The Shredder

All growing up my parents have had apple trees and most always the apples just went to the ground. We did eat some and some were made into apple sauce but that is about it.  For the past few years Jason (my brother) and I have been trying to dry slices and leather but it still leave a ton on the ground so this year I decided it was time to turn the excess into apple juice.

A professor of mine at BYU-I made an apple grinder that worked quite well so I have tried to use a similar design as his. I wish I had access to a machine shop so I could make the parts from metals but since that is not the case,  I have been making it all out of wood.  Basically I have made a round disk out of  Baltic Birch plywood, bolted it to a pully that will mount directly on a 3/4 horse motor. After mounting the disk on the pully I placed it on my wood lathe to round it up and then I drilled a bunch of holes in a fan like pattern as seen in the picture. I then placed screws from the back side of the disk and left them sticking out of the front about a quarter of an inch.  In the second picture I have all the parts laying out to dry. I put a finish on them to keep them from soaking up too much juice and distorting.  Once the disk is all assembled and placed in the grinder housing it, it is one mean machine; The apples don't stand a chance.  I will try to post some pics of the finished grinder and some pictures of the press once completed.  

The press will just consist of a solid frame with a bottle jack to do the pressing.