Need an advice on used floor corker.

I bought a used large floor corker. Made the deal based on pictures, paid for it and received it on a quick meeting. When I returned home I found the following issues that I did not like in this corker:
• Jaws that squeeze the cork, made of brass, are not perfectly flush with one another at the top surface. See 1st picture, I’m not sure if that is OK or not.
• The jaws and the hoist where you place the cork right before you squeeze it are kind of dirty, if I wipe them with white napkin black dusty residue comes out, how do I clean that effectively from all the jaws and their inner surfaces without using a chemical that will permanently taint my corks for the future?
• Also the finger, or stick if you well, that pushes the cork down, it touches the front side of the cork holder or chamber. This have caused the threads of that stick to become flat (see 3ed picture) and cause the adjustable ring that is used to adjust how deep to push the cork to get stuck and not be able to go deep enough for Belgian bottles corking style.
Any ideas how to solve this 3 items?

Thanks

Will it cork a bottle? As for cleaning I would give it a good cleaning with vinegar and water. You can take the jaws apart also if you are feeling froggy. If it corks a bottle without issue then clean and use. As for the nut not screwing. It sounds like this thing has been rode hard if you know what I mean and the plunger arm is probably loose or warn out. You can take a hammer and tap the plunger back a tad but that wont fix the messed up threads. You can have it cut off and a new one welded back on. A good new corker really isn't all that spendy man, what did you have to give for this one?

Cheers
Jay

Put a rubber stopper on the push rod to let you know when to stop for your Belgian bottles.
None that I have seen can be adjusted correctly for this use, they were not designed for it.

At least you got brass jaws (++).
My Portuguese corker has plastic jaws and the bottom plate needed some serious grinder work to handle the Belgian corks.
The cork would expand before the bottle could be removed from the corker and jam, because the outlet hole was not centered or large enough.
I can now cork Belgians and still cork wine bottles without effort.

Unless you paid near retail I would get to know your well used machine before getting too upset about the purchase.

I paid about $75 for it. The actual deal was $100 for the corker, I asked for less and the guy added a 5 gallon glass carboy on top for free. So I'm feeling like I paid $75 to $80 for the corker by itself. I will do the water vinegar cleaning and I will file the threads a bet to make them work. Thanks for the advices I will keep on posting and learning.

Cheers

I think the black stuff is food safe graphite lubricant. My champagne corker came new with liberal lubrication--got on my hands and even visible on a few early corks. I'd pull everthing apart, clean, and re-lube.