homemade juice press

[delmar]

Building a homemade juice press out of a bottle jack from an old truck. I made the frame by layering a bunch of scrap plywood (OSB really) and plunge cut a hole in the middle. Then I cut the end out of a bread pan. The bread pan on my prototype is aluminum but I will replace it with stainless steel when I find one really cheap. I cut a piece of pine board to use as my top plate.

I grind up my veggies in a food processor. put the veggie pulp in the pan. put the top plate on the pulp, put the jack on the top plate and start turning the jack. I did a trail run last night, but I found a design flaw. The frame of my press is not wide enough to support the entire length of the pan, so the pan started to bend before the pulp was squeezed dry. So today I am going to cut more scrap wood to widen the base of the frame and make a base plate for the pan to sit on and it should work really well.

I will add photos to the thread as soon as I have the press working like I want it to. So far the cost of the project is $0 because I picked up the wood and the jack for free.

[DoxyDame]

wow. that's super rad. i would love to see photos! i am a pretty creative being however i'm not very good at building things. a juice press (or juice anything) would be really nice :D

[PansyLo]

I'd love to see photos too.

I'm not good at these things but my brother is great at pottering about and DIY. Maybe a DIY birthday juicer or dehydrator for me? :P

Shame I get get a DIY vitamix...

[delmar]

I'll get it finished today and get some photos up. I will also do a youtube video at some point, but not today.

[DebB]

Hi delmar ~ I bumped this post (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?67284-My-19.78-2.49-two-ton-Juice-Press!)by Kias up. It might be of interest to you. Way to go on building your own juicer!!

[michigan roman]

ive gone thru 5 juicers and none of them have been anywhere near excellent , including champion and omega 8000 series .
all are inefficient / make a mess / froth juices

and paying 500 for a greenstar is ridiculous , then you go beyond that to 1000 angels and its just a messed up market

and ive been thinking like delmar and kias = grind stuff up then press it . ive been thinking food processor or food mill or food strainer to grind stuff ,
then press it in a nylon mesh paint filter bag . currently im thinking to press use a big stainless 4 gallon soup pot and this below tamper with steel handle , put some side grip handles on the tamper
handle though to get more power into it . ide cut the corners off tamper and make it round so it wouldnt mess pot up . link ;

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=steel+handled+tamper&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=12569585820639813257&sa=X&ei=F4tbT8niIMaBgwey8YCiCw&ved=0CFQQ8wIwBA

[michigan roman]

delmar or anyone ever own the basic $100 simple kitchen aide food processor sold at meijers and others , ive been thinking about buying one but no experience with food processors .
but garage sale season is about ready to open up so im cooling my jets in effort to find an old good one for cheap

[delmar]

Here are the photos I promised.

OK I added the photos that are right side up.

902090219022

[michigan roman]

what kind of dooms day machine have you created delmar :D

[Mary Kay]

Hey, thanks for posting the pics!

Mary Kay

[michigan roman]

delmar in case youve never seen these lever action types heres a vid , just in case your still looking to make more juicer types : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdL3ffr6YVc

[michigan roman]

ide like to take one of the dirt tamper heads and put it on a lever like the ito press design , with a big pot you put under the lever action tamper head , itd seriously crush some pulp with just one heavy crank down on lever . as opposed to cranking the bottle jack several times . plus having to fiddle around with keeping the bottle jack clean of juices . itd be easier to keep tamper head clean . just my 2 cents anyway because i want to design some home made juicers as the juicer companys dont know what theyre doing and keep turning out flawed junk

[delmar]

:wow:
ive gone thru 5 juicers and none of them have been anywhere near excellent , including champion and omega 8000 series .
all are inefficient / make a mess / froth juices

and paying 500 for a greenstar is ridiculous , then you go beyond that to 1000 angels and its just a messed up market

and ive been thinking like delmar and kias = grind stuff up then press it . ive been thinking food processor or food mill or food strainer to grind stuff ,
then press it in a nylon mesh paint filter bag . currently im thinking to press use a big stainless 4 gallon soup pot and this below tamper with steel handle , put some side grip handles on the tamper
handle though to get more power into it . ide cut the corners off tamper and make it round so it wouldnt mess pot up . link ;

