An alternative to oak advice

[CasperF]

Hi all,

First post here....great looking forum!


I'm starting my first woodworking project building a simple apple fruit press and am trying to track down some good quality timber.

I'd like to use oak as it's strength and durability is perfect for this project but the prices are causing concern. Basically I'm after 3 100mm x 50mm lengths at 2500mm, rough sawn (I can plane them).

My question is: Could I use an alternative wood for this project which can offer the same characteristics I'm looking for, I'm thinking maybe beech and ash?

Cheers!

 

[moz]

That's about 1.3 cu ft I make it. So in oak probably around £65.00 + VAT + whatever wastage. Maple is cheap at the moment and you could probably get 1.3 cu ft for around £36.00 + VAT + wastage. Maple is hard, dense, heavy and, in my opinion a better choice than oak for this project. Hope that helps.

John

 

[CasperF]

That's prefect advice John, many thanks. The oak price you mentioned I've been quoted similar...on the other end of the scale the quoted prices have been up to £128!

Now, to track down some maple suppliers in the region.

 

[RogerS]

Casper....do you need kild dried oak for your project? I would have thought that you could have got away with green oak which is much cheaper.

 

[CasperF]

Green oak would be fine you're right. Should have mentioned that the plans for this project I have suggest green oak.

I'm going to research some local merchants to see which can supply in the Wiltshire area.

 

[disco_monkey79]

Sounds like a fun project. An apple press is on my wish list. Please keep us posted on your progress, if you don't mind?

 

[CasperF]

Sure thing...be glad to.

 

[moz]

Sorry, CasperF, I didn't realise the wood need not be dry. £128.00 taking the Mick! If you're after a small amount of green oak, I have a local supplier who does new American white oak sleepers for about £20.00 which are absolutely beautiful and which would provide ample stuff for your project; so maybe it's worth checking if you have someone local selling new sleepers?

John

 

[misterfish]

Hi and welcome

I've just built a motorised apple scratter and basic fruit press and if you look at https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/appl ... 43110.html you can see some of my workings.

Also if you have a look on Wizer's forum ( http://thewoodhaven.co.uk/phpBB3/index.php ) and do a search on apple press you can find more postings. I would post a link to the article but I'm not sure if that's allowed.

In fact this last weekend I carried out an experiment with the windfall bramleys that weren't too small. I ended up with a decent bucket load of apples which I initially processed bu cutting out the really rotten bits. Gave them a quick wash to get rid of mud and bird cr*p. Put them through the scratter and ended up with a large bowl of bits, enough to make a single cheese. After pressing I ended up with 3 pints of slightly tart but delicious juice.

Have you looked at http://www.ukcider.co.uk/wiki/index.php ... ider_Press as there is a lot of useful info there.

As you will see from my postings my press is made from recycled wood from the frames that surrounded our old crittal windows - the main structural components fixed together with 10mm diameter studding/bolts. One of my aims wat to do all of this with minimal cost using stuff I had hanging around.

You may also be interested to look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... pisode_18/ on the BBC iPlayer as one of the tasks was shredding apples and pressing to get tthe juice as they used to do it in Victorian times using the equipment available.

Good luck with your plans.

Misterfish

 

[CasperF]

Once again thankyou for the info - John - I'll be sure to look into the sleeper option, there's some particularly good saw mills I've noticed not too far from me which offer these as an alternative.


Misterfish - Your fruit press is great, it's similar to one I've recently built from softwood, same dimensions. I see you'll be using a jack on it - I'll be attempting a barrel design as my brother is nifty with metalworking . He's keen to built a stainless steel scratter over the winter which we hope to set up to be clipped onto the fruit press or hinged. Should make for an interesting project.

I've had a good look through the UKcider pages, also have an excellent copy of the 'Real Cider Making on A small Scale' book by Michael Pooley and John Lomax.

I'll be sure to post some photos as soon as I've sourced the wood. Currently I'll be working on the softwood version in order to ensure the dimensions work.

Thanks again for your advice.