# My new grape/apple press basket



## LoveTheWine (Sep 10, 2013)

Made the staves from oak and got a friend to make the bands
All the wood coated in EZ-DO


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## Runningwolf (Sep 10, 2013)

Wow thats sharp, nice job!


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## Deezil (Sep 10, 2013)

Thats a nice one

Is it just the screw of the press that holds the basket in the middle?


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## vacuumpumpman (Sep 10, 2013)

Very nice work !!


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## LoveTheWine (Sep 10, 2013)

thanks guys.
Used it to press some apples today. worked pretty slick!


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## LoveTheWine (Sep 10, 2013)

Deezil said:


> Thats a nice one
> 
> Is it just the screw of the press that holds the basket in the middle?



There is no screw... I have a solid wood plate that is pushed down by a 5 ton bottle jack


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## WVMountaineerJack (Sep 10, 2013)

If you stick another solid wood plate in the middle and pile more apples on it you can get more juice out. I really like the swing open basket, very nice job. WVMJ


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## chrisjw (Sep 10, 2013)

Very nice. I have not seen a swing open basket before. From the last picture, it looks like you are not using a mesh bag inside the basket. Do you use a screen or some other material?


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## LoveTheWine (Sep 11, 2013)

chrisjw said:


> Very nice. I have not seen a swing open basket before. From the last picture, it looks like you are not using a mesh bag inside the basket. Do you use a screen or some other material?



Yeah the swing open feature is nice with bullet hinges.

I decided to NOT use a mesh bag with this one. 
The staves are pretty close together, maybe 1/4" apart to hold everything in.

Worked great, no apple pieces got through and the gaps didn't plug.


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## LoveTheWine (Sep 11, 2013)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> If you stick another solid wood plate in the middle and pile more apples on it you can get more juice out. I really like the swing open basket, very nice job. WVMJ



Good idea!
Next time I press apples I may have to do this


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## JohnT (Sep 11, 2013)

Very Pretty! did you use white oak?


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## jamesngalveston (Sep 11, 2013)

very nice press, could be used on anything...whats the bands made from..


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## LoveTheWine (Sep 11, 2013)

JohnT said:


> Very Pretty! did you use white oak?



Thanks John
No unfortunately I had only red oak to work with.
The EZ-DO makes it water tight though


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## LoveTheWine (Sep 11, 2013)

jamesngalveston said:


> very nice press, could be used on anything...whats the bands made from..



Thanks James.
The bands are made from 1/4" by 2" steel, primer-ed and painted with a rock hard coating.

Pretty much overkill, I think most the store bought presses are 1/8" steel.


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## btom2004 (Sep 13, 2013)

LoveTheWine said:


> There is no screw... I have a solid wood plate that is pushed down by a 5 ton bottle jack



Nice job .
Would have been nice to see how you apply and use the bottle jack.
Do you have any photos of that ?


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## LoveTheWine (Sep 13, 2013)

btom2004 said:


> Nice job .
> Would have been nice to see how you apply and use the bottle jack.
> Do you have any photos of that ?



I will be pressing grapes in a few weeks.
I can take some pictures at that time and post.


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## btom2004 (Sep 14, 2013)

Ok thank .


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## LoveTheWine (Sep 21, 2013)

So I came into another #70 of mixed apples (red jap crab apple, gala, etc..)
so we did another pressing and here are the pics of the bottle jack in action


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## btom2004 (Sep 23, 2013)

Ok...wow nice job. I may just be able to make one of those. Thanks!


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## LoveTheWine (Sep 24, 2013)

btom2004 said:


> Ok...wow nice job. I may just be able to make one of those. Thanks!



You won't regret it. .. good for juicing apples and doubles as a grape press
Oh and. . I lied, my jack is only a 4 ton.


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