Author Topic: Just testing the new press i made. Might have one for sale on the cheap as well  (Read 3720 times)

leboy001

  • Guest
So about a month ago I finished making this cheese press and finally had a chance to test it out in the last week

Its made from Rosewood. I have enough timber left over to make another one so im thinking that i will and sell it to cover my costs, So about $100NZD for any Kiwis interested. My wood working skills are negligible so dont expect anything fancy like 

The press has a mechanical advantage of 27, 17, 13 and 10 depending on where you place the pressing arm. From my use of this i dont think the MA27 is actually that useful as it is too close to the fulcrum to allow you to press a mould much bigger than 6". In the pics you can see me pressing a 8.5" mould using 14kgs which translates to 250ish kgs pressing on the cheese. The mechanism gives about 1kg in addition to the weight you at to the end.

So far i have made a Maasdam and the pics are of me making a Leiden with the press. Will update with some pics of the cheeses once i remove the leiden from the mould

Offline Boofer

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Lakewood, Washington
  • Posts: 5,015
  • Cheeses: 344
  • Contemplating cheese
There's a press style we haven't seen. Kudos to you.

Have a cheese for perhaps inspiring others.

Let's see those cheese pics.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

hoeklijn

  • Guest
Indeed a design I've never seen before and a cheese for sharing this with us. How is the pressure tranfered from the top lever to the second one? Are they fixed to each other? And what's the ratio, so how many pressure will you get with e.g. 1 lbs weight?

leboy001

  • Guest
I cant actually take credit for the idea. Its a compound lever where the top lever applies the force to the second lever. Its great for maximising your mechanical advantage, but the downsize is that your top lever has to have a much bigger movement to achieve it.

The design is based on NW Fromager's on his post here http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,8421.msg59142.html#msg59142
I just modified the construction to fit my very limited wood working skills, so its just cutting and drilling. Nothing fancy

leboy001

  • Guest
Oh and i have 4 positions along the second lever arm giving me ratios (mechanical advantage) of 1:27, 1:17, 1:13 and 1:10. Although as i said before i dont think the 1:27 will actually be that useful as the pressing arm is too close to the upright for a large diameter mould

Offline H-K-J

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Southern Oregon
  • Posts: 1,776
  • Cheeses: 145
  • Act as if it were impossible to fail.
    • Cookin with uh dash dogs hair
Very cool 8) and inventive and as Boofer said where's the pix' (of the cheese ;) )
Never hit a man with glasses, use a baseball bat!
http://cocker-spanial-hair-in-my-food.blogspot.com/

Offline Boofer

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Lakewood, Washington
  • Posts: 5,015
  • Cheeses: 344
  • Contemplating cheese
Oh and i have 4 positions along the second lever arm giving me ratios (mechanical advantage) of 1:27, 1:17, 1:13 and 1:10. Although as i said before i dont think the 1:27 will actually be that useful as the pressing arm is too close to the upright for a large diameter mould
You know, if you've posted a message and then decide that you should have included something else in the posting, you can modify your original post to include the added dialogue or to correct something. ;)

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

leboy001

  • Guest
Thanks Boofer

Here are some pics of the cheeses i have made using this press so far. First one is the Leiden and the second one is the Maasdam (thanks to boofer's recipe)

I just have to modify my home made moulds as the followers cant handle the pressure.

Offline H-K-J

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Southern Oregon
  • Posts: 1,776
  • Cheeses: 145
  • Act as if it were impossible to fail.
    • Cookin with uh dash dogs hair
VERY NICE!!!!! MMMmmmmmMMMMMMM excellent lookin cheese :P
Never hit a man with glasses, use a baseball bat!
http://cocker-spanial-hair-in-my-food.blogspot.com/

Mighty Mouse

  • Guest
Wow, those look great. Have you calculated what the pressing force is on the cheese using your press?

[Edit] "The press has a mechanical advantage of 27, 17, 13 and 10 depending on where you place the pressing arm"


Ha ha! I just realized I totally missed this when I first posted...
« Last Edit: December 18, 2012, 04:01:38 AM by mightyMouse.tar.gz »

leboy001

  • Guest
Im not sure what you are meaning by pressing force as this will change depending on the weight i apply, but i have 4 "settings" that give me differing Mechanical Advantage  - 1:27, 1:17, 1:13 & 1:10. So if i use the highest setting, 1:27, if i put 10kg on the end im applying 270(ish) kgs to the cheese.

Mighty Mouse

  • Guest
Im not sure what you are meaning by pressing force as this will change depending on the weight i apply, but i have 4 "settings" that give me differing Mechanical Advantage  - 1:27, 1:17, 1:13 & 1:10. So if i use the highest setting, 1:27, if i put 10kg on the end im applying 270(ish) kgs to the cheese.

Gotcha, yes that is what I was asking about.

Awesome, sounds (and looks) like a cool design. I admire all of you people that are good with woodwork. I come from a family in which just about every man learns from a young age how to work with his hands. Most of my family members are, or have been farmers or ranchers. Somehow I did not get that education... did build radios as a kid though!

leboy001

  • Guest
trust im just faking it. The design is pretty simple. If you can measure and use a saw and then drill a hole for a bolt then you can make this press.

Mighty Mouse

  • Guest
trust im just faking it. The design is pretty simple. If you can measure and use a saw and then drill a hole for a bolt then you can make this press.

lol, well from my perspective your faking it looks like rocket science. I'm a total dork with my hands. Not sure how I passed wood shop in high school. I think for my final project I made a wooden box. Impressive huh?