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Increasing press basket size?

My the basket on my fruit press is rather crappy wood. This winter I am going to replace it.

For very little cost I can replace the staves (or whatever the wood parts of the basket are called) with much better quality oak with a decent finish. It dawned on me that by simply making the basket a few inches taller I could increase the press volume somewhat. I have the clearance on the ratchet mechanism to handle a few more inches of basket height. This is a ten gallon press if that makes a difference.

Is there any good reason to NOT do this? I understand it would make pressing smaller volumes a little harder.

Reply to
Rob
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I can't think of any good reason not to do that. Just make sure that the bands end up the same distance apart as they are now and the same distance from the baseplate. IOW, all the extra length should be at the _top_ of the press.

Tom S

Reply to
Tom S

Just chiming in to say I agree 100% with Tom. I've built or restored half a dozen small presses over the years, and there's plenty of leeway with things like height & width.

Reply to
MikeMTM

do you use spar varnish on the wood?

Reply to
Rob

Rob,

I use close-grained wood like maple or beech or poplar, and give it with several coats of water based polyurethane. I find it smells less than oil based products, and I suspect it has less to leach into the must or wine, 'though it probably doesn't matter. The sealant goes on before attaching to the hoops, giving special attention to the end grain.

Many years ago I slapped a basket together in a hurry from cheap pine

1x2 furring strips, uncoated. It never caused a problem, and is still going strong for a friend. I believe sanitation & drying & storage are more important than how, or even _if_ the wood is coated. Do be wary of crevices though; they're hard to clean.
Reply to
MikeMTM

If you're in a hurry to seal a press boil parafin wax and coat the surface with the wax.

Reply to
J F

I wouldn't recommend that if you might ever think of varnishing the press. You'd never get the varnish to stick to the wood after paraffining.

Tom S

Reply to
Tom S

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