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Home Photo Galleries Equipment Galleries Homemade Mini Press by Peter R. Lynch • Princeton, NJ

I made this from a standard plastic bucket, a little wood, and some plumbing supplies for about $20 or $30. It is something I made to press ten to 30 lbs. of grape skins that I add from time to time to my red kits. It’s not suitable for any serious grape pressing but for my needs it works.

This is a junk piece of 2x4 I liberated from the scrap heap at Home Depot. In this I drilled a hole big enough for the pressing screw and attached a threaded plumbing flange the right size for the pressing screw.

The cross bar
I started with a basic 3 or 4-gallon plastic bucket. My main criteria was that it fit inside one of my 7-gallon fermentation buckets. I drilled a bunch of holes in it and cut out two rectangles for the 2x4 cross bar.

The pressing bucket
This started as a 12”x12” piece of oak board (I guess you could use whatever wood you like). I used a jigsaw to round it to the right dimensions so it fits to the bottom of the pressing bucket. I attached a plumbing flange on the top for a place for the pressing screw to sit while pressing. I also screwed a plumbing thread cap into the flange to allow the pressing screw to spin more easily, which may not be necessary.

The press plate
A 2 ft. 5⁄8” screw thread to which I attached a threaded plumbing T fitting for inserting handles. The handles are two 10” plumbing pipes threaded on both ends.

The pressing screw
To start, I insert a mesh bag into my primary fermenting bucket to catch any skins and seeds from the press. I throw the pressing bucket into the primary fermenter and load up the skins.

Usage
Next, I put the pressing plate on top of the skins so it is fairly level. I slide the cross bar into the cutouts which allows the press bucket bottom to hang 6” to 8” above the bottom of the primary fermenter. I screw the pressing screw into the crossbar flange and spin until it engages with the pressing plate flange. I then turn the handles until the pressing bucket starts to warp.

Usage part 2
I haven’t figured out how to reinforce the pressing bucket yet, but it only seriously warps after the skins have been sufficiently pressed (at least to my satisfaction). I’m pretty happy with this setup as opposed to hand pressing. I think I get a better press, it’s more antiseptic, cleaner — and a whole lot easier on my clothing!

Usage part 3


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