The Wood-Topped Cork Stopper: A Cork Ferrule on a Wooden Head You Pull by Hand

"a1 a2 a3 denote the rigid portion formed with two shoulders or changes of diameter, and made, by preference, of wood; but glass, earthenware, vulcanite, or other hard substance or composition can be used, while b is an elastic substance, made, by preference, of cork, in the form of a ferrule, and fitted on so as to cover only the part a3." "Some of the advantages secured by our stoppers, which, as is above implied, we propose to use in the place of ordinary corks are, that they can be forced in by percussion or by pressure; they can be withdrawn by hand without a corkscrew, without being damaged; they can be used over and over many times; they can be used for closing aerated-water bottles without metal caps, the wires being led directly over the top of the rigid portion, and they are efficient closers, and are cheap and durable."

**Top.** From hardwood dowel, cut a 12 mm length of 30 mm dowel as the head a1, a 10 mm length of 14 mm dowel as the neck a2, and a 20 mm length of 10 mm dowel as the spigot a3. Drill the head and neck on centre and glue the three together on a short 6 mm dowel pin, so they share one axis. **Ferrule.** Drill a 10 mm hole through the length of a tapered cork a little shorter than the spigot, and trim its top flat against the neck's shoulder. **Join.** Dip the spigot's end in shellac and force the ferrule on, as Fox and Hall did with dissolved shellac. Seal the spigot's end with shellac so no bare wood meets the drink. **Test.** Fill a bottle with water, push the stopper in by hand and by a light tap, turn the bottle over, then pull it out by the head. Repeat twenty times and look at the cork.

**Howard Busby Fox** of Oxton and **James Turner Hall** of Liverpool, England, received US 70,986, dated 19 November 1867. The wooden part's pores were to be closed by impregnation under pressure, or its end coated with tin-foil or another metal impervious to liquids; caoutchouc could replace the cork; and a cheaper form used a ring and plug. Their claims cover the stopper of wood and cork combined, and the rigid part of three diameters fitted within and upon the elastic part. **Honest limits.** Glued dowels stand in for a turned top, and a bored bottle cork for their ferrule. The notebook treats the grip as simple friction; its pressure, sizes and friction coefficient are examples. Your twenty stoppings are the result.