The easiest cheese press ever...

[Curdlessness]

Inspired by the fact that I am not the most talented woodworker on the planet. In fact, I am surprised I have all of my fingers after the projects my wife has had me do over the years.

Anyway, I watched a bunch of videos, read a lot of webpages, and felt like all the presses I'd seen were either too complicated, or had things I didn't understand, or felt like were not precise or accurate enough (those screw/spring types! It's guesswork at best!) so I decided to come up with something that was easily understood, even easier to make, and could be produced with things I already had around the house. In fact, the only things I've ever bought specifically for this press were a couple of weights at a yard sale. All the rest was hiding in my garage.

I present the Easiest Cheese Press Ever:



It's a piece of 3/4" maple, a piece of 3/4" HDPE, four threaded rods, and some hardware. And that's it. Add in some weight plates from a weightlifting set that my neighbor was selling at a yard sale (he ended up giving me whichever ones of the plates I wanted) and that is that. Need 25lbs of weight? Put a 20lb and a 5lb on top and voila!

I generally put a 6" section of 4" diameter PVC pipe between the top board and the follower, to give me a little more room when the curds setlle in the mold. I don't have to guess how far to screw the spring down, I don't have to move any arms about, hang weights from a different hook, or do anything but stick another weight plate on top of the thing. Oh, those red mesh things are pieces of cabinet liner cut out to provide non-slip surfaces.

And I still have all of my fingers.

[GortKlaatu]

Congrats!
That is basically the same design I built. Great minds and all that.... I used stainless steel pipes with threads only on the ends to be able to connect it.  Been using it for years now.  But it's time to redo mine.  I made it out of Teak thinking that would be good for water resistance.  It has been fine, but it's getting a bit hard to clean up now. So, I bought some HDPE to use for rebuilding it. It's been waiting for me to do it for about 4 months now. LOL

[Curdlessness]

Congrats!
That is basically the same design I built. Great minds and all that.... I used stainless steel pipes with threads only on the ends to be able to connect it.  Been using it for years now.  But it's time to redo mine.  I made it out of Teak thinking that would be good for water resistance.  It has been fine, but it's getting a bit hard to clean up now. So, I bought some HDPE to use for rebuilding it. It's been waiting for me to do it for about 4 months now. LOL

I'm getting a little creeped out by all of this. 

First, you actually got my sense of humor, and found it as amusing as I intended it to be, and now you have stolen my cheese press idea years ago. What's with you, man?    Are you a brother from another mother or something? 

[GortKlaatu]

It's like deja vu all over again.
Sent you a PM

[Curdlessness]

It's like deja vu all over again.
Sent you a PM

How odd... I was thinking the exact same thing. Probably at the exact same time.

Replied to your PM.

[aghIV]

I use a very similar design. I used some oak I had left over from another project. Note the can of tomatoes for when the follower is below the hoop level.  The large stack of bricks is 50lbs, it gets a little wobbly at that weight, but I've started stacking the bricks differently than in the photo and that helped a lot.

[Curdlessness]

My initial design was for two rods, but I didn't like the layout, and was afraid it would break the upper plate if the torque exceeded the material strength. So, since I had nine rods of 3 feet each, I just cut two of them in half, and got 4 rods of 18" each, giving me four through-points, and extra stability.

I was going to put draining grooves in the HDPE, but I couldn't figure out a way to do it without a table saw, which I don't have.

The idea I have is to create some kind of angled jig, holding the HDPE at an angle where the max depth of the cut is 1/2" at the back edge, tapering down to 1/8" right at the front edge. If I cut a dozen or so grooves about 1/8" wide, about 1/2" apart, then it will allow the whey to drain away without having to angle the press. I just don't know  how to make it happen.

[aghIV]

As long as I make sure it's balanced when I load it up, it's usually ok, but sometimes it does lean pretty heavily to one side. I haven't had a major disaster yet, but I have started doing the heavier pressings on the floor of my garage, just in case the bricks topple.

Four rods would definitely be more stable. If I had to do it over again, I'd go with four.

[Curdlessness]

I'd recommend the four rod system, but we all have to do what we have to do.

Maybe v2.0

[cheesehead94]

I'm planning on making a press this weekend, and am deciding between this style of press or a Dutch press. So far I have just been balancing weights on top of my follower, which has been ok but the cheeses have been a bit uneven and the knit hasn't been ideal, simply because I can't balance that much weight without it tipping. I know the Dutch press is regarded highly, but this one seems simpler to build and use. Also, I will only be making wheels that are 2-3 pounds, so I feel like I could get away with the type of press in this thread and still make cheddars and other cheeses that require high pressure. But really, I'm not sure. Do you feel that this type of press can be effectively used to make any cheese?

[Thewitt]

I love my Dutch press - a Sturdypress - because I can vary the weight from 2# to 70# with just a gallon of water.

[GortKlaatu]

I'm planning on making a press this weekend, and am deciding between this style of press or a Dutch press. So far I have just been balancing weights on top of my follower, which has been ok but the cheeses have been a bit uneven and the knit hasn't been ideal, simply because I can't balance that much weight without it tipping. I know the Dutch press is regarded highly, but this one seems simpler to build and use. Also, I will only be making wheels that are 2-3 pounds, so I feel like I could get away with the type of press in this thread and still make cheddars and other cheeses that require high pressure. But really, I'm not sure. Do you feel that this type of press can be effectively used to make any cheese?

I use a press like this and I have never found a cheese I couldn't make with it. And I usually make 6- 7 pound cheeses. My design is slightly different in that I also have a rod in the center that the weights slide over....that keeps multiple weights from sliding off each other.

[Frodage4]

A cheese for you Curdlessness. Excellent press!

[smolt1]

To press a cheddar in a 6 inch dia mold could take 10 PSI. That is over 250 lbs of weight.  So you might  want a lever press for the high end. There are DIY plans on the sturdypress web site for the original sturdypress that has been crash tested to over 1000 lbs . Search cheese forum " breaking news ".

[Curdlessness]

A cheese for you Curdlessness. Excellent press!

Thank you.