Spoons' Curd Knife Build: Built for food pans

[Gregore]

I made one of these T  shaped  rotary  cutters  also  . At first I thought I would need some thing to keep it at the level needed for each rotary cut  like the bar attached to the top of the pot in the linkl. But I found that the curd held it there for each half turn , then lift and turn again. I bet that even an L shaped rod would work and you would just have to turn a full revolution.

[awakephd]

Gregore, that is interesting. Do you feel that you get consistent sizes even without something to index it?

[Gregore]

Compared to using a knife at an angle , which looks more like a blind child did it yes I would say they are 90 percent the same size . And I do get away with cutting the horizontal ones first , never tried the other way . 

Come to think of it , you may not get as even if the vertical is already cut  as there is less solid mass to hold the wire in the same plane

I also spent many hrs making and experimenting with  multi wire horizontal cutting , my opinion is that the smaller the batch and the rounder the pot the less likely it is to work.  I also found it abuses the curd too much for my liking . ( I have some pretty high tech equipment to make them so it was not for lack of quality )  and now I see why they charge so much for a commercial one.

I think that as a commercial maker the curd tearing to time saved ratio is probably acceptable , imagine cutting 100 gallons 1 slice at a time . The cheese would have fermented before you were done.
As  home makers have the luxury of no labor cost  and a small enough batch that it takes only minutes to cut with out mesh cutters .

The rotary cutter I use takes about 1 minutes to cut 3 gallons

[Kern]

I have been intrigued by Spoons design and ordered some 1/2 inch SS strips in 14 & 16 gauge 45 inches long.  They were shipped from Online's Metals (Spoons recommendation) Seattle facilities.  I was very surprised when I got them as they were bowed and twisted about 120 degrees over their length.  I was able to "undo" the twist but now find the middle edge arches about 1/2 inch when the strips are laid flat.  I spoke with the Online folks who told me this was pretty standard when narrow strips are sheared from plate steel.

I wonder if anyone else has attempted to make Spoons curd cutter and had the same experience with the steel they received?

[Gregore]

pic please I might be able to advise you how to fix it . 

[Kern]

Thanks, any advice would be helpful. The first picture shows the strip as received while the second shows the "bow" after I removed the twist.

[John@PC]

While the bow isn't negligible I think it's manageable for Spoon's design.  Straighter would be better, though.

[Gregore]

That is pretty bad , but I think it is still usable . I still see some twist in it so that is the first thing that needs to go . Then I would not worry about the bend  at least  not yet.

Next start to do the layout of where you want your 90 degree bends . Mark with a felt , I would bend it over the corner of a desk or some thing like that  as  I am sure you do not a a bending brake .  when it is all bent up as you want it you may find that the bow that is left is hardly noticeable . If it still needs fixing you can unbow it by hand .

One thing that would work for sure but not so easy for some one without the right tools is to heat it up until it is annealed . Need a torch for that . I think a BBQ would not be hot enough , but I maybe wrong on that .

When it is annealing it will wiggle around  like  a snake then settle down to almost straight .

Sounds like you have more than one to try it out on

[Spoons]

Kern, mine were slightly bent too. Especially the 0.5'' cut.  I simply clamped the problem area on a vice and hammered gently on the metal strip (very close to the vice) with a rubber mallet. Repeat the process as needed until it's fairly straight. Mine wasn`t perfect but I still proceeded to the steps to build the harp. I used the mallet & vice as I went along building the harp and ended up with pretty good results. The whole thing take less than an hour to build even with these extra ''straightening'' steps.

[IllinoisCheeseHead]

Spoons.  Where did you get the steel plate for the frame itself?.  I would like to try to make one and I really think what you designed makes a lot of sense.

Thanks

[Kern]

ICH,  If you go to page 1 of this thread you'll find the link to Spoon's source for the SS strips. 

[BobbieGee]

Hello,
I am interested in the "pan" that you show in these photos. Could you please give me information about it? I need a vat for about 12 gallons of milk and haven't been able to figure out where to get one....any help/information would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bobbie Greiner
Bemidji, MN

[Al Lewis]

If you want to make the "handle section" stronger then make it long and twist it several turns.  The twist will make it more rigid.

[Kern]

I am interested in the "pan" that you show in these photos. Could you please give me information about it? I need a vat for about 12 gallons of milk and haven't been able to figure out where to get one....any help/information would be appreciated.

The stainless steel vat shown in this thread is what is known as a "full size steam table pan".  Google this and you'll be flooded with information.  Unfortunately, the largest of these is eight inches tall and only able to accommodate a 6-gallon batch.  There is a double size 8-inch pan which presumably will take 12 gallons but the depth to surface area ratio is somewhat awkward - very wide and shallow.  John@PC has used polycarbonate food storage containers with some success.  These vats are usually heated on a griddle and heating becomes problematic as the volume increases.  I can get 1F/minute with my full size 8" pan using a Presto 1800 watt griddle.  PC food storage containers come in very large sizes that would easily accommodate a 12-gallon batch but you'd have to use two griddles with two controllers.

An alternative is a stainless steel stock pot.  You can find these in huge sizes.  I would direct heat these on a gas stove with constant stirring. 

When you get to this size you'll have to siphon the whey into a bucket during draining.  There is simply too much weight to safely pick up a vat this large.

[Scuba_Steve]

Looks like an awesome idea!  I'm brand new to this, but I had thought of an addition.  Ever thought about drilling holes on the other 2 sides and stringing those as well so it would make both horizontal and vertical cuts in one pass?