How too: Build an Oil Seed Press

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Sunflower Seed Oil Press
The press was designed so that homesteaders can produce
sunflower oil from their own seeds. The oil can be
pressed as is or heated to 170 degrees F., which doubles
oil yield.

normally one pound of unheated sunflower seed will yield about 4 oz of oil

Both methods require the seed to be ground to fine
powder. If you are pressing the oil seed variety, a meat
grinder or electric blender will do an excellent job of
grinding the seed. The confectionary type of seed will
require the seed to be hulled and winnowed before it is
ground. A food mill with the stones set at the coarse
setting can be used to accomplish this step.

The ground kernels are placed in the cylinder with the
piston closing the bottom portion of the cylinder.The cylinder is mounted in the press frame and a three-ton hydraulic jack is used to supply the pressure.

Because of the great pressures created by the hydraulic jack, it is important that the frame
be properly constructed and firmly mounted to the work surface before the pressing
operation begins. The following instructions can be given to a welder.

Tools Required
1. Power Hacksaw
2. Metal Band Saw
3. Metal Lathe
4. Drill Press
5. Belt or Disk Grinder
6. Arc Welder
7. Hand Clamps

Materials
Frame
2 -- 1-3/4 O.D. x 1-3/8 I.D. x 24-1/2" long H.R.S. (frame tubes)
1 -- 1-3/4 O.D. x 1-3/8 I.D. x 6-1/2 inch long H.R.S. (center tube)
1 -- 3/4 x 2-3/4 x 5-1/2" flat bar H.R.S. (top cross member)
2 -- 1-3/4 x 1-3/4 x 8" angle iron H.R.S. (base members)
1 -- 1-1/4 x 6-1/2 x 12" #2 white pine (wood base)
4 -- 1/4-20 x 1-1/4 R.H. mounting bolts
4 -- 1/4-20 T-nuts
Black enamel for frame (finishing material)
Clear lacquer finish for wood base
3 -- 1/8" dia. welding rods
Cylinder
1 -- 1/4 x 3-1/2" dia. C.R.S. disk (top)
1 -- 3-1/2 O.D. x 3-1/4 I.D. C.R.S. tube (cylinder)
1 -- 1/8 dia. welding rod
Piston
1 -- 1/4 x 3-3/8 D.A. C.R.S. disk (piston top)
1 -- 1-1/4 O.D. x 1 I.D. x 1" long H.R.S. (piston tube)
1 -- 1/8 dia. welding rod
Collector Ring
1 -- Bottom from a one-gallon plastic bottle (oil collector ring)

Now for the how to put his bad boy together
Procedure (Frame)
1. Cut two pieces of 1-3/4" O.D. x 1-3/8" I.D. x 24-1/2 inch
long tubing for the uprights.
2. Cut one piece of 1-3/4" O.D. x 1-3/8" I.D. x 6-1/2 inch
long tubing for the center tube.
3. Cut one 3/4" x 2-3/4 x 5-1/2 inch steel bar for the top
cross member.
4. Cut two pieces of 1-3/4 x 1-3/4 x 8 inch angle iron for
the base members.
5. Drill two 9/32-inch holes in each base member 1/2 inch
from the outer edges.
6. Weld the base members, tubes and cross member
together as per the drawing.
7. Grind all edges to remove any burrs.
8. Paint the frame.
9. If a mounting board is desired, cut a piece of pine 1-1/4 x
6-1/2 x 12 inches long.
10. Center the frame on the board and mark the location of the four mounting holes.
11. Drill four 7/8-inch holes 1/4-inch deep to accept the T-nuts.
12. Drill four 5/16-inch holes through the mounting board using the same centers created
by the 7/8-inch holes.
13. Round the edges of the base and sand all surfaces.
14. Install four 1/4-20 T-nuts.
15. Finish the base with clear lacquer finish.
16. Assemble the base to the frame using four 1/4-20 x 1-1/4-inch round head bolts.
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Procedure (Cylinder)
1. Cut a piece of 3-1/2" O.D. x 3-1/4" I.D. tubing 5-3/8 inches
long.
2. Face both ends on the lathe.
3. Cut out a 3-1/2-inch round disk from 1/4-inch plate steel.
4. Weld the disk to one end of the tube.
5. Drill a series of 3/32-inch holes around the side of the tube on
1/2-inch centers.
6. Remove all burrs on the inside and outside of the tube.
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Procedure (Piston)
1. Cut out a 3-3/8-inch disk of 1/4-inch plate steel.
2. Cut a 1-3/8" O.D. x 1-1/8" I.D. piece of tubing 1-1/8
inches long.
3. Face both ends of the tube.
4. Weld the tube in the center of the 3-3/8-inch disk. All welds should be made on the inside
of the tube.
5. Mount the piston in the lathe and turn the disk to fit the inside diameter of the cylinder.
This will be about 3-15/64 inches in diameter.
6. Remove any sharp edges.
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Procedure (Collector Ring)
1. Cut the bottom out of a one-gallon plastic bottle. The cut line
should be approximately 1-1/2 inches from the bottom of the
bottle.
2. Make a 1/8 x 1 inch slot at one edge of the bottom outside ring. This will allow the oil to
pour into a receiving cup.
3. Cut a 1-3/4-inch hole in the center of the bottom, so that the unit will fit over the center
tube in the frame.


Edit to add... this is probably more than most of you can do as a DYI project... but if you know a wielder or mechanic... you could have them build it for you

Daddybare, you deserve your own forum just for your articles.. considered blogging all of this sort of golden info on your own website? Please, everybody who opens this flag and star and comment it so we can bring some quality content on the front page of ATS.

reply to post by DaddyBare

Good post.

I am into self sufficiency since childhood. Besides I enjoy such projects.

All i have to do is build the seed part as i already have a 20 ton shop press.

One trick is to press the seeds then soak the seeds in alcohol(hardware store type if you are going to use the oil for heating fuel)
and press again.
Take the second pressing and put it in a old pressure cooker and warm and distill off the alcohol for reuse.
you can build a vacuum distiller easy and reclaiming the alcohol can even be done with a solar heater.

If you are going to convert this to biodiesel and deglycerol it you can use methanol as its used in the deglycerol process anyway and then recover it from the glycerol.

I am more into using peanuts then sunflower seeds. you can get more yield.
You may find that a pellet mill is good to have also as you can turn the leftovers from the sunflower seed into heating pellets for heating your home. the remaining oil in the leftovers makes these better then wood pellets and they smell better burning.

If you get or build the right type pellet mill you can also run scrap cardboard or paper through to make pellets.

You rock, DaddyBare! Been filing your articles away for a while now. This is another one for the "save" folder.