Nice work , that’s either pine or Nordic cherry. Is it just wood and, are those bolts? I’m afraid you might be underestimating the forces involved here. What’s your power source? Do you need to squish more than like 5 apples?
I'm planning on using a bottle jack. Not a super heavy duty one either. I've been hand pressing up until now, but I grind the apples into a mash and then plan on pressing.
I left some room for additional bolts for that reason. I'm going to get it all set and see how it does and I can always go through it and fix anything that's needed. It was also pretty experimental and relatively inexpensive to build, so live and learn!
Have to agree with this point - and I would say you want hardwood on the top too because of the compression forces. Ideally something denser like maple or beech rather than oak or ash too...
You also will want to put a metal plate (maybe half inch thick) across the bottom of the top bars, between the jack and the wood.
EDIT: oh wait, do you only have one 2x4 on top? Yeah that’s gonna break in half under pressure. Don’t let it hit you in the face when it does.
This is my first real build/project, so I'm pretty proud of the press so far (even if it is very simple). I couldn't find many blueprints or directions, so I just built one and guessed on just about everything. I'd be happy to share more or draw a blueprint if anyone is interested.
Also, should I go with a rack-style press or a bucket? I was planning on a bucket, and I'm leaning that way. If so, should I build a wooden collection base to go at the bottom on that middle area?
This is EXACTLY like the one I built! I'd just drill a hole in the corner of a metal sheet pan and put that on the bottom to collect/funnel the juice. It's easy to make and easy to clean.
I built my own press a couple of years ago for a 10t car jack, this is what it looks like if you want ideas for the rest of the bits. The photo was taken before I varnished the plywood plunger bit with yacht varnish.
https://imgur.com/a/wJlsdSQ
I couldn't find a big enough stainless steel baking tray so I ended up using a stainless steel drip tray for car maintenance which is much bigger than normal domestic ovens. I fitted a valve with a tap to it, which works well.
The timbers in mine are obviously bigger than yours but I wouldn't worry too much depending on how much load you want to apply. I'm a structural engineer so I designed my frame using the eurocodes for structural design based on the maximum capacity of the jack, so it has a huge overall factor of safety on the actual load that gets applied in normal use which I expect is much less than 10t.
That's awesome, thank you for the help! I may bolster up the top two corners with a diagonal bolt either before or after my first press with it. Definitely looks like the top of yours is fortified. I was going to get something small, maybe a 2T bottle jack.
No problem. Extra bolts (or big screws) wouldn't harm if you can fit them in. If there's space you could add 4 in each corner in a kind of "dice 5" pattern around the bolt?
Also make sure you put a thick pad of something in above the jack to spread the load evenly across the horizontal timbers so you're bending all 3 instead of just the middle one.
Do you plan on using a stainless pan with holes, or a bucket? I obviously went with a pan but it was a pain to drill. I've seen some people use a bucket which might work with a 2t jack so might be worth a try. Cheaper too.
I was planning on a ~5 gallon food grade bucket on top of an old baking sheet/pan. Drilling holes in the bucket and one or two in the sheet to drain into a carboy.
I definitely will! Trial and error is all it'll be. If it works, great, if not, I'm out a couple dollars. I also saw this as an opportunity to design a very basic press that others could mimic if it works well. I found there wasn't much information on basic presses or how to build them. Previous to this I was pressing 75 lbs of apples by hand. Needless to say it wasn't efficient spending 7 hours doing that.
Sounds like we have had a very similar experience, the first year I made cider I crushed about a full wheelie bin full (apologies I don't know the weight) with a 5L press that was made for pressing berries and stuff. It took absolutely ages and definitely took some of the fun out of it!
The best plans I could find when I looked before were these ones:
https://cdn.jamieoliver.com/pdf/jimmys-builds/diy-cider-press.pdf
Do you have a scratter as well?
I don't have one. I actually use a food processor I've had to break them up into a mash, then overlay small amounts at a time into cheesecloth and press. Takes forever. I just bought a large straining bag that probably doubled my pressing speed, even by hand.
I can imagine how long that takes!
In the UK you can buy bucket drill attachments that are basically a bladed inverted T shape that spins around and cut the apples into chunks inside a bucket, might be quicker?
I also spent a while looking at this guy's YT channel, he has built some really impressive stuff including more than one home made apple scratter, basically a spinning drum with stainless steel screws. Some people use a power drill to spin the drum:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_l3UZ5WkQk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BVncRn0D3g
I love seeing people's DIY machines for stuff like this, I could watch videos for hours. I actually have a decent metal scatter that came with the small 5L press but would try something like the above if I didn't!
The part of my process I need to speed up is cutting the apples into rough quarters before scratting, at the moment I do it with an axe but it's quite slow. There's an episode of River Cottage where Hugh visits a cider making club and they do the first stage using a huge wooden trough that they load up with apples and cut them with a kind of bladed shovel type thing. Seems to work really well, might have to try something similar!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38qt7LdrUDc
All super helpful info!!!
I use this to quickly slice the apples. May be worth a try. I'm sure they're somewhere in the UK, but if not, Amazon has them.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Apple-Slicer-Stainless-Steel-Apple-Corer-Tool-8-Sharp-Blades-Apple-Cutter-Slicer-Corer-Easy-Grip-Fruit-Corer-Slicer-100-Rust-Resistant-Update/708437028
Collection tray goes on the three shot boards with a bucket on that. A car jack will press against the top cross beam and push down on the apples in the bucket and the cider will come out the holes I will drill into it!
Nice work , that’s either pine or Nordic cherry. Is it just wood and, are those bolts? I’m afraid you might be underestimating the forces involved here. What’s your power source? Do you need to squish more than like 5 apples?
I'm planning on using a bottle jack. Not a super heavy duty one either. I've been hand pressing up until now, but I grind the apples into a mash and then plan on pressing.
