Crown capping with confidence ?

[Anthony Waters]

I dont have much confidence when im crown capping, I used to the force of my hand and a rocking motion untill it went wrong one day and i ended up with stiches ! Whats the best way to do it wil hammering bust the bottles ? Thanks Anthony

 

[Aleman]

Hammer on crown cappers are accidents waiting to happen (as you have found out)

Get yourself a Bench capper, they are worth their weight in gold, and will last your brewing lifetime and then some. They can cap any bottle including (with a change of bell and bigger caps) Champagne bottles, and the big Belgian bottles.

Lever cappers are cheaper, but no where near as versatile.

 

[klaus]

To start with I recommend the two-lever capper. I still have the one from 15 odd years ago and it has never gone wrong, except me not using enough force to cap .....

 

[adrianmole72]

I use a 2-lever capper,does the job for me, but as aleman says, the bench capper is a bit more versatile, ie it can cap wychwood bottles, whereas the 2-lever capper cant