My new grape/apple press basket

[LoveTheWine]

Made the staves from oak and got a friend to make the bands
All the wood coated in EZ-DO

 

[Runningwolf]

Wow thats sharp, nice job!

 

[Deezil]

Thats a nice one

Is it just the screw of the press that holds the basket in the middle?

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Very nice work !!

 

[LoveTheWine]

thanks guys.
Used it to press some apples today. worked pretty slick!

 

[LoveTheWine]

Thats a nice one

Is it just the screw of the press that holds the basket in the middle?

There is no screw... I have a solid wood plate that is pushed down by a 5 ton bottle jack

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

If you stick another solid wood plate in the middle and pile more apples on it you can get more juice out. I really like the swing open basket, very nice job. WVMJ

 

[chrisjw]

Very nice. I have not seen a swing open basket before. From the last picture, it looks like you are not using a mesh bag inside the basket. Do you use a screen or some other material?

 

[LoveTheWine]

Very nice. I have not seen a swing open basket before. From the last picture, it looks like you are not using a mesh bag inside the basket. Do you use a screen or some other material?

Yeah the swing open feature is nice with bullet hinges.

I decided to NOT use a mesh bag with this one.
The staves are pretty close together, maybe 1/4" apart to hold everything in.

Worked great, no apple pieces got through and the gaps didn't plug.

 

[LoveTheWine]

If you stick another solid wood plate in the middle and pile more apples on it you can get more juice out. I really like the swing open basket, very nice job. WVMJ

Good idea!
Next time I press apples I may have to do this

 

[JohnT]

Very Pretty! did you use white oak?

 

[jamesngalveston]

very nice press, could be used on anything...whats the bands made from..

 

[LoveTheWine]

Very Pretty! did you use white oak?

Thanks John
No unfortunately I had only red oak to work with.
The EZ-DO makes it water tight though

 

[LoveTheWine]

very nice press, could be used on anything...whats the bands made from..

Thanks James.
The bands are made from 1/4" by 2" steel, primer-ed and painted with a rock hard coating.

Pretty much overkill, I think most the store bought presses are 1/8" steel.

 

[btom2004]

There is no screw... I have a solid wood plate that is pushed down by a 5 ton bottle jack

Nice job .
Would have been nice to see how you apply and use the bottle jack.
Do you have any photos of that ?

 

[LoveTheWine]

Nice job .
Would have been nice to see how you apply and use the bottle jack.
Do you have any photos of that ?

I will be pressing grapes in a few weeks.
I can take some pictures at that time and post.

 

[btom2004]

Ok thank .

 

[LoveTheWine]

So I came into another #70 of mixed apples (red jap crab apple, gala, etc..)
so we did another pressing and here are the pics of the bottle jack in action

 

[btom2004]

Ok...wow nice job. I may just be able to make one of those. Thanks!

 

[LoveTheWine]

Ok...wow nice job. I may just be able to make one of those. Thanks!

You won't regret it. .. good for juicing apples and doubles as a grape press
Oh and. . I lied, my jack is only a 4 ton.