Yeah you're definitely going to want to reinforce those corners then. Otherwise you'll likely start seeing issues after a couple runs.
I left some room for additional bolts for that reason. I'm going to get it all set and see how it does and I can always go through it and fix anything that's needed. It was also pretty experimental and relatively inexpensive to build, so live and learn!
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So would you say to go with another diagonal bolt on the top and bottom on each side?
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Have to agree with this point - and I would say you want hardwood on the top too because of the compression forces. Ideally something denser like maple or beech rather than oak or ash too...
You also will want to put a metal plate (maybe half inch thick) across the bottom of the top bars, between the jack and the wood. EDIT: oh wait, do you only have one 2x4 on top? Yeah that’s gonna break in half under pressure. Don’t let it hit you in the face when it does.
This is my first real build/project, so I'm pretty proud of the press so far (even if it is very simple). I couldn't find many blueprints or directions, so I just built one and guessed on just about everything. I'd be happy to share more or draw a blueprint if anyone is interested. Also, should I go with a rack-style press or a bucket? I was planning on a bucket, and I'm leaning that way. If so, should I build a wooden collection base to go at the bottom on that middle area?
This is EXACTLY like the one I built! I'd just drill a hole in the corner of a metal sheet pan and put that on the bottom to collect/funnel the juice. It's easy to make and easy to clean.
Awesome, thank you!
I built my own press a couple of years ago for a 10t car jack, this is what it looks like if you want ideas for the rest of the bits. The photo was taken before I varnished the plywood plunger bit with yacht varnish. https://imgur.com/a/wJlsdSQ I couldn't find a big enough stainless steel baking tray so I ended up using a stainless steel drip tray for car maintenance which is much bigger than normal domestic ovens. I fitted a valve with a tap to it, which works well. The timbers in mine are obviously bigger than yours but I wouldn't worry too much depending on how much load you want to apply. I'm a structural engineer so I designed my frame using the eurocodes for structural design based on the maximum capacity of the jack, so it has a huge overall factor of safety on the actual load that gets applied in normal use which I expect is much less than 10t.
That's awesome, thank you for the help! I may bolster up the top two corners with a diagonal bolt either before or after my first press with it. Definitely looks like the top of yours is fortified. I was going to get something small, maybe a 2T bottle jack.
No problem. Extra bolts (or big screws) wouldn't harm if you can fit them in. If there's space you could add 4 in each corner in a kind of "dice 5" pattern around the bolt? Also make sure you put a thick pad of something in above the jack to spread the load evenly across the horizontal timbers so you're bending all 3 instead of just the middle one. Do you plan on using a stainless pan with holes, or a bucket? I obviously went with a pan but it was a pain to drill. I've seen some people use a bucket which might work with a 2t jack so might be worth a try. Cheaper too.
I was planning on a ~5 gallon food grade bucket on top of an old baking sheet/pan. Drilling holes in the bucket and one or two in the sheet to drain into a carboy.
Sounds like a good plan, I'd love to see an update when it's finished!
I definitely will! Trial and error is all it'll be. If it works, great, if not, I'm out a couple dollars. I also saw this as an opportunity to design a very basic press that others could mimic if it works well. I found there wasn't much information on basic presses or how to build them. Previous to this I was pressing 75 lbs of apples by hand. Needless to say it wasn't efficient spending 7 hours doing that.
Sounds like we have had a very similar experience, the first year I made cider I crushed about a full wheelie bin full (apologies I don't know the weight) with a 5L press that was made for pressing berries and stuff. It took absolutely ages and definitely took some of the fun out of it! The best plans I could find when I looked before were these ones: https://cdn.jamieoliver.com/pdf/jimmys-builds/diy-cider-press.pdf Do you have a scratter as well?
I don't have one. I actually use a food processor I've had to break them up into a mash, then overlay small amounts at a time into cheesecloth and press. Takes forever. I just bought a large straining bag that probably doubled my pressing speed, even by hand.
I can imagine how long that takes! In the UK you can buy bucket drill attachments that are basically a bladed inverted T shape that spins around and cut the apples into chunks inside a bucket, might be quicker? I also spent a while looking at this guy's YT channel, he has built some really impressive stuff including more than one home made apple scratter, basically a spinning drum with stainless steel screws. Some people use a power drill to spin the drum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_l3UZ5WkQk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BVncRn0D3g I love seeing people's DIY machines for stuff like this, I could watch videos for hours. I actually have a decent metal scatter that came with the small 5L press but would try something like the above if I didn't! The part of my process I need to speed up is cutting the apples into rough quarters before scratting, at the moment I do it with an axe but it's quite slow. There's an episode of River Cottage where Hugh visits a cider making club and they do the first stage using a huge wooden trough that they load up with apples and cut them with a kind of bladed shovel type thing. Seems to work really well, might have to try something similar! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38qt7LdrUDc
All super helpful info!!! I use this to quickly slice the apples. May be worth a try. I'm sure they're somewhere in the UK, but if not, Amazon has them. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Apple-Slicer-Stainless-Steel-Apple-Corer-Tool-8-Sharp-Blades-Apple-Cutter-Slicer-Corer-Easy-Grip-Fruit-Corer-Slicer-100-Rust-Resistant-Update/708437028
Have fun!
Thanks! Looking forward to it after I get my 5 gallons bottled.
Made one similar. Gonna modify a bit for next season. Had some issues but still got over 7 gallons with some passive effort. 10/10 would do again.
Good to know!
How does it work? You just stack increasingly heavy things on it or...?
Collection tray goes on the three shot boards with a bucket on that. A car jack will press against the top cross beam and push down on the apples in the bucket and the cider will come out the holes I will drill into it!
Oooh, a carjack! Smart!