Bottle holder, spill prevention

[Philip Davies]

Lightweight, narrow-based plastic bottles are so unstable and it is easy to spill quite expensive contents! Perhaps that is what the manufacturers want you to do! Well, I have done it far too often. These forged ovals help to prevent knocking over a bottle when the top is removed for making repeated applications. I am going to make some more to fit other bottles. They are just tight enough to fit without undue distortion. The one on the right, which I did first, has cling film around it because the the plastic is also brittle! Why?....

[Frank S]

Philip, that is a great idea the snug fit helps to put the center of gravity where it belongs, on the bottom.
One thing that could be done would be to tack weld a thin sheet or plate to the bottom of the ring then use those stick on felt pads to prevent marring of surfaces

[uv8452]

To avoid forging I cut a wooden collar and screw or 2K glue it to a piece of 8...12mm mild steel.
Flat or very compressed oval cross sections can be approximated by a fence of 4 bits of laminated wood, again: screwed or glued to a base of mild steel.
These bottle holders are very useful for the upside-down storage of very viscose substances.

[mklotz]

In operation, our electric can opener produces detached lids with no sharp edges. Gluing them to small bottles directly solves the tipping problem. I have numerous battery flashlights (UK torches) scattered about so one can be found easily in a blackout. Long, slender cylinders, they can be stood on their magnetic end, but not stable on non-ferrous surfaces. Snap a can lid on them and they make nice little stable "candles".

For smaller medication bottles, a slice of pool noodle works well...

Tipper over stopper

[uv8452]

Roofers use sheets of 1 or 1.5mm lead. They will leave you old disassembled lumps for nothing. Straighten and clean. Cut strips 30mm wide and wrap them tight around the bottle or any irregular shaped container. Secure it with tape. Weight helps to keep everything on the workbench. (My trays for disassembled camera or calculator parts got a weight underneath.)

[ki4oyh]

Seems to me sheet lead would work, for those of us who don't have a forge.

[Bony]

Um, please don't take this the wrong way, but if the bottle keeps on being knocked over after repeated applications perhaps you should stop after one fill ! Or if that's not a feasible solution, buy your spirits in bigger bottles with a decent sized base.

[Philip Davies]

Um, please don't take this the wrong way, but if the bottle keeps on being knocked over after repeated applications perhaps you should stop after one fill ! Or if that's not a feasible solution, buy your spirits in bigger bottles with a decent sized base.

Bony, I am simply clumsy. Usually, a bottle is only used for a minute. Sometimes, I put it in a vice! Often, when I come to replace the stopper, it’s invisible! Then I search through a box of spare tops. In the process, I may knock over the bottle. It’s pathetic.