Press Project
The end of a very satisfying project, now let’s make some cider!
The top plate planks were cut down from a greenoak sleeper and fastened with coach bolts, the plate is hung so that it floats and is easily removable.
It took hours of chiseling to accomodate the bearings into the beam which are then secured by the plates
The beam was cut from a non native Oak culled from local forestry it measures 8ft in length and 1 ft square is very heavy and took some ingenuity to hoist up onto the screws
After several trips to The Cider Museum at Owermoigne I decided to build a juice tray from green oak sleepers with the run off gouged out, this proved to be insufficient so I have since fitted a 2 1/2″ surround to further increase the capacity when the press floods
The base was then laid with some old bricks
Originaly the screws would have been anchored in a substantial baulk of timber but I chose to set them in a trench backfilled with concrete, the screws are joined by a galvanised bar passing through an eye in the end of each
These screws are all that remains of a farm press which originated from Devon, after years in the open all they needed was a good clean up with a wire brush and parrafin. the winding gear was seized but soon freed up when heat was applied