First Attempt at Press

[Monty]

Here are a few pics of my recent Dutch Press build.  I am no carpenter! 

Compression ratio is about 4 to 1.  The weight of the arm and a gallon of water at the far end gives me about 40lbs at the mold.  I can also place a bottle or water on the top of the arm and slide it back and forth to 'fine tune' the pressure.  Next, I'm going to add some supports underneath to allow me to slide a cookie sheet under the whole thing for cleaner draining.  Constructive comments appreciated.

[Boofer]

Looking good, Monty!

-Boofer-

[beechercreature]

how even does it press? i've noticed in a few of the other presses that people have added a sort or cross bar type dealy to keep the follower from tilting.

[H-K-J]

Nice lookin press now let's make some cheese

[Monty]

how even does it press? i've noticed in a few of the other presses that people have added a sort or cross bar type dealy to keep the follower from tilting.

So far (three cheeses) no issues with tilting...key is to center the rod with the follower and just watch it.  I also have a small wooden piece that I put on the end of the rod to help distribute the weight and prevent slipping.  Any minor unevenness gets corrected with muliple flips.

[beechercreature]

how even does it press? i've noticed in a few of the other presses that people have added a sort or cross bar type dealy to keep the follower from tilting.

So far (three cheeses) no issues with tilting...key is to center the rod with the follower and just watch it.  I also have a small wooden piece that I put on the end of the rod to help distribute the weight and prevent slipping.  Any minor unevenness gets corrected with muliple flips.

ah, great. i'll store that in my future build database

[zenith1]

very nice -the Dutch Style Presses that have been posted on the forum lately look more and more like furniture. Great craftsmanship. Good luck with your cheese...

[dthelmers]

Monty,
Beautiful work! Many Dutch presses have a sliding cross bar the prevents the presser rod from going off center; you could add this easily with a board with a hole drilled in it. I have put a round base on my presser arm, permanently attached, and that helps a lot to keep the whole thing straight.