Greg (?), Thanks for your continuing interest. It is a bit expensive for the typical home vintner, but the bamboo alone cost $50.00 ea. plus an equal amount for the ss hardware and levers. For now each is hand crafted which also adds a lot to my cost. If demand increases I may sub out to a CNC cabinet shop for greater manufacturing efficiency. However, the typical screw press here in Knoxville sells for around $300.00 so I'm not too far off.
Capacity may be more than you think. Pour 3 qts. in, one hard press, repeat twice more before discharging the compressed cake and more than two gallons are squeezed in as much time as it take me to write this. Pressure is applied through a compound lever depending on how hard you want to press down, up to your full weight. With a mechanical advantage of about 5:1 an operator can easily apply 500 lbs. against the 30 sq. in gate, which by the way also has a backed up ss screen on its face. This will result in around 17 lbs/in2. You may feel this not enough, but the cake comes out solid enough to hold its shape and is just damp to the touch. I'm of the opion that pressing much harder might begin to crush seeds, and stem fragments releasing undesirable oils, tannin etc.
