I have a capper from crown caps, but can’t find it. Have decided to buy another one. Which do you gentlemen prefer-- red plastic or steel? Thank you for your opinions…
Steel bench capper. I started with red plastic and it broke after a year. I went to the Anvil bench capper about 3-4 years ago and consider it one of the best gadgets I’ve spent my money on. All steel, wide base for stability and it significantly increased the speed of my capping process.
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Same advice. Get a bench capper.
I’ve used the red plastic capper since 2013 and capped about 1,500 bottles with absolutely no issues.
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Although I have a red plastic capper, a friend of mine has a bench capper that I prefer using over my plastic one. The plastic one gets a bit persnickety at times and I have had to replace it after about 15 years of brewing when the bell got rusty. Next time I have to replace this one (I only use it to bottle for competition and when I take beers to share) I will get a bench capper.
I’m on my second red plastic capper. Eventually they fail but it takes about 10 years or 100 batches. I’m nearing the 200 mark and it’s starting to act a little odd. I’ll take a look at prices and decide based on that.
Ten years, huh? I’m 67 and in declining health. I’ll purchase a red plastic one. I won’t live long enough to wear it out…
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Weren’t those two handed cappers once called “butterfly” cappers? That’s what I always called them but don’t see much reference to that term any longer.
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The most important feature of a capper IMO is the bell. I prefer a machined bell over a stamped bell. Most butterfly cappers and some bench cappers have a stamped bell. I suspected my butterfly capper I’ve had since the 90(s) of not crimping the cap well enough. So, I got a Go/No-Go gauge. Every cap crimped w/ the butterfly capper failed. So, I got a bench capper w/ a machined bell. I’ve never had a cap crimped w/ the bench capper fail QC. YMMV.
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