Debi, Sailor & Francois.....thanks for all of the information.
The spreadsheet will be really handy since I usually have to calculate everything out when using a different pressing schedule. This will make it a LOT easier since all I have to do now is divide the amount of force (of my desired p.s.i.) by 5 to get the air line pressure I need. This is because my pneumatic cylinder has a force factor of 5.
I did a little math today and found that to even achieve 10 p.s.i. I would have to crank my line pressure up to 90 lbs. on a 7.5" wheel. I'm still not really comfortable taking the press to that extreme, since I've never used over 50 lbs. of line pressure before.
I'm really not concerned with the mold handling that type of pressure but I am concerned that the nut which holds the cylinder might give away. The only thing holding this nut in place is a couple of welds, one on each side.
My dad is a welder and farmer so I might have him take a look at the press to see what he thinks of it. Using hydraulics for many years I'm sure he has a pretty good feel for the amount of stress a weld can handle. I know Carter once told me that he had broken one of his presses (by taking the pressure to an extreme level) but I really don't know how much of an extreme he was talking about.
What I'm thinking now is that I might revert back to my 6" mold for a test batch.
That way I can keep the line pressure more along the lines of what I have been using and see if the results are better. I really hate the thought of going backwards yet it is probably the easiest way to test this out.
I guess if I would happen to break the press my dad could get me going again but I'm really in love with this thing and hate the thought of damaging it.
Using a 6" mold I can use 56 lbs. of line pressure to achieve 10 p.s.i..
If this shows promise then I can try upping it to say 11 p.s.i., 12 p.s.i. and so on and so forth.
Once I find a p.s.i. that works, I will at least then know what I need to work with on my 7.5" mold. Then I will just have to get up enough nerve to give that level a try.
I also appreciate the advice concerning using a heating blanket to keep the curd warm. I've tried using a heat lamp but didn't have very good results with it.
I think your idea should work much better and down the road I will certainly incorporate this idea into my cheese making.
So again, I really do appreciate everyone's input and now it's back to the drawing board. I'd really like to get this figured out since I have this little problem with wanting everything to be perfect.
Dave