Author Topic: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press  (Read 33873 times)

FarmerJd

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #45 on: October 19, 2009, 07:45:25 PM »
That is a good idea but with 1500 lbs of pressure on my cheddar I am not sure that would be enough. It probably would be since there isn't very much upward force on the hoop.

Baby Chee

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #46 on: October 19, 2009, 08:16:56 PM »
You need a simple cage to hold it down.

FarmerJd

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #47 on: October 19, 2009, 08:21:35 PM »
Yea that would work. That is sort of what I did on my self-contained model (see pics) and I guess it could be designed to use with the wall press.

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #48 on: October 19, 2009, 09:36:50 PM »
Just a thought but has anyone tried a pony/pipe clamp? Maybe two with boards between them for a bigger or multiple mould(s)?

Baby Chee

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #49 on: October 20, 2009, 01:21:23 AM »
You are saying to tighten multiple molds together and squeeze them together firmly?  So they just need tightening every so often to maintain pressure and the run off goes?

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #50 on: October 20, 2009, 02:28:34 AM »
Could be multiples or a single mold.

wharris

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #51 on: October 20, 2009, 01:48:10 PM »
I really think that while you could apply lots of even pressure this way,  it would be impossible to maintain a steady pressure.

This is why most presses for cheese makers of our caliber use gravity/air pressure/springs in some form or another.

All provide constant/predictable pressure.

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #52 on: October 21, 2009, 01:40:59 AM »
Very good point Wayne. A spring would have to be added somehow.

memkuk

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #53 on: October 23, 2009, 09:41:59 AM »
I decided to install a bigger pneumatic cylinder on my press. Originally it was a 20 mm bore, 150 mm stroke cylinder. The new one is 40 mm bore and 200 mm stroke. Because of the higher pressure I also installed 2 flow control valves on both inlets of the cylinder. This way the cylinder moves slowly up and down, which should make it much safer.
Now I better revisit the earlier discussion that went on in this thread about pressure calculations, because the press is now operating quite differently than before.

wharris

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #54 on: October 23, 2009, 11:29:19 AM »
Wow, 
I would love to know the details on this build. 

Last I looked, Pneumatic cylinders were not crazy expensive.  They were in the 50-130USD range.
Yours looks a bit more with t he double action and the mounting hardware.

From a math perspective, I will assume the same cylinder pressure.

I get the following:  40mm Bore is 1.947 Square inches.
@ 150PSI that will give you  292 lbs of down force.

292lbs of divided across the surface area of an 8in mould (50.26sqin) will give you 5.8PSI
You can see that my earlier post's graph backs this up.

I think that is closer to being on target for a hard cheese like cheddar.


FarmerJd

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #55 on: October 23, 2009, 01:03:33 PM »
Eric, that is a really fine press now. Good luck with your cheeses!

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #56 on: October 23, 2009, 02:28:42 PM »
Very cool Eric. Makes my homemade French press look like a toy. :D

How many pressings can you get out of one charge to your fire extinguisher?

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #57 on: October 24, 2009, 01:02:26 AM »
Eric that's a real dandy!

memkuk

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Re: Eric's over-the-top home made cheese press
« Reply #58 on: October 24, 2009, 05:01:11 AM »
Debi and Farmer - Thanks for showing your appreciation.

Sailor - This cylinder "eats" more air indeed, but when the press is put under pressure, it keeps it when the hand valve is set to neutral. At that point I can disconnect my modified fire extinguisher and refill it with my compressor and reconnect it. So it's not giving me any problems. Worst case scenario would be to connect it straight to the compressor, but I don't seem to have to go to that length.

Wayne - All the measurements have been posted earlier in this thread. As to the cost of the pneumatic system, a breakdown follows below (all product codes are from the SMC company):

MDDB40-200 (air cylinder)                                     4,100.=  THB ---- 122.35 USD
VH200-02     (hand valve)                                     1,450.=  THB ----  43.27 USD
AR20-02BG   (air regulator)                                      750.20 THB ----  22.39 USD
KQ2H06-02S (one-touch fitting)      5 x 31.= THB        155.=   THB ----   4.64 USD
AS12-1F-06S(speed controller)   2 x 150.= THB           300.=  THB  ----   8.95 USD
Net total                                                                                     201.60 USD
VAT (7%)                                                                                     14.11 USD
Grand total                                                                                  215.71 USD

Hope this provides you with the information you wanted.