I'm now armed. Picked this up today. All the castings are in good shape but the wood is shot. I have some oak stock I've been saving for this. Going to take everything apart and media blast the castings...build the frame... and make some cider this fall.
Fair warning to all the apples out there
- Thread starter lukem
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Minister of Fire
Please post a picture of this when you have the rebuild done. Thanks
Defiant
Vermont Castings Geek
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
Go for it lukem and once you press that cider harden some of it for those hot days the next summer. Be sure to use more than one kind of apple (three is the lower limit) in each cider batch.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Luke, do you also have the tub for the chopped apples to fall into? And be careful about what you wish for. A neighbor and I built one a year ago last January and have not been able to use it yet! However, so far it appears we should have a decent apple crop this coming fall. Here is our setup.
It came with three baskets. They are pretty rough but the steel bands are salvageable.
After getting the grinder apart I found a couple very small pits in the flywheel. I think they are defects from the initial casting...doesn't appear to effect the rotation so I'll just fill them with some JB and paint over.
After getting the grinder apart I found a couple very small pits in the flywheel. I think they are defects from the initial casting...doesn't appear to effect the rotation so I'll just fill them with some JB and paint over.
We put up 42 gallons of cider last year. We have 3 very large trees that we get apples from and have several more lined up for this year. Last year's cider was great...the apples were pretty "dry" but the juice we did get from them was so concentrated it tasted like caramel. I assume that was from the drought.
I made 3 batches of hard cider and they all turned out great.
Dennis,
What kind of finish did you put on your wood? The lumber I'm working with is still a little green so I'm going to leave it unfinished for a while. I'm thinking about giving it a couple coatings of butcher block oil.
Making some progress. Time is tight but slowly chipping away. Had to improvise quite a bit because my lumber...mainly the 4x4's were not big enough. The lumber was sawn before I got the press...not much I could do. Just need to make the hopper and tub...and baskets...and a few misc hardware items that could not be salvaged.
Yep, it won't be long. I've put quite a bit of time into this project, but in the end I'll have a pretty nice setup and only be into it for about $130.
I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do the tub yet. I have an old kitchen sink countertop cut-out sitting in there now that I'm using to mock up everything and kind of like it, but it's too short if I go with the traditional tapered spout opening at the end of the tub. I'm tempted to make the front square, drill a hole, and drive a small piece of schedule 40 in the hole for a drain.
I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do the tub yet. I have an old kitchen sink countertop cut-out sitting in there now that I'm using to mock up everything and kind of like it, but it's too short if I go with the traditional tapered spout opening at the end of the tub. I'm tempted to make the front square, drill a hole, and drive a small piece of schedule 40 in the hole for a drain.
Defiant
Vermont Castings Geek
Thistle
Minister of Fire
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Minister of Fire
Lukem, that baby looks beautiful! You did a great job, can't wait to see it in action. I can almost taste that apple cider and a piece of gingerbread.....
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Minister of Fire
Try that with a gingerbread whoopie pie or a hot apple crisp with ice cream. Yum........
Heading to the beach next week for some R&R, but should be pressing cider shortly after we get back. It's usually a full tilt operation, but I'll try to get a few pictures along the way.
Too pretty to use.
Nah. I wanted to make sure I took my time and did it right so my kids can use it someday (if they want to). This was my first real woodworking project (I've done a lot of rough carpentry though). I learned a lot doing it. I don't think it turned out bad for a rookie.
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