Do-it-yourself grape press from a washing machine

Having collected a rich harvest of grapes, it is necessary to process the ripe fruits, making juice or delicious wine. For these purposes, you can purchase special equipment, but not everyone agrees to bear the impressive additional costs. You can make a grape press yourself, investing a minimum of money. Let's figure out how to make a berry press from a washing machine that has served its useful life.

Preparing the material

One of the main components of the future grape press is a deep bowl where the fruits will be placed. In addition to its impressive size, there are other requirements for the container; it must have holes through which the berry juice will pour. Also, the tank must be made of inert material. The role of a bowl for grapes can be perfectly fulfilled by a washing machine drum made of stainless steel. There are already holes of suitable diameter on its surface.

If necessary, existing holes can be expanded using a metal drill.

If you decide on the idea of ​​making a homemade press, first of all prepare the drum:

• remove the rib punches from it (plastic elements will interfere with pressing the berries);
• using a grinder, remove the metal protrusions intended for attaching the ribs;
• Use a grinder to cut off the part of the drum located near the hatch door;
• If there are convexities on the surface of the drum, take a hammer and turn them into concavities.

This way the bowl of the future grape press will be prepared. You can start assembling the structure.To do this, you will need a metal sheet measuring 1 by 1 meter, a metal corner, a heavy cast iron or steel circle, the size corresponding to the diameter of the drum, a threaded rod approximately 0.8 meters long and a smooth metal rod.

Assembling the press

Making your own structure for obtaining grape juice is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. The algorithm of actions is very simple, but it will require patience, hard work, and in some cases even ingenuity.

• Take a corner and form it into a U-shaped frame onto which the chassis will be attached.
• Drill through the metal frame to attach a cast iron circle to it.
• Make a tray from a meter-long sheet of metal to collect the leaking juice. The ends of the sides must be bent upward, and a gutter must be provided on one edge for draining grape juice.
• Attach the U-shaped “horizontal bar” to the pallet. It is important to attach the frame tightly, since it is, in fact, the main element of the grape press.
• Place the washing machine drum under the bar.
• Insert a threaded pin into the hole drilled on the frame, and weld a smooth metal rod to its upper end, which will serve as the handle of the press.
• Weld a cast iron or steel circle to the bottom of the threaded rod.
• Check the stroke of the pressing mechanism.
• Adjust the position of the drum so that the heavy pancake fits into the bowl without any obstruction.
• Weld the tank to the pan.

The grape press is assembled. All that remains is to place it on the work surface at a slight angle so that the squeezed liquid drains out without any problems, and place any container under the groove to collect the finished juice.

As you can see, you can make a press with your own hands to obtain berry juice quickly and on a budget. After installing the mechanism, you should check the device for functionality. To do this, fill the drum bowl with ripe fruits and start moving the press handle. This activates the work surface intended for crushing berries. The resulting juice will begin to pour out of the holes and flow into the prepared container. The container for collecting grape juice must be made of inert material. It is acceptable to use wooden, enamel bowls or stainless steel containers.

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