Where can I buy a screw for a cider press?

[Reburner]

Going to make my own cider press ready for this years crop. I was originally going to make one that would utilise a bottle jack but thought it would be better to use a proper screw.

Does anyone know where I can buy just the screw mechanism?

 

[hedgerow pete]

http://www.axminster.co.uk/veritas-veri ... rod788423/

this is what you use, its a bench vice screw, or as we say in the trade,

" a mans vice should he have one should always be screwed at his bench" :lol: :rofl: :rofl:

any way the car jack is easiest to make depending on yourr skill levels, either wood or metal,

the vice is brilliant to look at but holds no where near as much pressure as you would get with a car jack

my set up is a gas bottle cut up and welded up and a 5 ton hyd jack up its backside.

the small virgo ones are the next ones if you wish to buy only and not build,

i find them brilliant little tools but little is the word when your trying to do big batchs they become a pain having to reload all the time

 

[Reburner]

Cheers for that. I see what you mean about it not being able to sustain the pressure of a bottle jack.

 

[hedgerow pete]

there are two schools of thought with that idea though, gentle pressure produces a better juice and to much pressure forces all the naff as well as the juice out,

it also depends on your construction skills, i can produce some thing that will take a car jack pressure from wood but i doubt if many can,

i dont think anyone has ever suggest a sencible square footage pressure rate and then found out what that is in english to someone with a car jack or bench screw

 

[Crastney]

one plan on the internet that I saw used the screw from an old piano stool.

I was attempting to use a screw method press, but ended up using a car jack.
the amount of pressure actually bent the sides of the jack, and I had to use my brother's jack.
one problem that I encountered was that it was on a slight slope to aid juice egress, and the jack slipped out of the middle of the press, spilling quite a bit of liquid all over the kitchen floor - the one extra turn of the handle was too much. I'd left it for twenty minutes whilst doing other stuff.
all lessons learnt for next time.

photo's of some of this can be found on www.webshots.com search for username Crastney.

 

[Reburner]

Like the photos.

I'm going to use great big bits of green oak so the frame shouldn't be a problem. If I go the jack route then just need to find a fairly substantial piece of metal to attach to the frame to act as a pressure plate.

I wonder if you can get a screw thread more robust than the one in the axminster link as I still think that would be the neater solution.

 

[tazuk]

go for a bottle jack it makes life so so so so easy m8 screw thread **** :thumb:
have a look at my post :thumb:

viewtopic.php?f=40&t=18257

 

[hedgerow pete]

right ho we want bigger,

the next step up screw thread wise is either a home produced one or i have seen people use a screw thread from an old metal lathe and out of gear boxes, try looking for a "acme thread or acme threaded bar"

the big chuncky threads are called "acme" and are mainly a heavy engineering source, metal engineering suppliers, mechanics, and heavy enginering scrap yards.

if you a wood minded person ALL of the old cider presses around where i was born a nd brought up all used a six inch diameter thread made from wood, they have quite a fine thread

 

[Reburner]

My wood skills are pretty good but not sure they are up to making screw threads :)

 

[hedgerow pete]

all you need is a router and a piece of rope, wind the rope around the wooden pole and as you unwind it have a pencil marking the edge of the rope

 

[tazuk]

i do not understand why raving about screw treads for wot see my post of my cider press or just have a look on ebay for cornish cider press i have both so easy to make just get ya self a bottle jack :thumb:

My wood skills are pretty good but not sure they are up to making screw threads :)

 

[joknkitsdad]

six ton bottle jack does the trick, about twelve galls of juice from thirteen and a half stones of apples.