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=steel+handled+tamper&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=12569585820639813257&sa=X&ei=F4tbT8niIMaBgwey8YCiCw&ved=0CFQQ8wIwBAYou could put that tamper head on a pogo stick and jump up and down on it :D

[michigan roman]

if you built a frame the pogo stick sits in making it unmovable so you just step up on it with all body weight the thing would be great , you could juice huge amounts in seconds with body weight .
the frame sits outside , and the tamper head and juicing vessel are removable so can bring in home and wash

[michigan roman]

pour a 6'x6' concrete slab + put four post at corners to support a roof to keep out rain / snow + put pogo'izer under roof + call it a ' juice shack '

yes the POGO'IZER is money in the bank ;-)

[delmar]

Hi delmar ~ I bumped this post (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?67284-My-19.78-2.49-two-ton-Juice-Press!)by Kias up. It might be of interest to you. Way to go on building your own juicer!!

Looks very familiar! I think Kias had a better first try than I did though. I made my top plate to fit the bottom of the pan and I tried to do it without using a cloth. Some of the pulp pushed off to the sides of the pan then the juice the did get dry soaked into the pulp onto the side. I built a wider top plate and got a piece of cloth and now it works great.

I like the fact that I got everything free, but when I get a few bucks ahead, I am going to get a hydraulic bottle jack. Harbor Freight has a 12 ton model on sale for $30. With that sucker I could probably press the moisture out of a wet brick!

[delmar]

delmar or anyone ever own the basic $100 simple kitchen aide food processor sold at meijers and others , ive been thinking about buying one but no experience with food processors .
but garage sale season is about ready to open up so im cooling my jets in effort to find an old good one for cheapWalmart has a Black and Decker food processor on sale for $30 that is a lot heftier then the one I am using.I'm sure it would do you fine. I'm not ready to move on from the one my mother in law gave us for free. It doesn't really take much to chop the veggies up. So I like your garage sale idea the best.

[delmar]

ide like to take one of the dirt tamper heads and put it on a lever like the ito press design , with a big pot you put under the lever action tamper head , itd seriously crush some pulp with just one heavy crank down on lever . as opposed to cranking the bottle jack several times . plus having to fiddle around with keeping the bottle jack clean of juices . itd be easier to keep tamper head clean . just my 2 cents anyway because i want to design some home made juicers as the juicer companys dont know what theyre doing and keep turning out flawed junkI like the bottle jack cause I got it free and now that I built a bigger top plate, it does stay out of the juice. I am, however, thinking of using stainless steel diamond plate.

[delmar]

was talking to the head maintenance guy at work today to see if they spray any chemicals on the lawn. I told him about my juice press and that I was going to harbor freight to get a hydraulic jack this weekend. He said "do you want one? We have several of them back in the shop that we haven't used in years!" Ten min. later he came back with a very gently used 13,000 lb. hydraulic bottle jack and handed it to me.

I now have a press that is more than 3 times more powerful than the Welles Press and I have $0 invested! Now I need to go forage for some stuff to juice!

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Building a homemade juice press out of a bottle jack from an old truck. I made the frame by layering a bunch of scrap plywood (OSB really) and plunge cut a hole in the middle. Then I cut the end out of a bread pan. The bread pan on my prototype is aluminum but I will replace it with stainless steel when I find one really cheap. I cut a piece of pine board to use as my top plate.

I grind up my veggies in a food processor. put the veggie pulp in the pan. put the top plate on the pulp, put the jack on the top plate and start turning the jack. I did a trail run last night, but I found a design flaw. The frame of my press is not wide enough to support the entire length of the pan, so the pan started to bend before the pulp was squeezed dry. So today I am going to cut more scrap wood to widen the base of the frame and make a base plate for the pan to sit on and it should work really well.

I will add photos to the thread as soon as I have the press working like I want it to. So far the cost of the project is $0 because I picked up the wood and the jack for free.

That is a great way to go, afterall, one day we may not have a power grid to be able to run any electrical appliances, + it is thrifty and good recycling.

