Grape Destemmer Funnel

[relli1130]

Hi Everyone,

I have a grape destemmer as pictured in my attachment. I purchased this used, and it is in fine working order. The person that I purchased this from had a funnel that he fabricated (or had fabricated at by a heating and air conditioning worker) to catch the crushed grapes and funnel them to a bucket.

In the past, I used to borrow a similar destemmer from a friend of a friend. He built a wooden stand that the destemmer would rest on. The stand also had a built-in funnel to catch and funnel the grapes into a bucket.

My question is:

1. What do you recommend? Should I build or fabricate a funnel to attach to the bottom of the destemmer?

2. If so, are there any recommendations in terms of where I can get one made?

3. Is this something I can purchase?

4. If this is a topic that has been covered previously, I apologize. I searched the forums, but couldn't find a similar topic.

Anyway, thanks for any and all input!

Relli1130

 

[JohnT]

They do sell detemmer stands at some of the larger supply stores.



The store bought ones seem to "funnel" the gapes rather low to the ground. I like to save my back so I built one with my brother (from design to complete took about 4 hours, including a trip to lowes. Finished with food grade polyurethane).

I will supply pictures tomorrow.

 

[Rocky]

I think this is what you are looking for. They cost about $140-150. I don't know what you could have one fabricated for or if you could make one yourself. If you are handy and have some tin-snips and some galvanized sheet metal, you could probably put one together fairly easily.

 

[sour_grapes]

I like to save my back so I built one with my brother

Oooh, seems a little harsh. Did you two not get along? Does your brother mind being a destemmer stand?

 

[JohnT]

Oooh, seems a little harsh. Did you two not get along? Does your brother mind being a destemmer stand?

LOL, When I reread my post, I noticed that it did not sound good!

We built a stand that is simply beautiful. We used douglas fir because it was strong and inexpensive. The whole stand was coated with 3 coats of EZ-DO (food grade polyurethane) so I felt it did not really matter what wood I used since it was never going to come in contact with the wine.

The stand is essentially a box with legs. Inside the box are two plates (stainless steel the my bro had laying around) that act as a funnel inside the box.

All told, it cost about $60 to build (finish included).

I will post pictures when I get the chance.

 

[relli1130]

Thanks everyone.

I've been thinking of using saw horses. I would like to fabricate a funnel. This is the one I had in mind....

The seller that sold me the destemmer wants to keep this exact funnel. He gave me the dimensions:

he top view measures 33" x 12" The 33" includes a 1" lip on each side. Bottom is 12" x 6" The height of the funnel is 9"

Seems easy enough to fabricate. Tried contacting a local met fabrication shop and some HVAC companies. Also have a friend who installs windows that has access to a metal / aluminum break typically used to bend aluminum on window installation jobs.

I think I can get this done...thoughts?

 

[relli1130]

Also, what would be preferred metals to make this out of?

Probably stainless would be best. Are there alternatives?

 

[sour_grapes]

Do you care that the joints won't be watertight? I guess for destemming, that is okay. To join stainless, your options include welding (quite difficult) or brazing (still pretty difficult). I suppose you could instead use a food-grade adhesive...

 

[relli1130]

Watertight joints

I thought of that as well. But then I thought I could just use a silicone sealant on the seams (the outside seams). Or, I thought before I actually crimp/rivot the seams, I could hit the seams with a bead of silicone caulk. The excess would ooze out once crimped/riveted, and I could wipe the excess away. Either way, I don't think the silicone will hurt anything. If I make this out of aluminum (which is how it's looking now...), I'll have to line the funnel with a plastic bag anyway. I'm afraid the acid in the grapes will interact with the aluminum.