# Too wide to fit in my tumbler



## chosi (Dec 10, 2011)

I'm unable to tumble a bitters bottle because it's base is too wide to fit into my finger stopple.
 But I just had a crazy idea, and I wanna get some feedback on what my chances of success are.
 The crazy idea will be in the next post...


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## chosi (Dec 10, 2011)

Here's my crazy idea: I filed down the fingers on the finger-stopple so that they actually come to a point.
 So now, any bottle that is narrow enough to fit into the canister should fit into the finger stopples.
 Ingenious?
 Insane?
 Should I expect a wonderfully clean bottle, or a bunch of broken glass after I try a tumble?


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## epackage (Dec 10, 2011)

4" stopper and tube if the one you're showing is a 3", 6" tube and stopper if your's is a 4" ..


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## tigue710 (Dec 10, 2011)

not to be a jerk but you ruined your stopple...  it will not hold bottles well now.  Your also not going to have enough room for the bottle to safely fit in tube and it most likely will come loose in there like that


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## suzanne (Dec 11, 2011)

The bottle appears to be clean already.


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## captcadillac (Dec 11, 2011)

I have to agree with Tigue's and Suzanne's posts.
 How about getting a larger stopple and canister? If you tumble enough bottles, you'll probably need them eventually.
 CaptCadillac


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## chosi (Dec 11, 2011)

> The bottle appears to be clean already. 

 The bottle has lots of sickness, and needs a tumble (see photo).

 > 4" stopper and tube if the one you're showing is a 3", 6" tube and stopper if your's is a 4"

 I'm trying to avoid buying a larger canister for just this one bottle. 

 > not to be a jerk but you ruined your stopple... 

 It was in my junk pile anyway, since it was old and pretty worn.  I have a previous posting on this forum about a finger stopple that came apart on my during a tumble.  I'm just hoping this one will last for one more tumble.


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## JOETHECROW (Dec 11, 2011)

No expert on tumbling but couldn't you rig a piece of 6 inch pvc temporarily for the larger diameter? Then you just need a way to hold it...[8|]  [&o]  []


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## chosi (Dec 11, 2011)

> ORIGINAL: JOETHECROW
> No expert on tumbling but couldn't you rig a piece of 6 inch pvc temporarily for the larger diameter? Then you just need a way to hold it...[8|]  [&o]  []


 
 It's the "way to hold it" part that makes it difficult.  The stopples cost about $40 each.


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## JOETHECROW (Dec 11, 2011)

I was thinking of ways I'd try without risking the bottle....maybe it would be easy to make a wood "holder" for the top and bottom...perhaps a piece of plywood with a neckhole cut out, and a similar piece with a diameter of the base cut out...or something along those lines. Just a thought.


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## tigue710 (Dec 11, 2011)

for 25 bucks you can have someone do it for you... thats the best bet Id say...  I wouldn't force anything especially seeing the delicate shape of that bottle now... besides it slipping out easily because there is no rubber left to grip the bottle now anouther problem your going to have isnt even so much holding it in place but that your copper will get jammed up and break the bottle because the tube isnt big enough for it...


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## bottlediger (Dec 11, 2011)

Taking off the vinyl stopple covering will cause extreme ware marks on the bottle. It will mess up the glass bad!

 Ryan


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## AntiqueMeds (Dec 11, 2011)

I have found that if you are afraid a bottle might come loose its a little safer to just tumble the outside of the bottle first so the bottle wont be so heavy in the tube. Then you can do the inside of the bottle later (I just wedge the bottle in the tube with foam and cloth to do that without even sealing it). Takes longer obviously but some things I dont want to risk breaking.


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