# Homemade tumbling stopples



## appliedtop (Jan 13, 2007)

A few pics of my recently made stopples. Actually very easy to make if you have a welder. Started by welding four 3/4-inch long, 1/4-inch diameter pieces of steel on a washer. Then I welded the washer onto the inside of the stopple bolt. I coated them in rubber, and slid 1/4-inch refrigerator tubing over the steel and filled the ends with silicon and they're done. The stopple for the top was made by welding a 1/4-inch steel tube on the stopple bolt, sliding rubber tubing over it and siliconing a spring onto the bolt and also to the rubber plunger.  I think spring loaded is the way to go.


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## bottlenutboy (Jan 13, 2007)

that seems like a great idea how well do they work?


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## appliedtop (Jan 13, 2007)

They are unused at this point but I used several different size bottles during the making to ensure they have a good grip on them. I think they'll work fine.


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## capsoda (Jan 14, 2007)

They will work fine. Thats how I made mine but with three fingers and they work great.


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## appliedtop (Jan 14, 2007)

That's awesome capsoda.  How long have you been using yours?  Amazing that we both used springs. I've never seen springs used on them before. I was a welder by trade years ago and I found these actually very simple to make. I probably have about $7 apiece in them which is much cheaper than buying them pre made.  The cone I cut from a neoprene boat roller. Used a knife to rough cut it then put it on my grinder. Only took a couple minutes.


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## motorsicklemorris (Jan 14, 2007)

What did you start out with ? Big freeze plugs ?


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## appliedtop (Jan 14, 2007)

They're plumbers test plugs. Home Depot has them for $5.50 and the come in all different sizes.


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## capsoda (Jan 14, 2007)

These are new ones i made a little over a year ago to replace some worn out ones. Been making them for about 10 years and they last about 8 or so.


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## wedigforyou (Oct 6, 2008)

Hello, we've tried to make a set of these using this same test plug shown above.  They're leaking.  We ground down the outer plastic so the plug fits inside the tube.  Didn't think this would make a difference but maybe it has. Any thoughts? The rubber should still fill the gap.


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