A swing lever press, The sturdypress "foldup"

[Al Lewis]

Al:  Now that I have all the cutting and gluing jigs made I can make a few and see how long it takes. It looks like the price will be a little less than the "origional" sturdypress, and can I quote you about it being the best deal in the country.

You certainly may.  That's my opinion.  I viewed everyone I could find before I bought your sturdy press.  Even bought a competitors so I could do a side by side comparison.  You can see that here.  Sold theirs and still use yours today.

[pastpawn]

When I get this press, I'll do a side-by-side comparison with the sturdypress.  I'll make two goudas.

[John@PC]

Bob, a brilliant design in so many respects.  You know I've been working on a folding press for awhile (still not commercial - too many other darn things that get in the way ) but I have to hand it to you that you have combined a small storage footprint with high pressing capacity without using tackle.  The moving fulcrum is ingenious as is the way the base folds and supports the cantilevered arm without tipping.  AC4U along with a tip of the hat .

[smolt1]

For any of you DIYers out there, here is more information:

One of the main problems with the swing lever is placement of the swing to minimize friction on the plunger as it slides during pressing. I have done a lot of testing and here are my findings. One way to test for friction is to insert a strip (about 1/2 inch wide ) of paper on each side of the plunger, then put some weight on the lever arm and see if the piece of paper will pull out without tearing.

It seems that there is a "best" placement for each MA ( mechanical advantage ) used, so for MA = 5 to 12 the placement is a compromise, but the position shown makes the press work smoothly at all those MA's.

[OzzieCheese]

I posted in the wrong thread.  Here is my Fold-up press of Bobs design.

https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13846.0.html

I did the friction test - there is a little drag on the paper but it came out easily.  Again, thanks for a great design - now what do I do with my other old creaky ?  If any one in Brisbane wants my old one PM me.

-- Mal

[Al Lewis]

Well Smolt1 I did a parm today and presently have 50 pounds of barbell weights hanging on my Sturdypress.  It creaked a bit but it's holding it just fine!!  450 pounds at the mold.

[OzzieCheese]

All right !!

[Al Lewis]

I've done this before Mal.  This press never ceases to amaze me.

[smolt1]

Now I'm getting nervous.

[Al Lewis]

No need, I just took the weights off after sitting all night and the arm held up just fine with 50 pounds of steel hanging on it!!

[OzzieCheese]

And the foldup is just as reliable... with the longer base plate I have tested it to 3 - 5 litre water bottles 15Kg at the maximum MA setting, in my case 12 times.  No Worries there at all

-- Mal

[pilhue]

I am planning to order one of the presses, where / which molds do you recommend. I might want to make 1 or 2 cheeses during one time.

[pastpawn]

Wow - 450#.  I have a foldup and the standard sturdypress.  I have to say I was nervous about applying 300# to the foldup and switched to the standard.  Pic below (~275# force I believe).

I love these presses.  They are fantastic.  In fact, I sold my first press (which cost more than both of these combined).  If I was enlisted into the next performance of Sound of Music, I'd work the sturdypress into "these are a few of my favorite things".

[lauravanb]

After a failed cheddar (probably the result of a too-low pressing weight, I am in the market for a new cheese press and this one caught my eye in an old posting. I have a newbie question to add on here.. the site says it can handle 250lbs, does that mean 250lbs of force after the MA? <--- I am assuming! Is this enough for a cheddar in an 8 in mold?

[AnnDee]

I wish you would ship this to Malaysia.