cider press

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beermonster1985

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yo, making a cider press with an open ended bucket, i have the frame constructed and just need to make the bucket, now i have the oak cut for me but i have come to a problem, what to use for the rings, i can get aluminium straps for this but i heard that aluminium and apple juice is a no no, so what else is there , i never seen stainless steel straps or copper thick enough,
 
Do you have a pic? I imagine you are referring to the hoops that hold the oak staves in tension?

Traditionally these are made from wrought iron, but these days they are mild steel, like 1045. You should be able to find steel flat bar at a hardware store or steel supply. Look for 2"x 1/8" bar.

You can rivet it (or weld) into a hoop and then heat it to swage it around the barrel. Heating it temporarily expands to hoop so that it will barely fit and shrink to hold the staves in serious tension (ideally). If you have leaks after completing the barrel, leave it full of water for a couple of hours and these will swell shut.

Of course, this assumes you are making a barrel...
 
ah no, i need gaps as its for a presss ideally of around 1 cm, how would i hold it in place like that??
 
I'm not really sure what you are trying to achieve. If you want gaps in between the rails, can't you use wood spacers?
 
its an open ended bucket with the wood fixed to 2 or 3 metal rings, and the wood has spaces, anyhow the shop has steel iv just looked but not stainless, is there some kind of food grade antioxidant??
 
Stainless is really the option, as far as metal is concerned when it is in contact with a potentially corrosive or acidic solution. Copper would corrode (regarding your OP).
 
As one who has made a cider press, dont have gaps of 1cm. I had gaps of 2mm and sometimes a pressing bag would burst on me.

Aluminum is fine if you are just doing a few batches now and then, just make sure you hose it off really well.
 
Do some searches on Ebay where you can find stainless steel press basket straps for about $10, and complete press baskets with stainless steel straps for about $40. I was just looking at them today.

Btw, get a nylon pressing bag too, very much worthwhile.
 
I attempted to make a wood slatted press a few years ago, using seamless stainless steel bands cut from a cylinder I found at a local scrapyard. I found out that Stainless Steel is devilishly hard to cut or drill. l gave up after breaking 5 drill bits after drilling less than 10 of a total of about 60 holes that would be required, and yes I used a drill press with cutting oil. I ended up buying a turkey fryer basket that could hold about 4 gallons of crushed grapes or apples. I drilled additional holes to help the juice come out. It ain't pretty, but it works reasonably well with crushed grapes, but using ground apples I got about 5 gallons of juice out of 4 bushels of apples. Might try the freezing trick next year. Eventually I would like to make a more proper basket using mild steel for the bands.
 
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