CAPSLock - Beer bottling tool

thingiverse

The CAPSLock tool allows you to: 1. Reseal any partially consumed beverage bottle with a crimp cap. This is done using the original cap. This can be done at least 2 times before the seal/crimp loses its efficacy. This is done by placing the original cap on the bottle. Placing the CAPSLock over the cap and gently striking it with your palm. 2. Reuse the existing cap and bottle from any bottle with a crimp cap to bottle a fresh batch of homebrew. This can be done at least 2 times which negates the need to immediately buy consumables (caps) to start brewing. Caps can be used at least 2-3 times before the seal loses/crimp efficacy. This is done exactly like resealing a half-consumed beverage. 3. Seal any bottle with a crimp cap using a new cap. Perfect if you have purchased few caps for recycled bottles, or new bottles and caps. This is done by placing a new cap on the bottle after filling it with delicious homebrew, placing the CAPSLock over the new cap and then gently but firmly striking the top of the tools with a rubber mallet until the tool lifts off easily. If the tool does not lift off easily, the cap has not been crimped enough. Keep whacking. 4. Reuse previously unusable twist cap bottles and their caps to bottle homebrew beer. The CAPSLock allows you to easily unscrew stubborn screw-top bottles due to its cap-shaped “Socket & T-handle” design. This T-handle design allows you to apply enough torque to reseal the same bottle again to recycle it for home-brewing which allows a previously unusable NRB resource to be tapped for brewing enjoyment. DO not over-torque these caps when sealing them. It is very easy to strip the cap threads. 5. The CAPSLock allows the user to open sealed bottles in such a way as to leave the original cap with no damage and as little deformation as possible extending is recyclable lifespan. The production efficiency and material saving can be extended by utilizing dual-density infill in slicing software. Slicers like CURA allow the user to apply infill in varying densities in specific areas to enhance strength where needed. The entire tool can be printed with 40-50% infill for simple production, or the tool can be printed at much lower (20%) infill for the majority of the tool and only the area that will be subjected to impact can be reinforced with a wedge of 50% infill utilizing the supplied Impact_Wedge.stl file via the “per model” settings in CURA, placing the wedge above the capping section of the tool (see images for placement and example. This step needs to be completed in the slicing software. The CAPSLock was designed with two internal cavities that will allow for pausing mid-print and inserting a 5mm thick, 8mm diameter Neodymium magnets in the cavity (marked blue in fig.4). This serves two purposes: It allows the tool to be stored on the vertical surface of a refrigerator and it retains the bottle cap when opening a bottle so that the cap can be manually extracted and not dropped on the floor (an annoyingly common occurrence with traditional openers). Cap is extracted by slapping tool on your palm. Prototypes that have been manufactured in PLA have functioned well mechanically through 200-300 use cycles. Thus, PLA is likely to allow for a reasonable lifecycle, though a more resilient material such as ABS or PETG is likely to be more suited to long term use.