I'm building a press...

Well, in anticipation for the pear tree in the back yard that rains pears from the sky like a monsoon, I decided to build a press.

It's going to be about a 3gal capacity, and will be hydraulic (I already have a 20-ton harbor freight shop press). I started building the basket yesterday. And, mostly, finished tonight. I still need to break it down and enamal the bands, and finish sanding the wood. But other than that I am done, besides building a follower, and constructing some type of base for the juice.

I tell you this, those steel bands were a pain! I cut the stock to length, taped the two together, marked and drilled the holes, mounted the boards, and bear hugged this into shape. I knew all those years of brute force tactics would pay off!

Now to the nitty gritty. The inside diameter is roughly about 9-1/2". And the height is 10". According to my math this is about 709 cu/in. 231 cu/in per gallon. So just over 3gal basket. I'll have to subtract a little for the follower. The wood is oak (1.5"x.75), and the bands are mild steel, with stainless screws.

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What are you guys using to grind up your pears before you press them? Have you seen the website cidersupply.com, they have pear specific pectinases to help clear pear faster. Are you going to treat your staves with a food grade EZDO? WVMJ

I've got a garbage disposal unit I converted. And no, I hadn't planned on treating the wood. I've heard that it's best not to.

Does anyone have any input as to the material that one should make the follower out of? Not sure follower is the proper term, but the board/s that ride on top of of the fruit?

I thought about plyboard, for convenience, but I'm thinking this could pose some issues with the type of glue they use. If I'm not mistaken I think it has arsenic in it (but maybe that is MDF... How have others constructed this?

How about a round polly cutting board, freckleface.com sells different thicknesses and sizes, otherwise why not the same oak you made the staves out of. Always 100 opinions on everthing to do with brewing, but if you dont seal the wood it will soak up the juice and stay in the pores until the next batch an possibly have something growing in the pores you dont want?


WVMJ

Well, I thought about sealing with canning wax... Just rub it in real good, and polish the bulk off.

As for the follower, I'd love to use the oak. But the pieces I made were cut from 1.5x.75 boards. So hardly the proper size for what I need. And I don't really want to buy a oak 10x2 just to cut one circle... Poly board might be ok. I'll have to weigh the pros and cons I suppose.

I'm assuming these are the poly boards you're talking about?

http://freckleface.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/polypropylenesheetoneinchthick.html

I love what you've done. I'm looking into building something like this in the (near?) future. I don't have any great ideas about a follower but would love to know what you end up using. I had initially thought plywood would work but after reading about the glues used in the production I decided it's probably not the optimal choice without at least covering it with something else that's food-grade. I also like the thick PP/PET/HDPE/PTFE plastic option.

And the garbage disposal fruit grinder sounds awesome. Does it break the fruit (apples, specifically) down into reasonably small bits?

Well, it's a work in progress, and I'll probably update this thread as the build continues. But I'm currently sanding the staves as I find the time. The boards I used all had extremely sharp edges, so eliminating those will hopefully save any bags that I use, along with my fear of splinters (I don't really fear them, just prefer not to have them imbedded in me). I also enameled the bands with a red enamel. So that'll be pretty.

I'm still trying to figure out if I'll be sealing the staves or not. Like I mentioned above, I've thought about using paraffin to seal the poors. But may use a mineral oil instead. I'm still weighing the options, and open to any input.

As for the follower, I'm up in the air... I could use another board that was large enough. But I've heard that softwoods can leave a funky taste. And hardwoods that are large enough could be fairly expensive. But I could take some of the pieces like I used and build a 'wheel' that could be cut to size. Or just use a wood backed HDPE board. I don't really know how I'm going to go about it yet, and would like for it to look as natural as possible. Aesthetically pleasing is what I mean.

So ultimately, I guess I have a lot of work to do. But thankfully it is quite some time yet until pears start falling.

Nice looking press, just curious about the choice of oak for the staves. If I was putting that much effort into a press I would be using maple or some other similar closed grain hardwood, maybe birch or beech. I like oak for some construction projects but, not for food contact, I haven't seen too many oak cutting boards. I would be concerned about adding some oak flavor or having a contamination issue like WVMJ mentioned. Sealing the oak with paraffin does seem like a good idea.

Yep, those are the guys with round cutting boards and you can get them very thick. We also use 3 bags for the pulp, and 2 spacer round poly boards between them to really increase the amount of juice we get pressed out. Not sure if using one increases the effectiveness of a hydralic press. WVMJ

jdgabbard said:

It's going to be about a 3gal capacity, and will be hydraulic (I already have a 20-ton harbor freight shop press).

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Why aren't you just building a cloth and rack press with the Habor Freight shop press?

jdgabbard said:

I've got a garbage disposal unit I converted. And no, I hadn't planned on treating the wood. I've heard that it's best not to.

Click to expand...

Bees wax mixed with some food grade mineral oil makes a good sealer if you do decide to go that route.

