ausfire Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Not a blacksmithing question so I hope it's OK here.Lurking amongst our scrap stuff is this monster of a thing. I'm wondering if it's worth dragging out for display, but it would help if we knew what it was. It appears to have two very heavy bar slides on which are hooked several steel blocks with lugs on the top. The whole lot can be compressed using a screw mechanism on one end. It is all solid cast (?) iron or steel and is very heavy -quite a few tonnes.The only markings I can find are Johnson & Co. Stratford, so I assume it's British made.Here are a couple of angles:Also found another one similar, but smaller. The steel plates appear to be textured in a circular pattern.Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozenforge Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Looks like a filter setup for refining liquids. The permeable membrane is placed between each plate then the stack is compressed with the screw. The liquid to be filtered is then pumped thru under pressure and when the filters begin to get full the screw is released and all the contaminates and particles are on the membranes which are replaced with clean ones. Thats my best guess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 I agree press plates. With Grappa presses, the cloths full of grape pulp (for example) are placed one to each plate, and then the entire unit is pressed to remove the retained liquids to make the grappa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Look up plate filter / filter press, as mentioned above they look like the plate filters I saw at the wineries I did work for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted December 5, 2014 Author Share Posted December 5, 2014 Yep, you nailed it. I looked up 'filter press' and there it was. They appear to have had a variety of applications in the food industry. I think this particular must have been used in the mining industry, possibly for processing tailings from the treatment works.Thanks!Here's a picture I found: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yves Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 I'll remember the grappa press ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 We use a press like that in our water treatment for our CNC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notownkid Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 We use a much smaller version to filter the fine sand out of Maple Syrup after it is boiled down and before canning. Sand particles come up with the sap out of the roots the heavier ones end up on the bottom of the pans but the fine stay with the syrup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 Looks like a big daddy version of the presses used to flatten horn to make lantern plates and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 Ahhh, now the question is.....what to do with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted December 7, 2014 Author Share Posted December 7, 2014 Ahhh, now the question is.....what to do with it?Well, now I know what sort of label to put on them. I'll lift both of them out of the scrap and spray a bit of rust preventive on them, then they can go into a visitor access area with other machinery.I'll call them filter presses used in the mining industry, date unknown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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