Cork Borers

Cork borers are used for cutting precise circular holes in rubber or cork stoppers to accommodate glass tubing, thermometers, and other instrument shafts. Our range includes individual and set options in multiple sizes.

Essential for assembling laboratory apparatus, cork borers create clean, round holes that form a tight seal around glass or metal fittings. Suitable for school chemistry and biology lab setup and professional laboratory apparatus assembly.

SmartLabs supplies cork borers to schools and labs across South Africa. Browse our range for reliable, sharp-edged borers that create clean holes in stoppers and corks.

  • Cork Borer Set

    Cork Borer Set

    • Lab and Research
    Only 2 left
    From R 200.00
    From R 200.00
  • Cork Borer Sharpener

    Cork Borer Sharpener

    • Lab and Research
    Only 5 left
    R 720.00
    R 720.00
Gloved hands holding a set of brass cork borers

What is a cork borer?

A cork borer is a hollow metal tube with a sharpened cutting edge, twisted by hand through a rubber or cork stopper to cut a clean, round hole. That hole lets you pass glass tubing, a thermometer, or a dropping funnel stem through the stopper to build a sealed apparatus assembly.

SmartLabs stocks graduated cork borer sets covering the standard range of tube and rod diameters used in school and laboratory glassware, along with a cork borer sharpener to keep the cutting edge keen for clean, effortless holes over many uses.

Common uses of cork borers in the lab

A cork borer turns a plain stopper into a functional part of your glassware assembly.

  • A gloved hand using a nested set of cork borers to cut a hole in a rubber stopper

    Cutting clean holes in stoppers

    A steady twisting motion carries the sharpened tube straight through a rubber or cork stopper, producing a smooth, round hole exactly the diameter of the borer used.

  • A thermometer through a bored red rubber stopper beside a borer set

    Fitting thermometers and tubing

    A borer matched precisely to the diameter of a thermometer stem or glass tube gives an airtight, snug fit once the item is pushed through the freshly bored hole.

  • A cork borer set standing in a stoppered round bottom flask

    Building sealed apparatus

    A bored stopper fitted with glass tubing seals a flask while still allowing a controlled path for gas or vapour, essential for distillation, gas collection, and reaction setups.

  • A student in safety glasses boring a hole through a red rubber stopper with cork borers

    School apparatus assembly

    Boring a stopper is a practical skill learners build early in a school science course, needed for setting up distillation, gas collection, and osmosis experiments correctly.

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