I'm almost as new as you at this cheese-making thing. I don't pretend to be any sort of expert.
The first lesson I learned was that when making a hard cheese I needed to use more than the few drops of rennet that the label on the bottle advised.
I've been using a half to one teaspoon in 6 or 7 litres of milk and I'm getting a nice clean break now.
I was disappointed with my bland first cheeses having given them a month or two to mature as suggested in the recipes.
Eventually I discovered that at least 3 months and more like six months was what it took to get the results I had been looking for.
So my second lesson was that cheese isn't fast food and the more time you take the better and the tastier.
As I said at the beginning of this I am no expert and I imagine I have many more things to learn yet.
As a foot note, I can recommend the recipe for Edam in the home page to this site. I have had good results from it and found the instructions easy to follow.
I would recommend aging the cheese for at least three months rather than the 3-8 weeks it recommends. It is worth the wait.
The recipe is at:
http://cheeseforum.org/articles/edam-cheese-making-recipe/.
Once I get chatting I never stop...
Here's another tip. I invested in a vacuum packing machine. I've been able to use it to seal all sorts of items and I reckon it was worth the money.
I vacuum pack my cheeses which means I don't need to struggle to control humidity in a cheese cave. It works for me but it is controversial. Some recommend it and others decry it. It is one of those things where you have to pick a side. I am pragmatic in outlook, if it works I use it.
...and here's my last word, probably:
I made a cheap 'temporary' cheese press that has been fulfilling my needs. It is just a length of timber, a hinge and several old plastic bottles[5L, 2L and 1L] rescued from the recycle bin. I can give more details about it if you are interested.
Anyway, may the gods of cheese smile on you and always ask if you need to know more.
There are other friendly faces here who might well have the answer you seek.