Anyone Can Build A Whizbang Apple Grinder & Cider Press Paperback – April 30, 2010

We were able to build our press so for under $100. We had most of the supplies and wood. We bought a hydraulic press and a couple of thicker pieces of wood for the cheese pressing. So glad we came upon this book.

I have used multiple subpar fruit grinders to make apple cider and wanted to make a robust, efficient grinder, that’s where I came across the Whizbang grinder and press book. After reading it and watching the YouTube videos, I was sold, I’m going to do it I said! I bought the book and read it back and forth numerous times to make sure I understood. Herrick puts in a lot of ways to save money and improve on the original design. He will also answer questions directly to his email which I thought was very helpful and a great way to stand behind your product.First off , the hardware:Garbage disposal: Herrick spends a lot of time on this aspect which he should as it’s a crucial piece. He has detailed instructions and if you get the make/model he suggests (which I did and I recommend). He even has a step by step pictured process on his supporting website to follow which worked amazingly well.1/2HP Motor: Here he gives general specs, but there is a lot to learn if you are not electrically or mechanically inclined. Wiring of a motor, electrical parts, how to waterproof, etc. has all been glossed over. You will need an experienced friend or ask a lot of questions to get it wired correctly. Also, the coupler to connect the motor and the disposal could cause problems, again this is glossed over and there is a lot to take into consideration. Plus, mounting the motor on the frame takes some creativity. I did this completely by myself and had to work creatively to make it fit.Lumber: Although the design works well, you need to have some woodworking experience to pull this off (I didn’t). The dimensions Herrick gives you are not standard off the shelf dimensions for lumber, he ripped/cut several pieces to non-standard widths and sizes. I asked him about it and he gave me a work around, but for the novice, this made things confusing. I used pine to save money and it seems to work well. I spent a couple hours determining lengths to buy and to be the most efficient.Fasteners/Etc.: everything else was spot on in the parts list, easy to find at your big box store. The coupler took some research, but I got the exact one.Instructions: In general, they were easy to follow, but some areas highlighted above needed some extra research. I only built the grinder, not the press.Performance: This grinder ROCKS! It does everything he claims in the book. It will turn a 5 gallon bucket of apples into applesauce in 2 minutes. Easy to clean, I don’t see why this won’t last for several years.Overall, I would highly recommend this book to build the grinder and I presume the press works just as good. It will take some research and some time, it took me a few weeks, working on it for a few hours a night after the kids went to bed. Good luck and happy cider making!

I bought this little booklet last fall. I built both the Apple Grinder and Cider Press. The directions were clear, straight forward and easy to follow. And, boy, does it ever work great!!! We only pressed 15-20 gallons last fall as we experimented with everything. We will press much, much more this year. The cider freezes well and it's just as tasty after being frozen as it was fresh.While I built everything made out of wood, I did purchase the HPDE pressing parts and cylinder strips from Kimball, the author. I couldn't find anything better or less expensive. And, I highly recommend buying them.For anyone considering building a Cider Press, this is the way to go. And, the Apple Grinder assures that you will be able to get the most from the apples you're using.

This book has great detailed instructions. A cider press can be built with the instructions included in this book. Now all I need is the money to buy the lumber! One of these days I will have a cider press for my thousands of apples that grow every year in our old apple orchard. Then life will cider sweet!

I've used commercially produced apple grinders and cider presses but didn't really want to spend that much money on one. So I got this and away we went. We've got the grinder built and will work on the press over the winter. I don't think we're saving any money by building our own, but I think what we've built works better than the commercially manufactured grinders. We made an awful lot of cider per bushel of apples. And while we haven't built the press yet, the design is smart and it would seem to get even more cider from the grind than we got from a standard press. I recommend this if you're willing to put the time and effort into building your own and you're not hung up on how the grinder and press look. You'll get more cider.

...it's a good jumping-off point to do your cider-pressing research. Best bets are anyone British on YouTube--they've bgeen cider-making for, oh, about five-hundred years. The real issue isn't so much pressing the apples, as making them into "pomace." The book has plans (such as they are) for turning a garbage disposal into a chopper--very challenging unless you're mechanically adept.

Have not built anything yet. In planning process … execution later. Complete design, drawings, parts lists and instructions.

Don't do it! RUN away! The press is time consuming to build and expensive to build and construction of the press requires more than hand tools. As I began to work on the grinder, I found that purchasing an already made hand crank apple grinder costs less and is a lot easier to do.