DIY grape press

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Grapes are a common plant whose fruits are eaten raw or processed into other products. Juices, preserves and jams are made from berries. Wine is also made from the fruit. For the convenience of squeezing juice from berries, a grape press is used, which you can buy or make yourself.

DIY grape press

Principle of operation

Types of grape presses:

• mechanical (screw, screw);
• pneumatic;
• hydraulic;
• electrical.

A popular type is the manual mechanical grape press with a screw mechanism and a container with holes. Its advantages are simplicity of design, low cost and ease of use.

Working principle of the manual screw press of the grape juicer:

• the berries are crushed and placed in a container with holes;
• through the rotation of the handles, a screw mechanism is set in motion, which lowers the piston down;
• the juice is squeezed out of the berries, it flows through the holes into a pre-set tray;
• from the pallets, the product is poured into a container for storage.

For the manufacture of grape press, stainless steel or wood is used. It is better to use hardwoods such as beech. A drainage part is made of materials, which is connected with metal rings.

Other varieties

There is a modernized mechanical grape press. It is distinguished by the absence of a container for extracting juices. Instead, several wooden beams are installed in a checkerboard pattern, which forms a drainage frame. Berries are placed between them.

To squeeze, a manual jack is used, which develops a force of 2-4 tons. The advantage of this mechanism is the large amount of juice obtained. 70% of the product comes out of the total volume of berries.

The hydraulic grape press has a similar design. Instead of a jack for squeezing the juice, a barrel-shaped membrane is installed. It expands when water is fed into the system, which causes a pressure of 1-2 atm. The juice comes out through the holes on the surface of the casing walls.

The principle of operation is similar for a pneumatic juicer. The difference is the use of compressed air to create pressure, which is supplied by a compressor.

Preparation of raw materials for grinding

All types of presses for grapes and other fruits, which are used to obtain juice, require additional preparation of raw materials. To prepare the berries, they use choppers, which they buy or make with their own hands.

The principle of operation of the device is to rotate the drum inside the casing, which turns the fruit into a fine gruel. It is possible to make both a manual version and to upgrade it by installing an electric drive.

Making a crush at home

Use environmentally friendly materials for manufacturing

To make a grape press with your own hands, you will need:

• wooden bars;
• metal plates and rods;
• bearings;
• bolts, washers and nuts;
• rolls;
• blueprints;
• wood and metal processing tools.

When making a homemade grape press with your own hands, it is better to use environmentally friendly materials, since their surface acts directly on food. To create a container, stainless steel or a drum from a washing machine is suitable.

Also, presses are made of wood and plastic. The disadvantage of wooden mechanisms is that they are difficult to clean and are not durable.

Manufacturing process

Press assembly sequence:

• Installation of racks. To create them, take 2 pipes with a diameter of 2.2 cm and weld a U-shaped profile to them. Its height should provide free movement of the screw nut.
• Welding clamps. This is an optional part of the mechanism, which makes it possible to mount the mechanism on a table or window sill.
• Frame creation. Take wooden beams 2 cm by 10 cm and no more than 80 cm long. The width of the press depends on the size of the rollers.
• Installation of rollers. To create a grape press, rollers with a grooved surface are used. Their axes are directed to the axes of the screws. Every 8 cm, a shift of 1.5-2 cm is made on each shaft. The mechanism is attached to the main body with bearings. Gears of different sizes are used to rotate the shafts at different speeds.
• Bucket installation. Take a pyramidal container and install it on the cross beams of the frame. The distance between the bucket in the shafts should not exceed 12 mm.
• Installing the juice container. It is mounted at the base of the entire mechanism. It is better to make a container of stainless steel.

Design additions

To squeeze the juice conveniently, and the speed of pressing was easy to control, they leave the possibility of changing the gaps between the shafts. This is important if the product will be the basis for the creation of wine.

With the correct gap selection, the grape seeds remain intact. Damaged seeds give the drink a bitter taste due to the presence of tannins.

To improve the extrusion process, a press basket is made. It is better to make it from stainless steel or take a plastic container as a basis.

Spacers are installed to separate the fruit portions during pressing. They are independently made from steel discs with holes of 2-4 mm, which are connected by spot welding.

An automobile jack is used as the basis for the manufacture of a hydraulic squeezing mechanism. When using it at home, it is required to additionally strengthen the frame with several beams.

Drainage grate making

To make a homemade grape and other fruit press as productive as possible, you need to make a drainage grate. It is made from natural wood. Beech or oak works well. It is forbidden to use OSB and similar materials with a low price, since they contain toxic substances.

The thickness of the grid segments should not be less than 2 cm. When using the grid, raw material bags are required. They are made independently at home from strong fabric.

To sew the bags yourself, use:

• burlap;
• synthetics;
• linen fabric;
• cotton;
• coarse calico;
• jute.

Conclusion

The use of grape presses is rational only when small volumes of production are required. Their productivity is 10-30 l / h, depending on the drive and the size of the capacity.

To obtain a large amount of juice, industrial presses are used. In order for the crusher to serve for a long time, it is regularly washed and cleaned from the remains of raw materials.