Ok not he most gripping of subjects but I thought I'd mention it.
for various reasons I favour using stoneware containers over tin plastic and glass in the shed so I pick them up cheap when i can. If the big cork lids are dirty the charity shops etc practically give them away. The dirt is normally ingrained and won't wash off but a few seconds on a belt sander does the trick.
The flat ends are easy to do but with a bit of practice the slopping sides are as well.
The trick is to lightly pinch the cork with one hand at the centre points top and bottom and use the other hand as a break cupped around the side the sanding beltis dragging the cork towards. By varying the pressure the cork will spin slightly slower than the belt and be sanded clean and flat again.
For some reason these large corks are ridiculously expensive to replace
http://www.just-cork.co.uk/corks-bungs-c-2.html?page=3&sort=3a
for what they are, more than the pots usually cost!
stone wares is much tougher than it looks, just about lasts for ever unless you are actually trying to kill it, doesn't rust, doesn't degrade like plastics so can be stored in direct sunlight and gawd help me, looks pretty! One thing, tung and Danish oil doesn't store well under cork for some reason but there are plenty of stone bottles with threaded pot lids with rubber seals.
Ive rarely paid more than £1.50 for a quart bottle although some places will charge you the earth as a "collectors item". Pearsons of Chesterfield for one was still churning them out by the thousand into the 1990s but using moulds dating back to the year dot.
i need to get out more dont I?
Atb
Tom
Excuse the pics, the suns actually out today
for various reasons I favour using stoneware containers over tin plastic and glass in the shed so I pick them up cheap when i can. If the big cork lids are dirty the charity shops etc practically give them away. The dirt is normally ingrained and won't wash off but a few seconds on a belt sander does the trick.
The flat ends are easy to do but with a bit of practice the slopping sides are as well.
The trick is to lightly pinch the cork with one hand at the centre points top and bottom and use the other hand as a break cupped around the side the sanding beltis dragging the cork towards. By varying the pressure the cork will spin slightly slower than the belt and be sanded clean and flat again.
For some reason these large corks are ridiculously expensive to replace
http://www.just-cork.co.uk/corks-bungs-c-2.html?page=3&sort=3a
for what they are, more than the pots usually cost!
stone wares is much tougher than it looks, just about lasts for ever unless you are actually trying to kill it, doesn't rust, doesn't degrade like plastics so can be stored in direct sunlight and gawd help me, looks pretty! One thing, tung and Danish oil doesn't store well under cork for some reason but there are plenty of stone bottles with threaded pot lids with rubber seals.
Ive rarely paid more than £1.50 for a quart bottle although some places will charge you the earth as a "collectors item". Pearsons of Chesterfield for one was still churning them out by the thousand into the 1990s but using moulds dating back to the year dot.
i need to get out more dont I?
Atb
Tom
Excuse the pics, the suns actually out today
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