Shopsmith Forums

My guess would be a rack and cloth cider press.

Looks like a fruit press of some sorts for sure.

A few home made parts and it could well become a veneer press.

Wine press. It is missing the bucket(loose jointed so the juice will exit"), and the 'piston' board.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/wine-press

JPG40504 wrote:Wine press. It is missing the bucket(loose jointed so the juice will exit"), and the 'piston' board.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/wine-press

That was my first thought also, but when I googled presses I came across the "rack and cloth" style press which looks like a better match.
This site shows a press that looks a lot like the one heathicus posted, though bigger.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g57439-d560713-i36478846-Cold_Hollow_Cider_Mill-Waterbury_Center_Vermont.html

And here is a short article describing the different types of cider press.
The Cider Workshop Equipment - Pressing

If it is a "rack and cloth" press then it is complete except for the racks (wooden grids that go between the bags of crushed fruit.

While wine press is a pretty good suggestion, wouldn't the press part need to be round to conform (if loosely) to the bucket?

I really don't know it's original use (it certainly looks like a rack and cloth style press, though). It came from the same place my recently acquired vintage tools came from. It was offered to me, but I didn't get it. But I keep thinking about it. It's just so cool.

Well, after having a smattering of interest in fermentables, (I used to work in a homebrew store, and also the first micro in Hawaii. (Keacap, remembeer Ali'i brewery?) I doesn't look like a wine press, unless it's missing LOTS of parts.

A cider press, or even an olive oil press, is my guess.

steve

Doesn't look like any type of cider or wine press I've ever seen…funny thing is I was at an estate sale this weekend and saw an old press that looked very similar, except it was all cast iron - big flat square. Can really see how it could be used for anything to generate liquid…some sort of dry press or else a non-food press is my guess.

From wiki - A basket press consists of a large basket filled with the crushed grapes. Pressure is applied through a plate that is forced down onto the fruit. The mechanism to lower the plate is often either a screw or a hydraulic device. The juice flows through openings in the basket. The basket style press was the first type of mechanized press to be developed, and its basic design has not changed in nearly 1000 years