I chose oak because it was what I could get. And I'm not too terribly worried about bugs, since I use k-meta to sterilize my juice. I'm not really going for a natural fermentation.

Well, I had looked at several hydraulic presses, but wanted something that I may some day build upon. And to me, a basket seemed the logical solution.

With the BW and Mineral oil do you just rub it in? I have the equipment to make it. I bullet cast, and one of the necessities of that is lube. So I make my own on a regular basis. I have about 15lbs of BW in the garage....

jdgabbard said:

I chose oak because it was what I could get. And I'm not too terribly worried about bugs, since I use k-meta to sterilize my juice. I'm not really going for a natural fermentation.

Well, I had looked at several hydraulic presses, but wanted something that I may some day build upon. And to me, a basket seemed the logical solution.

With the BW and Mineral oil do you just rub it in? I have the equipment to make it. I bullet cast, and one of the necessities of that is lube. So I make my own on a regular basis. I have about 15lbs of BW in the garage....

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Cool on casting bullets. I have reloaded for 35 years and keep looking at casting my own but have not pulled the trigger so to speak.

I used about 3 parts mineral oil to 1 part BW to get it soft enough to rub in. And yes, then I just use my hands or my hands and a cloth and rub it in. It helps if you can heat it up a bit. I have used a heat gun to warm things up, both the oil/BW and the wood. Put on several coats as the grain will drink it in at first. It also works great on your cutting boards.

Actually a very good question, the rack and cloth is much more build onto then a basket but you do have to invest in making the pressing plates, you might want to still look into it, use your basket for berries and grapes and the rack and cloth for cider. WVMJ

DaMonkey said:

Why aren't you just building a cloth and rack press with the Habor Freight shop press?

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I used to have an antique bucket apple press built in 1918 out of oak. Oak is the way to go. Dont need to seal it or anything. Use it then Wash it thoroughly after each use and make sure it dries out.
Just curious why you chose to build a basket press if you already have the harbor freight 20 ton shop press why not build a rack and cloth press. Much higher efficiency and easier to build. I built mine using an HDPE food grade pan, and HDPE racks, with cheap nylon cloths. It presses about 10 gallons per pressing and is easy to clean.

rlmiller10 said:

Cool on casting bullets. I have reloaded for 35 years and keep looking at casting my own but have not pulled the trigger so to speak.



I used about 3 parts mineral oil to 1 part BW to get it soft enough to rub in. And yes, then I just use my hands or my hands and a cloth and rub it in. It helps if you can heat it up a bit. I have used a heat gun to warm things up, both the oil/BW and the wood. Put on several coats as the grain will drink it in at first. It also works great on your cutting boards.

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Well, I'll tell you what. Go to google, and search for Boolits. You'll find the place that you need to go. Handle is the same there that it is here. You won't have any problem finding me. Although I don't frequent there as much as I did. Pm me here or there if you would like to talk about some stuff concerning it. If you've never made the jump, you will after doing some reading over there.

As to the formulation, that seems like it would be a little too much like goo... I use 50/50 BW/Olive oil as a moderate velocity boolit lube/hair wax (don't laugh, it works) and that is easily wiped off....
I was thinking something more like 60/40... The great thing about BW vs paragon, is that the cellular structure is more akin to wiffle balls, vs paraffin which is crystalline. Meaning that the BW can hold oils better, paraffins leak oils. So I can see why this would help to denature, so to speak, the wood, rather than plugging the poors like paraffin would....

HudsonCider, Where did you find the HDPE food grade pan? I can find SS pans or have them made, but never located an HDPE of appropriate size. Thanks.

I haven't found one that I've purchased. Just the blank sheets. The link is above. But as for a pan like what he described, no clue...

HDPE trays can be found for around $50 online at Laboratory supply sites.

I purchased my LDPE tray from amazonsupply.com for $101 shipped. I also purchased an HDPE sheet from there to attach to the underside of the top pressing plate so no wood comes into contact with the cider and makes it all easy to clean

D-west said:

HDPE trays can be found for around $50 online at Laboratory supply sites.

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The deep (and thick ones) that fit the HF press are a lot more than $50

hudsoncider said:

The deep (and thick ones) that fit the HF press are a lot more than $50

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1/4" HDPE 18x22 and 4" deep are around $80.

It doesn't need to be thick, just needs to be able to catch cider.

Hudsoncider can you post pics of your setup?

D-west said:

1/4" HDPE 18x22 and 4" deep are around $80.

It doesn't need to be thick, just needs to be able to catch cider.

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Sorry for the late reply (only 8 months ha ha ha) but my rack is 19" so I had to go for the larger one which was $100.

I can post pictures later

hudsoncider said:

Sorry for the late reply (only 8 months ha ha ha) but my rack is 19" so I had to go for the larger one which was $100.

I can post pictures later

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Please do; I'd love to see them. See you in a year

I would be interested in seeing that set up as well!

Still waiting for pics...