Most people are familiar with collecting wine, and even collecting wine bottles, but one of the types of collections that some people are unaware of is collecting wine bottle corks. Wine bottle corks are often just as unique as the bottles that they are sealing, and people that consider them selves to be wine aficionados can appreciate the importance of wine bottle corks because they are responsible for keeping the wine in good condition, ensuring that it ages properly and has the perfect taste and texture. If you appreciate everything that wine collecting and wine bottle collecting have to offer, then why not consider also collecting wine bottle corks?
Cork has a number of unique physical properties in its natural form, and they make this material a truly ideal one to use for sealing wine bottles. Natural cork has actually been the wine bottle seal of choice ever since Roman times. Cork has a cell structure that is unique and honeycomb in nature. Every sell is sealed and filled with air, and no two cells are connected to one another. Cork has an elastic texture which means that it can be compressed and still returns to its original value upon being released.
What makes this happen with wine bottle corks is the structure of the cells in the cork. As the cork becomes compressed, the air in each of the cells becomes compressed. Then when the pressure is removed, the cork naturally expands back into its original shape and volume.
Cork is also waterproof, which is another quality that comes from the cell structure of the natural material. The individual cells are sealed and this means that they are not connected to one another. There is no chance of capillary action or any wicking when it comes to cork materials.
Cork has individual cells that are filled up with air, and these cells are very extremely poor conductors when it comes to vibration and heat. What this means is that cork has been ideal for a long time for sound proofing and flooring purposes. This may not matter when it comes to wine bottle corks, but wine bottle corks that aren’t collected are often turned into other things such as flooring, gaskets and floats.
Another benefit of cork is that it is relatively light weight in nature. It has a low amount of density because the various cells are filled up with air. Cork has been used for a myriad of unique purposes including fishing floats just as long as it has been used as wine bottle corks.
Another benefit of wine bottle corks is the high friction surface, which means that the cork can be compressed, inserted into the bottle, can regain shape and fill the bottle, and will therefore stay in place in the bottle. When the cork is cut, millions of the cells are ruptured, and this is responsible for forming rough domes capable of sealing onto smooth surfaces like the neck of a glass wine bottle.
Photo Credits: elizabethemily
Originally posted 2009-10-26 03:49:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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