mattm82

MOBlacksmith, thanks very much for the offer but I feel I should suffer through the clear waste of my hard earned $15, also the freight from Australia maybe a little unkind to your wallet : ) The whole press appears in great condition and I was willing to pay a lot more for this. Unfortunate for the seller who was not willing to freight, was in an out of the way area and used eBay. No one nodded so I got a bargain!

Thanks for the info Jim. This one doesn't need a forklift but it isn't light! I'll be sure to have a look at your site. Matt

Thanks Mark, I do fully intend to have fun with it and $15 is certainly a good score. The only thing I know about the Selectron brand is that it was around until the late 50's and was based in Ryde, (Sydney) NSW. I have seen a few mentions of Selectron on the forum so figured someone may have some info. Regards, Matt

Hi all, I have just picked up a Selectron Fly Press, model248. Does anyone know much about this company and the tonnage of this particular model. I paid $15 bucks for it so pretty pleased with it. Just got to buy/make some tooling for it. Thanks

Hi Guiltyspark, I was a professional chef/cook for around 10years before getting fed up with it and heading in other directions, but here's some info you may find useful. As mentioned above Santoku blades are a good all-rounder, but don't have a good point for piercing so not much good for breaking down/butchering meat, piercing whole pumpkins etc etc and if she is doing formal training she'll be doing all that. Still a good option though. A French style chef knife would be my pick for a starting knife. For a store bought knife Globals are my pick. The forge line (GF) are heavier, thicker and more robust, but cost more. The standard (G) series are much finer blades, great for slicing and the lighter weight means less arm and wrist fatigue with prolonged work. A more budget option are the vitrinox, which are good workhorses. Wustof Tridents are good but I only like the classic series. If she is only a slight girl I would recommend a 16cm chef knife but if she has some decent arm strength the 20-21 cm knife will be her go-to knife 80% of the time. She needs to remember that learning the skills to handle chef knives professionally is a slow process and the longer the blade the less control she'll have. There are so many choices these days that she'll just have to try some and find what she likes, and she'll end up with a ridiculous collection if she's anything like me. Good luck to you making a choice.