Italian Floor Corker Help

[himesgt]

Hello everyone. I have disassembled my floor corker for cleaning, touch up paint, and to replace the brass iris. In doing so I noticed that the springs were quite a bit stiffer than anticipated and now I am wondering how to reassemble the unit without damaging the new iris or sending parts into the air. I know many of you have done this job and would appreciate any advice you can give. Are there any recommended tools or tricks to compress the springs? Is there an order to installing the four pieces of the iris that should be followed?

[Rich]

Hold on Greg.. Replying to your PM now!

Not been ignoring you (too much!), but quite manic with work

Rich

[Rich]

If you've still not got it sussed by Wednesday, I'm then off shift, and will strip mine down and take some more pics of the reassembly.

Cheers,

Rich

[SiSandrine]

Hi folks - I thought this had been covered before. Rich posted this previously.

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?4567-Floor-corker-strip-clean

Also - welcome himesgt.

Hope this helps.

[himesgt]

Correct Simon, I had read Rich's post before I posted. The information that is not covered is the installation of the stiff springs. When I took my corker apart it was with some difficulty that I removed the springs without having them fly out of the corker since they are under a bit of pressure. I was not too worried about damaging the old iris or the paint on the inside of the corker since I planned to renew both.

At this point with a newly painted housing and brand new iris parts I am looking for advice on re-installation of the springs. Yes, I could muscle them in with a large screwdriver, but not without damaging the paint or possibly damaging the soft brass iris. Just checking for an innovative idea from those who have routinely disassembled an Italian floor corker. Unlike Rich's corker the inside of mine is painted and was badly rusted everywhere the paint was missing. Anyone who has done this job will understand my question. Look forward to hearing what has worked best for folks.

Cheers,

Greg

Hi folks - I thought this had been covered before. Rich posted this previously.

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?4567-Floor-corker-strip-clean

Also - welcome himesgt.

Hope this helps.

[SiSandrine]

OK - thought it rung a bell. Mine is getting near to needing a little maintenance so completing the tutorial would be useful - particularly if there are some tricky bits like the springs.

I think a couple of the others have stripped them down - or I am sure you will get good service from Rich.

Cheers

[Cellar_Rat]

Done this a few times.
Use gloves !! They might nip and are quite sharp.
Fit the ones with springs first - cos you have room.
Then wriggle the other two in. Remember the funny little lips always point towards the cork.

Put then in dry - slippery springs are amusing on youtube but can become tiresome - I use spray on FSG after the event.

[himesgt]

Very good. This is exactly what I needed to know. Just finished re-painting the inside of the corker and hope to get it back together tomorrow.

[Cellar_Rat]

let us all know how you get on..

[himesgt]

OK. Finally got back to putting the Italian corker back together. I used gloves as Cellar Rat suggested which really helped. What I found interesting was once all of the pieces were back in place the mechanism needed some adjustment. I loaded up a cork pulled the handle down fully compressing the cork with the plunger on the handle just touching the top of the cork. I then flipped the corker over to see the position of the cork on the bottom as it would enter a bottle. I found that the cork was too far forward and would likely damage the edge of the cork as it passed through the exit hole and into the bottle. I clearly neede to adjust the iris to the back of the housing.

Two of the iris pieces are fastened with bolts while the other two hold the springs. The bolts that pass through holes that are oblong allowing for adjustment. I started with the piece that is bolted to the Y of the handle. If you fit the two iris pieces into the Y, leaving the spring out of the second piece for now, and tighten the bolt so the two pieces are snug together and as far back in the Y as possible you will end up with a perfect fit. I then attached the third piece which bolts to the housing making sure I had it as far back in the housing as possible. Then I put the two springs back in and viola! we are back in business.

I did go back and test the cork position again by turning over the corker at full compression and found that the cork still sits far forward relative to the exit hole, but at least now it clears the edge when entering the bottle without damaging the cork.

I hope this somewhat lengthy explanation will help others renovate old corkers and get a few more good years from them. Thanks to all who responded to the thread.

[Cellar_Rat]

You might find putting I finger on the neck of the bottle and pulling gently towards you while operating the handle (corking) helps. Sometimes there is a small click.