first homemade press for around 20 €

[Mrtatai83]

As I am not very satisfied with the few pressing tests I did with a wobbly stacking above my mold, I searched the net a bit to look for a DIY press model.
I opted for a screw model (less bulky).
I have for a few weeks an Ender 3 pro printer and I modeled the different parts I needed in the fusion 360.
I only bought a cutting board € 4, a stainless steel threaded rod of 10 for 1 meter € 7. and a few bolts € 4.
The spring is a very stiff Peugeot valve spring, a slightly softer spring would be better, but this one is free then ....
for the filament, I have about 6 € and about 20 hours to print everything.
And here's the result !!


I haven't tried it yet, but it shouldn't be long. I thought about some modifications for more practical use.
edit : photo ok

[bansidhe]

I cannot see the uploaded figure.  :-(.  I have considered trying to make one as you have described, so it would be great to see your invention. :-)

[mikekchar]

I think I have a similar press.  It's just two threaded rods that are bolted into a cutting board.  The cutting board also has feet added at the bottom to keep it standing level (otherwise it would be sitting on the bottom bolts).  I have an old piece of scrap wood at the top with two holes cut into it (one for each threaded rod).  I put the mold (in a tupperware box to catch the whey) on the cutting board.  I put a tomato can on top of the follower. Then I put the piece of wood on top of that.  Then I have bolts that I screw down on top of the wood to press it down onto the tomato can.

Here is a crude ASCII diagram.  Hopefully it will look OK in your font.

Code: [Select]


      |                 |    <--- Threaded rods
      +                 +    <--- Nuts
      |-----------------|    <--- Wood
      |      |   |      |    <--- Can
      |     +-----+     |
      |     |     |     |    <--- Mold
      |     |     |     |
     ---------------------   <--- Cutting board
       ^               ^     <--- Feet

The main thing I've discovered about this is that springs are entirely unnecessary.  If you are paying attention to your pressing (which you should), then at the beginning you need to be fussing over it all the time anyway.  You should just check it every 5 minutes or so to ensure that the bolts are still the tightness you want.  After the cheese has drained, then it really doesn't change volume very much and the press will hold the amount of pressure you want without supervision.  It really is only the first hour or so where you need to look at it at all.  I really recommend flipping every 15 minutes for 2 flips and then flipping every 30 minutes for 3 flips.  Only in the first 15 minutes do you really have to worry about it too much.  In the subsequent flips, you might just check it once.  After 2 hours, the rind should be basically closed and you can load up as much pressure as you want and forget about it.

[Mrtatai83]

I cannot see the uploaded figure.  :-(.  I have considered trying to make one as you have described, so it would be great to see your invention. :-)

hi, bug google photo. I wonder if it's the same on my other topic?
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,19417.msg147986.html#msg147986
I submitted the photo with another link.
I will host my photos differently.

@mikekchar,
ok for the springs, I will test with and without, for the moment, I am getting my followers. a press without followers is not much use

[oliverhenry]

Wow. This looks awesome.

[Mrtatai83]

It works quite well, I tried it on my first Colby.
The center bar flexes under the pressure, but I didn't print it with 100% infill, but 50% to save time. with my ender 3, it still took me 7 hours to print.
I will shorten the central screw too, it doesn't need to be that long, 20cm is more than enough. I must also add a gauge system, for the moment I am counting the turns of the screw.

https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,19447.msg148019.html#msg148019

[stephmtl222]

The main thing I've discovered about this is that springs are entirely unnecessary. If you are paying attention to your pressing (which you should), then at the beginning you need to be fussing over it all the time anyway.  You should just check it every 5 minutes or so to ensure that the bolts are still the tightness you want.  After the cheese has drained, then it really doesn't change volume very much and the press will hold the amount of pressure you want without supervision.  It really is only the first hour or so where you need to look at it at all.

In fact, I think the spring is very useful, if not essential, in my opinion. Assuming you want to press at a relatively defined pressure, it will be almost impossible to adjust to a specific pressure and approximately maintain that pressure without a spring. The pressure will increase sharply, and decrease sharply with the compression of the cheese. A spring will allow to maintain most of the pressure as first adjusted and compensate for some of the compression of the curd. Of course, you still have to adjust it on the first hour or so of pressing as the cheese compress but the variation in pressure will be a lot smoother.
For my information: How to adjust for a particular pressure without springs ?

[mikekchar]

For my information: How to adjust for a particular pressure without springs ?

I should have been more clear.  I think this is almost always a thing that you want to avoid.  Unless you have made the same cheese 100 times in a row, you won't know exactly the pressure you need.  The key to good pressing is to let the cheese drain while the rind is open.  Nobody can tell you how much weight your cheese needs to close slowly over a period of 2 hours or so.  It's just impossible to know.  Literally, every recipe that includes pressing weights is wrong because they haven't seen my curds.

Since you have to inspect the curds frequently to ensure that the rind is closing, but closing slowly enough that the cheese will drain properly, there is no point in having springs.  After the cheese has drained and the rind is closed, it doesn't matter how much weight you put on it.  Not only that, but the cheese does not compress particularly after that point.  You can screw it down as much as you want and it will basically stay at that pressure.

That's not to say that I don't use *some* feedback.  When I'm screwing down the press, I look to see how much whey is being pressed out.  You want the whey to bead, but not run.  If it is running, you are over pressing.  Often for the first 15 minutes, you should not have *any* weight, because the whey is already running.  As I screw down the press, you can feel some pressure on the cheese.  At some point it is "finger tight".  This is often my top weight to put on a cheese.  If I need more, then I get the wrench out and start counting how many turns of the wrench I used.  But even then, I don't record that information.  The next cheese I make will be different (I'm not *that* consistent that I need exactly the same weight for each cheese).

[stephmtl222]

I understand that you seem very happy without a spring and managed well that way but in my opinion, there is not disadvantages of including springs and make it a lot easier to maintain constant pressure, which is useful when pressing. Of course, you have to adjust the pressure depending on your particular cheese but spring make it all easier. I just disagree with you on that point.

[Mrtatai83]

I note that we can do with or without a spring
I solved my problem to find a low cost follower, I find some prices that can be found on the net on sites intended for amateurs. I'm going to cut my follower from another kitchen cutting board. The same as that which constitutes the base of the press I had bought 2.

[mikekchar]

Of course, you have to adjust the pressure depending on your particular cheese but spring make it all easier. I just disagree with you on that point.

Sorry.  I still wasn't clear.  I agree with you :-)  It is easier.  It was more that people are often very concerned about planning how much weight to put on their cheese, which I think is a mistake.  It would obviously be valuable to track it over time if you made that cheese a lot, though.

[Mrtatai83]

Of course, you have to adjust the pressure depending on your particular cheese but spring make it all easier. I just disagree with you on that point.

Sorry.  I still wasn't clear.  I agree with you :-)  It is easier.  It was more that people are often very concerned about planning how much weight to put on their cheese, which I think is a mistake.  It would obviously be valuable to track it over time if you made that cheese a lot, though.

I understand what you mean. It's true that as a beginner, when I read a recipe's pressing instructions, I follow them to the letter, but my curd may not need exactly the weight prescribed in the recipe. Next time I will try to be more attentive to the way in which the whey of my cheese flows