Foldable dutch press, finally ready!
My first press was two-boards-and-four-dowels-type and it worked nicely. Unfortunately it bent quite drastically when wet which made it unstable. I don't like 30 liters of water to on unstable state in my apartment. And I don't like my cheeses crooked.
So, I decided to make my own dutch press. Space shortage inspired me to make a few modifications to the good and tried, resulting in a (somewhat) foldable dutch press.
Technical data: The press is made out of cheapskate pine (didn't want to use lots of money on a test version). All the joints are simple butt joints attached with glue and screws or just glue. It has no finish yet, but if I feel it's worth it, I'll toss in some Danish Oil.
The press base is 20cm wide and the piston can be pulled up 22cm. The lever gives 1:6 on downward force. I have tried it with 15kg weight (pretty solid, but much more will tip it over) which enables me to press cheeses with 90kg (~200lb) weight.
The building was pretty straightforward after drawing the plan. Cut parts, drill holes, glue together, assemble. Well, it would have been had I not drilled the legs so that they pointed backwards. The only problematic part was drilling the holes for the rod so that they'd form an uniform channel after gluing. I did the "mark carefully, drill even more carefully"-method, but I think it'd be better to drill two pieces at a time so that the pieces would be in alignment. Can't think of every (simple) thing.
The problem with this design is that the rod spins when one tightens the nuts that attach the legs. It works and the legs are stable, but some other design is needed for the mark II. Otherwise, I'm happy so far. I'll report back when it has seen some real action.
Now, if only making molds would be this easy.
