finding a decent 'hillel bar'!  In London all the best places are 'mom & pop' run shops, staffed by Italian families.

    I wonder what they call  'hillel/sandwich' places in Italy?

    Meanwhile, AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) should have statues raised to Lord Digby!  Grin Roll Eyes
Best,
Joey




Dear Joey,

Thanks for your welcome. And now that you have apprised me of the true originator of the 'sandwich' I will make a conscious effort to order a hillel next time I go to the hillel bar for lunch!  Grin

As for Sir Kenelm Digby, he was a prodigious inventor of all things related to wine. The French in particular owe a lot to him. It was his experimentations with glass-making that led to its becoming strong enough to withstand the pressure of fermentation inside the bottle. This enabled the French to advance the development of champagne. Prior to that the glass would simply explode before the cork popped.  Shocked

Best,
Tom 
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Wattana
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« Reply #99 on: May 17, 2016, 09:50:08 pm »


    Meanwhile, AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) should have statues raised to Lord Digby!  Grin Roll Eyes


I'll drink to that...!!!
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