[michigan roman]

delmar i was looking at the kind of stainless steel baking pans that stack up , in other words one fits exactly inside the other . belows a link to this kind . my thought is drill hole in the side of the bottom one for juice to come out , then in top one use liquid nail or some type adhesive to glue in like a quarter inch to half inch peice of metal that fits exactly inside pan . the metal plate there so the bottle jack has something solid to push on . link :

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005M5PWYM/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&m=AEABHPHVMXW1V

[delmar]

delmar i was looking at the kind of stainless steel baking pans that stack up , in other words one fits exactly inside the other . belows a link to this kind . my thought is drill hole in the side of the bottom one for juice to come out , then in top one use liquid nail or some type adhesive to glue in like a quarter inch to half inch peice of metal that fits exactly inside pan . the metal plate there so the bottle jack has something solid to push on . link :

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005M5PWYM/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&m=AEABHPHVMXW1V

That pan looks like just the ticket. Unless I decide to go with a bigger one. It still seems to me that the piece of wood is working just fine for the top plate.

[delmar]

Well I am done foraging for today and just about ready to try it out. Does anyone have a clue how long it would be good to soak fresh picked grass, before it is about as hydrated as it is going to be?

[Living Food]

Does anyone have a clue how long it would be good to soak fresh picked grass, before it is about as hydrated as it is going to be?

I wouldn't soak it at all; the nutrients and lifeforce start to diminish immediately after you pick it (same with all fruits and veggies), so you should juice it immediately. That's why I try to grow all of my own food, or pick it myself...store-bought fruits and veggies are nearly dead by the time you actually buy them, seeing as they were picked weeks ago. Most of the electromagnetic energy and other nutrients are gone.

[Arky]

Great thread, folks!

Nice to see people using their own initiative to get results as good as, if not better than, expensive commercial products!

[Aleesha Sattva]

just please... don't bring it into my kitchen. i think i'll stick with a prettier juicer. :kisses:

but very interesting thread indeed. well done! so glad MR has someone to play with :woot:

[delmar]

just please... don't bring it into my kitchen. i think i'll stick with a prettier juicer. :kisses:

but very interesting thread indeed. well done! so glad MR has someone to play with :woot:The prototype works so I haven't gotten around to doing anything else with it. I have been needing to rebuild it for a while because the frame is not big enough. I will make it prettier when I build the new frame. It is true that I don't bring it in the kitchen.

[Arky]

The prototype works so I haven't gotten around to doing anything else with it. I have been needing to rebuild it for a while because the frame is not big enough. I will make it prettier when I build the new frame. It is true that I don't bring it in the kitchen.

I have found that, in general, women are very appreciative when I do my classic car engine maintenance on the kitchen table. They tend to find it fascinating and don't mind the smell of oil and engine cleaner as long as I move it out the way for mealtimes.

[delmar]

I have found that, in general, women are very appreciative when I do my classic car engine maintenance on the kitchen table. They tend to find it fascinating and don't mind the smell of oil and engine cleaner as long as I move it out the way for mealtimes.Now that was funny!

[MysticTree]

I don't mind what gets done on the kitchen table mechanics-wise. Just be sure to know I won't be cleaning it up. Much easier than rowing about it :)

[MysticTree]

I love your press Delmar so imagine my delight when I found this on half price at a charity shop. I got it 5 quid which I suppose is about 7-8 US$. The picture here is one off the net because I can't get pix from my phone to here. http://www.winekits123.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/-217572006991172300.jpg

[delmar]

Is that a cider press?

9215




It looks fantastic! I think, if it is sturdy enough, that between that and a good food processor you should be able to juice quite a lot of things very easily. With some of the grassy things that won't go through a food processor I just end up cutting the stuff up with a pair of scissors. It actually goes more quickly than you might imagine.

[MysticTree]

It's actually a wine press and I grate everthing by hand first into a bowl with citrus juice to help slow oxidation. The instructions say it will press 9lbs apples in one go because their recipe calls for that much. The bag it comes with is so fine that the juice that comes out is totally pulpless which is great for my juice fasting. I would probably use my manual wheatgrass juicer for greens of any sort.